Wedding Fever. Susan Crosby

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СКАЧАТЬ Diego turned on his heel, leaving Maggie to frown after him. She’d never seen him react to any guest as he had to Brendan. The nod Diego had given him should have been deferential. It had come across as regal. Of course, Diego had never acted like any other maître d’ she’d worked with.

      She moved on to another table. “How was your meal?” she asked Misty Champion as she cleared the dishes.

      The president of Misty Nights Lingerie and her current remedy for holding middle age at bay—young, blond and studly—had come in for a late dinner. Her escort was gone, probably sent to call and wait for her chauffeur, part of Misty’s own quirky bill-paying ritual. She never let her escort watch her pay the check.

      “Dinner was perfect, as usual. What do you think of Joseph ?”

      “Stunning.”

      Misty laughed, the smoky sound carrying in the near-empty room so that Brendan turned their direction. He eyed Misty until she lifted her almost-empty wineglass and toasted him before draining it. Maggie glanced away, not watching his reaction, afraid he might decide she cared.

      “Stunning and not overly bnght,” Misty said of Joseph as she dabbed her mouth with her napkin. “Unlike the man who has been eyeing you like a Christmas present.” She stood, sweeping a beautifully wrapped package off the seat beside her and setting it on the table. “Happy birthday, hon. I designed this with you in mind. Promise you’ll wear it the second time you sleep with him.”

      Him? Maggie hoped she was talking about Diego, but was afraid she meant Brendan. “Um, the second time?”

      “The first time will be spontaneous, of course. Fiery.” Her eyes glazed a moment. “The second will be different.”

      “Do you have someone in mind for me, Misty?”

      “The same man you have in mind, I suspect. I hear he likes red.”

      Before Maggie could respond, Diego appeared with Misty’s silver fox coat and helped her into it.

      “Thank you, Mr. Duran.”

      “You’re welcome, Ms. Champion.”

      Maggie reacted to the surprising intimacy in their voices, implying a relationship she’d never before considered. Misty liked men at least twenty years younger than her forty-five years. At thirty-two, Diego missed the mark by seven years. Had they been lovers? She looked from one to the other, observing their subtle smiles, as if each knew a secret.

      “May I escort you to the door?” Diego asked Misty.

      “In a minute. I need to speak to someone first.”

      “Thank you for the birthday present,” Maggie said.

      “My pleasure, hon. How’s the design coming?”

      “I’ll have the sample ready in a couple of days. It’s very romantic.”

      “Romantic. Well, there’s a first time for everything. My buyers will be shocked.” She winked at Maggie as she glided by, then came up beside Brendan and bent to whisper something in his ear.

      “Are you working with Misty?” Diego asked Maggie as they waited, glued to the scene like onlookers at an accident.

      “Um, I had an idea for a new product for her line—a departure from her usual stuff. What do you suppose she’s saying to him?”

      “I’d like to know,” he said. “It’s an interesting combination, don’t you think? She would eat him alive.”

      “I don’t know. I think he’s used to getting what he wants.”

      He cast her a cool glance. “Has he been bothering you, Magnolia?”

      Why. he’s jealous, she realized, his tone of voice saying more than his words. How intriguing. How very intriguing. “These plates are getting heavy.”

      J.D. watched her walk away, then he mentally shook his head as Misty strolled back, her hips swaying provocatively, and accepted his escort from the room.

      “Thanks again for the other night,” she said, her husky voice full of emotion.

      “My pleasure.”

      “I’m not too sure about that. But you saved my life. I won’t forget it.”

      “Right time, right place,” he said with a shrug. “Quit hanging around those kinds of bars, Misty. Trouble’s the only thing you’re going to find.”

      “Which begs the question of why you were there, doesn’t it?” She sighed. “Sometimes I just need to be where no one knows or cares who I am.”

      He heard the loneliness in her voice. He, too, lived a lonely life, although for very different reasons. His was a loneliness that meant safety for those he cared about.

      “Where’d you go, lover?” Misty asked J.D. as they reached the door of the club.

      He smiled at her. “Not far.”

      “Are you sure I can’t repay you with a little more than thanks?”

      “I make it a rule to avoid personal business with guests.”

      She fingered his lapel. “You don’t break rules, I suppose.”

      “Not personal ones.”

      “An interesting answer.”

      “If I had accepted you, you’d be backpedaling your way out of it right now. You and I both know there’s someone more than willing to end your loneliness, Misty.”

      “We’ve sung this tune before.” Her blond Adonis opened the door behind her. “Good night, then. Oh, J.D.? I did remember red’s your favorite color.”

      He puzzled over her words as the door closed on her rich laugh. Returning to the dining room, he observed Hastings slipping something into Maggie’s skirt pocket.

      “Thank you for joining us tonight,” J.D. said as he came up beside them.

      Hastings’s irritation at the interruption was hardly noticeable, only a slight twitch of his left eye.

      J.D. didn’t question what intrigued the man. Magnolia possessed a lethal combination of beauty, energy and sensuality that she didn’t seem aware of, making her even more attractive. If asked, she’d probably call herself a pretty good flirt. And certainly she possessed a kind of wholesomeness that kept most men at flirtation distance, the place she’d established for guests and members of the Carola, no matter how famous, how powerful or how insistent they were.

      She moved in and out of roles as situations warranted, a skill he admired, even though it often meant she played a role with him, as well.

      “I’ll see you tomorrow night,” Hastings said.

      “Good night, sir,” she said.

      “I’ll clear the table while you change,” J.D. said after Hastings left.

      She СКАЧАТЬ