The Darkest of Shadows by Lisse Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

that Patrick was waiting down stairs for me.
    Living on the first floor had some advantages, but one of those wasn’t the stairs. It was a slightly precarious trip down the narrow stairs in heels, carting a train and a clutch, but I did manage it.
    I passed one of my neighbors just before I stepped out the front door, a husband and his wife—whom I’d never gotten around to meeting—and if their rather stunned expressions were anything to go by, I must have looked half decent.
    Patrick was standing beside the town car when I emerged. “Good evening.” I smiled happily at him.
    If he hadn’t already been pressed against the side of the car, I was pretty sure he would have fallen over. He looked startled and astonished and, thankfully, speechless.
    The gift and the curse of how one looked. Once, I would have been happy if a man had given me that reaction, but now it just tended to leave a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. They could never accept that I wasn’t interested, and it always led to more pain, usually more for me than them.
    But this was Patrick, and he knew that I couldn’t give him what he wanted; and for tonight, he had asked for my support. So as long as he stayed beside me to keep the unwanted company away, I could manage to give him the picture-perfect partner that he wanted.
    “It’s all an image, Patrick,” I reminded him seriously. “I need you to understand that what you and everyone else will see tonight is only possible because, for me, it isn’t real. As long as you stand beside me and keep people from thinking that I’m in any way available, then I’ll be able to keep playing the person you need for me to be.”
    “I think, sadly, that I actually understand that mumble,” he said, as he held the door open for me. “You’re rubbing off on me, Lilly, and I should most probably be disturbed by that.”
    “As long as we’re all clear on what’s really going on, I don’t mind what image other people see.” Especially when I didn’t know them, and it was unlikely I’d ever meet them again.
    “I’ll keep the masses from bothering you, and you’ll fill the adoring partner role that I need for the night.”
    “Something like that, but there probably won’t be all that much adoration.” I smiled to lighten the mood.
    “You’ll need this.” He shoved a box into my hands. “It’s nothing,” he told me quickly. “It’s not a birthday present or a Christmas present; it’s a ‘we’re going to a really ritzy party and you’ll need to look the part’ gift, so here’s something to help with that.”
    I held my breath as I took in the splendor of the diamond earrings. They were long filigree and would look stunning with the dress.
    “If it makes you happy, you can give them back to me at the end of the night, and I’ll give them to my sister.” He shrugged. “Although I really don’t think she would appreciate them as much.”
    I laughed aloud. “Oh, no,” I told him. “You can’t give a girl diamonds and then ask for them back.” I liked how he had phrased it. Any reference to a gift given for an event would have instantly had me return it, but this way I was free to accept them willingly. And besides, they were beautiful.
    “You’ll keep them?” I think I shocked him.
    “Absolutely. They’re beautiful,” I assured him as I slipped them onto my ears.
    “They suit you.” And that was all he said about how I looked. He really was beginning to understand me, as much as was possible anyway.
    There was quite an extensive line of traffic snaking its way toward the entrance of the hotel that was hosting the Monterey function. It was one of London’s finest, and I was sure it was costing them a fortune. It was funny to find myself one of the people along for the free ride—not that I’d be indulging in the alcohol, but there would be food, which made me just as happy.
    Patrick helped me out of the car when we reached the steps, and even though I knew it was