15. Sunny

"That"s a brilliant business move,Benton. Your grandfather would be proud."

I told myself to just keep smiling as I stood listening to Cole"s conversation with a fellow hotel magnate who wanted to know more about Cole's plans to work exclusively with AudioNation for concert residencies.

Their discussion was actually pretty interesting. I hadn't known Cole had such big plans. No wonder he worked all the time—even on Saturdays. But I felt a little weird just standing there while Cole did all the talking. It made me feel like a trophy. In fact, I wondered if this was how trophy girlfriends often felt, like they were on display, just there to be stared at by all the other men at the party.

I wasn't sure if the stares were because I was Cole's date or because I stood out among the typical trophy wives and girlfriends—mostly blondes of all ages and ethnicities, exuding old-Vegas elegance in their sparkling evening gowns and perfectly styled hair. The men were nice enough to me, but I could read the other women"s thoughts clear as words on a page: What are you doing here?

The whole situation made me want to retreat outside and wait in the car until Cole was finished. But Cole hadn't released my hand since we stepped out of the Jag. Throughout the cocktail hour, he kept me close, even when other businessmen approached to offer congratulations and shake his hand. For what? A business deal? I still wasn't entirely sure.

Cole hadn"t invited much conversation with any of his well-wishers.

"Occupied," he'd said to anyone who tried to offer me a shake, holding up our clasped hands before introducing me as "My date, Sunny Johnson."

It made me feel like his possession. But it also made me feel weirdly safe. I didn"t know anyone here except for him and Nora.

But instead of abandoning me, he'd chosen to keep me by his side all night. And that made me feel...special. That probably had something to do with my chaotic upbringing. I made the thousandth mental note to myself to actively seek out therapy as soon as I was done replenishing the charity fund.

But still...a strangely happy warmth radiated in my chest as I smiled through one of the few conversations I could understand.

Then the famous comedian MC announced it was time to sit down for dinner and the handoff of the CEO of the Year Award.

Yet, Cole still didn"t let me go.

I found out that Cole was actually left-handed at dinner when he proceeded to eat his entire meal with one hand while talking to the General Manager of The Benton about "ways to further streamline the checkout system integration." Whatever that meant. Luckily, I was right-handed and had Nora to talk to on my other side.

Since Nora's other grandson, Max, had yet to show up to fill the empty seat beside her, Nora spent most of the dinner chatting with me. And by chatting, I mean congratulating herself over and over again.

"I knew you two would be the perfect match. I just knew it! Cole is so incredibly lucky to have me as a nan," she crowed for the umpteenth time that night. "The sex is probably unbelievable, too. Tell me the sex is unbelievable."

"Nora," I said, my cheeks heating. Mostly because this wasn"t fancy dinner table conversation. But also a little because I"d spent much of the last twenty-four hours trying to ignore the sexual tension between me and my fake fiancé.

"Leave her alone, Nora," Cole said on the other side of me, his voice bored. Like he"d fully been expecting Nora to ask about our hypothetical sex life. "This isn"t an appropriate topic of conversation. Or any of your business."

"Oh, putting my old Irish nose in your business has become a particularly fun pastime for me, grandson of mine," Nora answered with an unrepentant smirk that reminded me of the one Cole had given me in the car.

But then her face fell when she saw an older version of the copy-and-paste blonde trophies approaching. "Oh, shit, Lacey Hollander"s coming this way!"

Nora stood up with an aggrieved sigh. "Excuse me while I pretend to like this bitch. Lacey, how are you?"

"Not nearly as lovely as you, Nora!" The frosted blonde took her by the hand like they were the best of friends. "You must be so proud of Cole. And is it true what they"re saying about his engagement news?"

"It is!" Nora proudly waved a hand toward me. "He"s madly in love with the granddaughter of the very best friend I have ever known, and I could not be happier."

"Congratulations!" Lacey said brightly to Nora—while glancing daggers at me out the side of her eye.

"Thank you. I"ll make sure to send you an invitation to the engagement party I"m throwing for them next month.

"Please do!"

