Read Online Escape Magic by Michelle Garren Flye - Free Book Online

was just a chance he needed to
take.
    ****
    Lydia stood outside the theater door for a
moment, gathering herself. She still felt hungover from her night
with Tony. Why after taking a thirty-minute shower did she
still smell him on her skin? Why had she turned at the sound of a
certain timbre of male voice as she walked through the lobby?
    Why the hell couldn’t she shake this
man?
    Maybe it’s magic. She brushed the
thought away impatiently and entered the theater. What she really
needed was to work, and she was already late for rehearsal.
    Bess was seated in the center of the stage,
legs crossed, reading a newspaper. She looked up with a dry smile
on her too-red lips and swept her blonde hair over her shoulders.
“Well, look who decided to show up.” She batted her eyelashes at
Lydia and folded her newspaper. “What’s the news, sweetpea?”
    Lydia looked around in befuddlement. There
should be at least a handful of crew drinking coffee and waiting
more or less patiently for the star of the show. “Where is
everybody?”
    “I told them to come at
ten-thirty.”
    “You told me nine-thirty.” Lydia
looked at her watch. “And it’s a quarter to ten now.”
    Bess shrugged. “I was a little off. But I’m
still the best manager in the business, right?” At Lydia’s puzzled
look, Bess added, “I heard you didn’t spend the night here, and you
left the party with Tony Hawkins. I figured you’d want to sleep in
some and I didn’t want you to start the show off on the wrong foot
with the crew, so I sort of…built in some cushion time.” She sat
back and waved her hand in the air as if with a magic wand. “And
presto! You’re not late, you’re early.”
    Lydia laughed. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.
Pretty sneaky, Bess.”
    “And that’s a secret between you and me.”
Bess nodded firmly. “But pull up a chair and tell me about it. What
gives? I didn’t think you and Tony were even on speaking terms,
really.”
    Lydia took her time finding a chair and
pulling it over to center stage with Bess. And even then she found
she didn’t want to sit in it. Instead she stood behind it, her
hands clutching the back of the chair with a firm grip, as if it
might take off into the air if she didn’t hold it to the ground.
She mulled the events of the evening over in her mind, trying to
come up with anything she wouldn’t mind sharing with Bess.
    Her best friend produced a thermos and two
Styrofoam cups, filling both with hot coffee and passing one to
Lydia. “Well, if you won’t sit, at least drink with me. We’ve got
forty-five minutes to discuss the night you spent with one of the
sexiest men in magic, but you seem strangely reticent to share.
What gives, girlfriend?”
    “I just—” Lydia thought back over the events
of the night before. When had she last known a man who could make
her passion flare out of control like that?
    You I could get addicted to. And I’m pretty
sure I shouldn’t.
    Why was he so sure? In fact, she was pretty
sure they’d be good together. So why had she left this morning
before he got up? Why had she snuck away?
    “Lydia.” Bess’s voice caught her attention
and she looked up, but her friend was looking at the theater
entrance. Tony stood there.
    Lydia straightened. “Hey.”
    He raised his eyebrows and strode in. “Hey.
Am I interrupting?”
    “Actually, rehearsal doesn’t start for
another half hour.” Bess stood. “And I’ve got a few errands to take
care of before that. Coffee?” She held out the thermos.
    Tony waved it away, his eyes turning back to
Lydia. He remained silent until Bess had disappeared backstage. “So
I’ve made a decision. You want to know what?”
    “What?” She took a sip of her coffee, cool
and casual as if her heart weren’t skipping alternate beats.
    “Next time we’re using your place.” He
stepped onto the stage and leaned over to kiss her. He drew away, a
little smile playing on his lips. “You want to know why?”
    “Why?” She