Read Online Regrets Only by M. J. Pullen - Free Book Online Page B

figure: recently divorced, newly rich
entrepreneur-type trying to impress his younger date, who is a big fan of Dylan
Burke. A guy like that wants to appear powerful. It didn’t matter that he didn’t
talk to anyone in our office; he wants her to see him make a big deal about
getting the best. For her. He wants to show her that he can get his way. For
her.”
    “So
that’s why you made a big deal about not wanting him to leave.”
    “Right.”
    “But,
why the…well, please don’t be offended, but the fairly obvious flirting?”
    Suzanne
grinned. “Rivalry. Quickest way to a woman’s heart. If that guy doesn’t get
laid tonight, it won’t be my fault. Plus, now he’s all pumped up to bid high on
the auction items.”
    Chad
had to smile. She was brilliant, in her way. This was what David didn’t
understand. She knew that happy people spent more at the auctions and the bar,
and she knew how to make them happy and set them free to spend. It’s why she
was the best event planner in the city.
    Two
volunteers from opposite ends of the museum arrived almost simultaneously, each
brimming with a separate crisis. One of Dylan’s sisters had brought three
people who weren’t on the guest list and there wasn’t enough table space
available. Elsewhere, the bathrooms on the main floor of the museum had all
been inadvertently locked and no one could find a member of the cleaning staff
to unlock them. Suzanne was walking away to deal with the second issue when Chad
remembered, and called her back.
    “Don’t
forget this,” he said, pressing the pain pill into her hand. He caught a
passing tray and grabbed a goblet of wine.
    “Already?”
she said absently, popping the overlarge pill into her mouth and swigging from
the wine glass in one smooth motion as she headed off in the direction of the
main building. Chad watched in admiration before returning to the seating chart
to try to solve the extra-guest problem.
    “Shit,”
came a wheezing voice behind Chad, and he turned to see Marci looking flushed
and out of breath. Clearly she had rushed over from a good distance for some
reason.
    “I
tried…” she panted, “I tried…to get here…before…can’t breathe!”
    Jeez.
If that girl’s not pregnant or something, she’d better start working out more , Chad thought, trying not to stare
at Marci’s robust figure in a pretty royal blue dress that was perhaps a
half-size too small. He waited for her to take a big gulp of air and finish.
    “I
tried to stop you,” Marci managed finally. “Suzanne had already taken a pill
tonight. I gave it to her at six. And she’s not supposed to drink with them.”
    Chad
looked after the rapidly retreating form of his boss, which had reached the
main doors to the museum and was graciously holding one of them open for a
cluster of partygoers to enter. He thought with trepidation about the large
size of the pills in comparison with the tiny size of Suzanne. She had to be a
hundred and five pounds, tops. He was no pharmaceutical expert, but that
couldn’t be a great combination. He looked at Marci’s worried face and decided
that short of locking Suzanne in a closet or having her stomach pumped, there
wasn’t much they could do about it. Best to be reassuring.
    “Eh,
I don’t think it’s a big deal. They always set those doses conservatively, and
Suzanne has a great metabolism.” He surprised himself a little with how quickly
he came up with this. Maybe he was learning from her after all. “I mean, she
can handle anything, and if it knocks her out or something, you guys can drive
her home and I’ll handle the rest of the event.”
    He
said this with a conviction he did not quite feel, but his bravado seemed to lessen
Marci’s panicked look. He patted her on the arm and added, “Seriously, Marci,
you worry too much. What’s the worst that could happen?”

 
     
    Chapter 7
    Whoever
invented those lovely white pills knew quite a bit about pain relief, Suzanne
decided, but not