The two women air-kissed, and then Lacey moved on to talk with another older blonde copy-and-paste at the next table.

"Wow, that was, like, a really polite drive-by," I observed when Nora returned to her seat. "She did not like me."

"Ah, sure, don"t pay any mind to her." Nora"s eyes warmed right back up as she leaned in for the gossip. "She"s been trying to push her two granddaughters onto Cole for donkey"s years, but he never gave either of them a second glance. And now, all of a sudden, he"s strutting into this CEO of Year dinner, holding your hand fast and so obviously smitten. Naturally, Lacey"s got her knickers in a bunch, wondering what on earth you"ve got that her granddaughters don"t. Reminds me of when Cole"s granddad first started bringing me along to these shindigs. The other wives wanted showgirls to stay up on stage in their sparkly bikinis. We weren"t supposed to be down here mixing it up with the bigwigs making a fortune off our gams."

Nora's face darkened with remembered bitterness. "The younger ones accept me now because I've been around for their version of forever. Also, I throw tons of charity dos, don"t I? But the older ones still look at me like I don't belong. Like I'll never be good enough."

Her troubles with the other society matrons made me feel sorry for Nora—especially in light of her poor health.

However, I also couldn"t help but feel a little confused. "They didn't accept you, but you're happy Cole's, ah…taken with someone who doesn't quite fit in either?"

Nora graced another blonde matron passerby with a beneficent smile that totally belied her next words. "Dearie, I'd hang myself with my own rope if Cole married the granddaughter of any of these old-Vegas witches. I deserve a good granddaughter-in-law—one I can talk to just as easily as my old friend Glo."

She grasped my free hand, giving it a firm squeeze, her face glowing with reminiscences of my grandmother. "Ah, I missed her something fierce when Cole"s grandfather plucked me from the revue line and thrust me into his world. But bless her soul, Glo always had a way of knowing when I needed her most. Whenever I felt a bit low about not quite fitting in, there she was—giving me a ring, inviting me over to our old flat for a bit of grub, or insisting we hit the town for a few drinks. Back then, you young ones hadn"t even coined the term "girls" night out," but Glo always seemed to sense when I needed one. I"ll tell you, I miss her something terrible every single day...."

Nora's eyes became watery as she remembered her old friend. She recovered quickly, though, pasting a smile on her face and patting my hand.

"But sure, why am I shedding tears?" she exclaimed, wiping her eyes. "After all, you"ve accepted Cole"s marriage proposal, and you, my dear Sunny, are a delightful soul, just like your nan. It warms my heart knowing that my Coley"s found such a gem in you. So thank you for taking him on, love. I know he can be a handful, but so was his granddad."

Nora rolled her eyes. "That man would"ve worked himself into an early grave if I hadn't come along to give him a bit of craic. All I want is for my Coley to be truly happy, just like his granddad was with me."

I felt my own eyes brimming with tears. And if I still had any doubts about Cole's plan to ease Nora's mind in the last months of her life, they disappeared.

I squeezed Nora's hand back and said, "You're right. Who cares what anyone else thinks? Your approval is all I need."

"Exactly!" Nora confirmed. "The rest of them can kiss our Irish asses!"

I laughed. "But I'm not Irish."

"I'm giving you honorary citizenship for the kissing of our asses," Nora informed me. "Because I'm rich and can do whatever I want."

A swell of music interrupted my reply of laughter. All conversation came to an end around us as all eyes turned toward where the famous comedian jogged onto the stage.

After a few opening jokes, he introduced Gregory Latham, the CEO of AudioNation—a man I only recognized because he"d been number one on last year"s list of sincityguide.com"s Most Eligible Silver Bachelors.

He came out carrying a gleaming crystal statue with a bold stripe of cobalt running up its side.

"I was honored to receive this statue last year, and even though tonight's winner is the youngest recipient of this honor in the Vegas Business Association"s history, I fully approve of the committee"s choice," he told the audience in a strong Southern twang. "This young man has done more for his family's business holdings in five years than most CEOs, including myself, have done in twenty-five. And that"s why I couldn't be more honored to present the CEO of the Year Award to Coleridge Benton the Third, the CEO of Benton Worldwide Hotels and Resorts."

