The Bachelor Takes A Wife. Jackie Merritt

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СКАЧАТЬ heat rising in her cheeks and knew that she’d turned pink. “What on earth are you talking about? Why didn’t you stop at ‘cheers’ and make this a tolerable occasion?”

      “You know, I should have. Sometimes I say things without thinking. I mean, that was obviously a compliment, but if I had thought about it before speaking, I would probably have postponed it until you’d had a couple of glasses of champagne.”

      Andrea glared at him. “Meaning I would appreciate crude remarks then? You didn’t know me in college and you don’t know me now. I never liked your crudity, which you would remember for yourself if your self-serving, smug, conceited head wasn’t bigger than Rhode Island!”

      Keith roared with laughter. “Andy, I absolutely adore you.”

      “Oh, give me a break,” she drawled, although her heart was suddenly pounding unmercifully fast. He didn’t mean what he’d said, for heaven’s sake. He was just the kind of man who said outrageous things to women and then laughed at their reactions. He obviously believed he was God’s gift to womankind, and maybe he was—for some women—but he was no gift in her estimation. He was a cad without a conscience, and he didn’t even have the grace to pretend otherwise.

      He peered, owl-like, at her over the rim of his glass as he took another swallow. “How about a game of tit for tat?”

      “Which is?” she asked, frowning and suspicious.

      “I’ll give you a break if you get rid of that stick up your spine. You used to be a fun person to be with. You used to laugh a lot. You’re arguably the most beautiful woman here and if people are staring and speculating, that’s why. After all, I’ve been single and alone for four years. I’d have to be crazy to be talking with the loveliest lady here and not let you—and everyone else—know that I’m interested.”

      Andrea gasped. “Do you actually have the temerity to think I care if you’re interested?” Fury set in then, and she felt herself start to tremble. She had to get away from him before she let the whole crowd know that she could happily murder Keith Owens where he stood. “Which way is the ladies’ room?” she asked. It was at that moment that she realized she didn’t have her handbag. “Oh, no, I left it in the limousine!”

      “Left what in the limo?”

      “My handbag.” She glared into Keith’s eyes. If she hadn’t been so unnerved by the evening ahead at the time of arrival, she never would have left anything in that accursed limousine. This, too, was Keith’s fault. “Where do they park the limousines? I need to get my bag.”

      “I’ll show you.”

      Just then a man’s voice intruded on them. “Well, this must be the guest of honor, Andrea O’Rourke.”

      Both Andrea and Keith turned a bit to see the man. Keith’s expression was no longer flirtatious and friendly, Andrea saw with some surprise. In fact, he was actually glowering at a very attractive man in an elegantly tailored black tuxedo.

      “Aren’t you going to introduce me, Keith?” the man asked in a dangerously slick voice. Andrea could tell that Keith didn’t want this stranger even saying hello to her.

      The man gave a dry little laugh. “Apparently the cat has taken hold of Keith’s tongue. Permit me to introduce myself, Andrea. I’m Dorian Brady.” He reached out and took Andrea’s hand. “This is an honor and a great pleasure,” Dorian said.

      Andrea was not pleased. Dorian might be physically attractive, but something about him made her uneasy. She pulled her hand from his and said, “Thank you.” Keith was still scowling at Dorian, which was puzzling, since Keith seemed to be on friendly terms with all the other club members. “The directions to the parking lot, please?” Andrea asked him stiffly.

      “Well, I can see that the two of you are quite involved. You will excuse me, won’t you? Good evening, Andrea. Perhaps we will meet again.” Dorian bowed slightly and departed.

      “That creep,” Keith mumbled. “Andrea, give that guy a very wide berth.”

      “I plan to, but not because of your orders,” she replied sharply. “Now how do I find the limousine parking area?”

      Keith pulled himself together. Dorian’s unexpected intrusion had unnerved him. Actually, Keith had expected that Dorian would avoid the ball, especially since Merry and Jason were there. Maybe it was time the club members voted to revoke Dorian’s membership. Keith couldn’t remember a member ever being banned before, but there must be something in the bylaws about membership reversal.

      Calmer again, he said to Andrea, “Why don’t I go and get your handbag? I could do it in half the time it would take you.”

      “Just give me the directions,” she repeated.

      “Fine,” Keith said with a disgusted shake of his head. He glanced around and was relieved to see nothing of Dorian. He didn’t want Andrea wandering the grounds alone with Dorian hot on her trail. Maybe Dorian had shown his face just to prove he could and had already left. “Go through that far door, which leads to a patio restaurant, then leave the patio and follow the main path through the flower garden, go past the pool and you will reach the club’s valet-parking area. The limousines are usually parked on the right side of the lot.”

      It sounded like a long walk to Andrea, and his offer to run and get her handbag made a lot more sense than her strolling that far on high heels. But she’d already refused his help, and pride wouldn’t permit her to backtrack. Andrea handed him her glass. Then, with a stony expression and a clipped and unfriendly “Thank you,” she turned on her heel and headed for the far door.

      Walking as fast as possible in her dressy high heels, Andrea easily followed Keith’s directions. Her thoughts were still in a whirl from having to deal with Keith tonight. His mix of good looks, cocky personality and overwhelming self-confidence shouldn’t be allowed. She’d fallen head over heels for him years before she should even have noticed that he was a boy and she a girl, and while it nearly killed her to admit such a thing tonight, he was still a dangerous distraction to her emotional well-being.

      Did he affect every female that way, or was she particularly susceptible to him?

      Impossible, she decided. He probably drew women the way honey drew bees. She was just feeling overheated because of a very old romance and she resented it so much that she had to blink back tears of frustration.

      Keith had said she was fun in college, and that she had laughed a lot. Obviously he’d never seen beneath the laughter to the serious young woman underneath who had adored him since childhood. Much of it had been hero worship. He’d been her favorite playmate and the friend to whom she could tell anything. He’d been the first boy to kiss her. They’d been around eleven at the time and had decided that kissing wasn’t nearly as much fun as swinging a bat in a softball game or doing cannonball leaps into a swimming pool.

      High school had changed both of them. He’d become one of the swaggering superstar jocks, too cute to be believed and the target of every girl in school. Andrea had still adored him, but Keith’s head had swelled intolerably from his sudden popularity and she hadn’t been able to resist telling him to get real and to come back down to earth. He hadn’t taken criticism well, and their friendship had cooled drastically so that they rarely had even said hello to one another. The summer after high-school graduation they’d gotten back together and were thrilled to learn they had both been accepted at the same college, their plan for many years before Keith had grown too big СКАЧАТЬ