She figured he saw himself that way, as a ruler of men, emperor of his world. Ashley flashed him a worshipful glance, clearly hoping to become more than just friends.
Cassidy had to admit, with his classically handsome features and light brown hair, Mal Vaughn was an attractive man. Attractive, but a trifle too metrosexual for Cassidy’s taste, which ran more to alpha males like Beau.
Of course, she hadn’t known that until she’d met him.
She glanced at her watch, saw she was overdue to leave.
She pointedly turned to look at the hallway leading to the restrooms. “I’m beginning to worry. I think I had better go check, make sure Beau’s okay.”
“Allow me,” Vaughn said. “You can hardly go into the men’s room. I’ll make sure he’s all right. What costume is he wearing?”
Oh, God. She moistened her lips, which had gone bone-dry. “He’s a pirate. He’s got a . . . umm . . . patch over one eye.” Praying the slightly misleading description might help in some way, Cassidy stood frozen as Vaughn turned and headed for the hallway.
Desperate now, Cassidy pretended to notice a couple near the door. “I think I just saw Beau talking to some friends,” she said. “I hope you’ll thank Mal for his help. It was nice meeting you, Ashley.”
“You, too, Cassidy.”
She took off at a sprint, then forced herself to slow down, make her way less frantically to the exit. When she reached the foyer, she took a deep breath but didn’t stop, crossing the front porch, descending the wide brick steps to the valet stand.
When she spotted the BMW idling at the curb, her legs nearly buckled with relief. Hurrying over, she waited for the valet to open the passenger door, then slid into the seat, ignoring a painful jolt to her ribs.
She was shaking as she clicked her seat belt into place and the valet slammed the car door. Beau put the Beamer in gear, checked the rearview mirror, and drove away from the entrance to the country club.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“You’re late.” Beau sliced Cassidy a glance. “What happened in there? I was getting worried. I was about to come looking for you.”
“Malcolm Vaughn happened. Thank heavens you didn’t come back inside. Oh, God, Beau, I was scared to death when he walked up and recognized me. I had a helluva time figuring out how to get away. If you had come back, he would have expected us to stay. It could have been extremely uncomfortable, to say the least. How about you? Did you run into any trouble?”
“Only about two hundred seventy pounds of trouble. Security guard. He would have been a real sonofabitch to put down.”
Her head swiveled toward him. “Put down?”
He just shrugged. “Luckily he was sympathetic to a guy with woman trouble.”
Cassidy laughed, relieving the tension both of them were feeling. “So we got it done?”
Beau smiled. “Yeah, baby, we did.”
“Vaughn was there with a woman named Ashley Stanfield. He said she was the daughter of one of his clients.”
“Stanfield. Name sounds familiar.”
“I’ll check it out as soon as we get home. We don’t need to worry about the audio tonight, or at least I wouldn’t think so. Not when he’s got a date with him.”
“As soon as we get home, I’m taking you to bed. Watching you walk around all evening in that skimpy outfit is more than any red-blooded male can stand.”
Her gaze flicked across the console to the bulge beneath his tight black pants. “Good idea. No pirate ever filled out a pair of breeches better than you.”
He smiled wickedly. “Hot pool or shower? We need to warm up.”
“Hot pool,” she said softly, and he could hear the little hitch in her voice.
“Good thinking. Easier on your ribs.”
Cassidy made a sexy little sound in her throat that really turned him on. Unfortunately, as he drove back toward the house, only a few seconds had passed before a pair of headlights showed up in his rearview mirror.
His pulse kicked up. “Looks like we’ve got company.”