"Wait, you're the CEO of the Year?" Iturned to Cole with wide eyes as applause sounded all around us. "Oh my gosh, congratulations! Why didn't you tell me?"

Cole just gave me the smirk he"d apparently inherited from his grandmother and kissed me on my surprised mouth before finally letting go of my hand.

His speech was short and to the point. An almost terse list of milestones Benton Worldwide had reached under his leadership and an only slightly less terse list of what he had planned for the corporation's future.

He wasn't even trying to amuse the crowd as the comedian MC had. In fact, if his body language was any indicator, he thought all this pomp and circumstance was silly. I could tell he"d much rather be in his office, fulfilling his vision for his family"s long-held company, rather than giving all these overstuffed businessmen a bullet list.

My heart swelled with happiness for him anyway. This was a special night for Cole, and even if our engagement was just an illusion, I felt so very proud of him.

But then his stance softened a bit, and instead of irritated, he seemed slightly uncomfortable as he said, "Before I go, I'd like to thank one person in particular…."

To my surprise, his eyes landed on me.

"Sunny Johnson, we've only known each other a short time, but you've made my life brighter. This award means more to me because you're here by my side. Thank you."

I didn't realize my heart had stopped beating while he spoke directly to me until it came back with a thunderous roar. His sentiment was easily the nicest thing any man had ever said about me. Especially in public.

"He"s truly smitten with you," Nora said, her eyes full of wonder. "It's the same as when his granddad and I met. Oh, we just knew. Right away,we did."

I wanted to answer. I wanted to keep playing along for Nora"s sake. But my heart shattered without warning.

"Excuse me," I choked out, standing up.

I hated to be so abrupt with Nora, but I suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotion. Cole had no idea what I'd been through or how his words of acknowledgment, no matter how fake, would affect me.

I rushed blindly to the toilets, needing a moment to compose myself before I could face Cole and play my part again.

But instead of the bathroom door, I ran straight into someone's chest. Someone's muscular chest.

"Oh no…" I said, my face full of apologies as I looked up, way up, at one of the prettiest men I'd ever come across in real life.

Even if I hadn't seen a picture of him on Nora"s mantle, I would have recognized the man as Cole's brother. His features were also chiseled, but in a way that brought to mind a Greek statue as opposed to a predatory bird.

The only thing keeping him from being too pretty was his rough stubble. Max hadn"t bothered to shave like his older brother before coming out for this award ceremony. His hair was also longer and much darker than Cole's, and he was wearing a lavender tuxedo jacket instead of the rigid blue, gray, or black standard. But his eyes were the same light green.

However, while Cole's eyes were piercing, Max's had a playfully wicked gleam that I suspected might be permanent.

"Hi, Max, I"m Sunny." I grimaced at the brown smudge on his formerly crisp-white tuxedo shirt. "Sorry for getting makeup on your shirt."

"So it's true, you're here with my brother." He shook his head. "Just goes to prove what Grandpa used to say.‘Nora always gets her way.'"

"Ah, well…" I didn't know how I felt about not only lying to Nora about the nature of my relationship with Cole, but also to his brother. "I'm just glad we could make her happy."

I retrieved a makeup-remover wipe from my clutch. "Here, let me get that," I said, wiping my foundation from his white shirt.

"Wow, that actually worked," he said, looking down at his now makeup-free shirt.

"These wipes are absolute magic. I can't tell you how many times they've saved me from a costume change." I gave him an embarrassed smile. "I can be kind of clumsy sometimes."

He smiled back at me, his eyes twinkling. "You're pretty charming, sweetheart. In this case, I can see why my brother decided to roll over for Nora. But poor me, I would've flown back from Europe sooner if I'd met you before tonight. Cole beat me to the punch."

I wrinkled my nose. There was something weird about how he talked about Cole's and my relationship, almost like he knew it was fake. However, instead of being grateful we were honoring Nora's last wishes, he seemed amused, like this was all some sort of game.

"What do you mean by Cole beat you to the punch?" I asked.