Read Online Good Sister, The by Diana Diamond - Free Book Online Page B

holding in front of her face.
    “Mr. O’Connell says that you should take more chances.” He dropped the keys into her hand and took an envelope from his jacket. “This is the title and the European Union registration. I offered to take you for a demonstration, but Mr. O’Connell said you already drive better than I do.”
    She stood openmouthed, bewildered.
    “I’ll move it for you if you like. This is a no parking zone, and in Cannes even Ferraris get tickets.”
    “Where is Mr. O’Connell?”
    Giovanni shrugged. “I have no idea. He was waiting outside when we opened, but he left after we finished the paperwork.”
    She scanned once more, hoping that Padraig would step out from behind a bush or from around a corner, but there was still no sign of him. She gave the keys and title back to the auto dealer. “Yes, please, park it for me. And leave the keys at the desk.” She walked quickly up the boulevard to O’Connell’s hotel.
    “He checked out this morning,” the desk clerk said, painfully sorry to be giving her disappointing news.
    “He can’t,” Jennifer answered. “He has appearances, commitments …”
    The clerk held up his hands in despair. “Monsieur O’Connell is …” Then he shrugged. Jennifer could fill in delightfully irresponsible , which seemed to be the clerk’s meaning. Or perhaps there had been other women asking for him and he was trying to let her down easily.

    She managed a smile, but she was amazed by how disappointed she was when she turned away.
    Then she saw him, crossing the lobby from the restaurant. He went to the bell captain’s stand, where he was joined by two bellmen, each carrying two suitcases. Jennifer moved quickly and got to the revolving doors ahead of his entourage. O’Connell showed shock for only an instant and went immediately into his usual character role.
    “Jennifer, dear, what a pleasant surprise.” The bellmen piled up behind him.
    “I wanted to thank you for the car,” she said, showing a bit of the anger she was feeling. She pointed to his luggage. “I didn’t know you’d be so anxious to avoid seeing me.”
    “No thanks are required,” he said. “The car was made for you.”
    “Still, no one has ever given me a Ferrari. I think gratitude is in order.”
    He flashed the stage smile. “I’ve given away several, Jennifer, although there’s no one I can remember more deserving than you.”
    “Still, at the price of these things, you can’t have given away many. So I should be grateful for making your short list.”
    Padraig waved the bellboys away. He took Jennifer’s arm and steered her to one of the lobby’s plush furniture arrangements, sitting her in one chair while he took the next one. “Don’t be angry with me, darlin’. This was just the kind of ending I was trying to avoid.”
    “Is that what it is? An ending?”
    “There’s always an ending, and I wanted this one to be happy.”
    “A simple goodbye would have been nice.”
    “Oh, I wouldn’t have had the courage for something as easy as that.”
    “Courage?”
    He drew a deep breath, sighed, and reached across the space between the chairs to touch her hand. “Jennifer, if I stay around
you, I’ll do something very foolish that will destroy the rascal’s image I count on for my livelihood.”
    “Something like …”
    “Like fall in love.”
    She felt her jaw drop the slightest bit.
    “You see, darlin’, in this crazy business of narcissistic head cases, I’ve never come across anyone quite as fresh and unassuming as you. And there’s this streak of honesty in my bones, probably the curse of an Irish childhood, that says I must have you. But in the picture industry, the swashbuckling rogue is obligated to fly like a bee from flower to flower. He can never be still long enough to lose his heart to anyone. If it was learned that I had fallen in love, the young ladies in my fan club would throw themselves into a mass grave.”
    “Will you please shut up,”