Read Online Razzmatazz-DDL by Patricia Burroughs - Free Book Online Page A

finish it all.”
    “The way you’ve been packing it in, you could easily eat all of yours and half of mine, too.” He pushed his plate across the beveled-glass tabletop toward her. “Anything here you like?”
    She tightened her lips into a smile. “You are obnoxious, you know.”
    “And I was trying so hard to be gallant.”
    “Hmph.” Kennie snuggled deeper into the sofa cushions.
    “Would you like an ice-cream chaser?”
    She grimaced weakly. “Don’t rub it in.”
    He arched a brow.
    “I eat when I’m nervous,” she explained.
    “And why, pray tell, are you nervous?”
    How could he look at her with those hooded wolf’s eyes and ask that question? “Give me strength,” she muttered.
    He stood, circled the table and dropped down beside her. He stretched his long arms and let one fall casually behind her. “Who’s Rusk?”
    “Rusk?” Her spine stiffened. “He’s my oldest and dearest friend.” She grabbed her glass and sipped nervously. “That’s an unusual name.”
    “It’s an old Texas name. Like Travis, Bowie, Crockett.”
    “And Wayne.”
    She gaped at him. “Wayne?”
    “John Wayne.”
    She ignored his smirk.
    “So Rusk is a good ol’ Texas boy with a good ol’ Texas name.”
    She lifted her face to meet his gaze. “Not just good. The best.”
    Alex didn’t respond at first, but suddenly he asked, “Feel like dancing?”
    She glanced around the suite, then shook her head. “I’m too tired.”
    “Me, too.” His smile seemed to lose a measure of its brilliance and, in doing so, gained a walloping portion of sincerity. He slid forward and braced his hands on his knees as if preparing to rise. “I suppose it’s time to say good-night and find out where Chris and I are staying tonight.”
    She felt a momentary shock. Of course she wasn’t expecting him to share the suite with her again. That would be ridiculous, scandalous. So what did she expect? She realized with dismay that she really didn’t want to say goodnight. Morning was fast approaching—morning and an annulment.
    Oh, yes, she was tired. She felt as if she’d been squeezed through a wringer and hung out to dry. She simply didn’t want to say good-night to Alex Carruthers. Somehow goodnight was all too similar to goodbye.
    “I wish things weren’t so awkward,” she sighed.
    “I know,” he answered, not moving.
    “But they are.”
    “I know that, too.” The silence stretched between them, heavy with regret. “The hell of it is, you didn’t even get a decent vacation.”
    “But that’s not true!”
    “It isn’t?” He arched one sable brow in disbelief.
    “I want you to know....”
    “It’s okay.”
    “...That I’m sorry I’ve said so many awful things….
    He touched her cheek with his forefinger. “I know.”
    “And I honestly don’t think I could have gotten accidentally married to a nicer guy.”
    He slowly dragged his finger to the corner of her mouth, where he kept it. “I know.”
    She strained to force the words from her throat. “How...how could you know?”
    “Because I’m sorry I’ve made you say so many awful things.” He moved his hand along her jaw and rested it under her chin, applying the gentlest of pressures to raise it slightly. “And I know that I couldn’t have gotten accidentally married to a lovelier, more enchanting woman.” His hand fell away then, and she could breathe again.
    She covered the unsettling effect he was having on her with a careless toss of her head. “Anyway, I just want you to know I’ve had more fun in the past twenty-four hours than I dreamed I’d have in a whole week in Reno.” She frowned. “At least, what I remember of the past twenty-four hours.”
    “We did manage to pack in more than an average summer vacation’s share of mishaps, didn’t we?” he said wryly.
    “Definitely.”
    “We’re fast workers, a good pair.”
    She slid a cautious glance sideways toward him. “Not too fast.”
    He grinned. “Not too fast.” And then