client to give one of my recommendations a try.”
“What do you do when that happens?”
“Terminate the client’s agency contract and refund the fees that have been paid. Marriage consultants try to avoid being responsible for bad matches at all costs. It’s not good for business in a field where referrals are everything.”
“I can see that. Until the marriage laws get loosened up a little more, getting stuck in a bad CM is the equivalent of a jail sentence.”
Spoken with great depth of feeling, she thought. It was going to be a very long time, if ever, before Davis was ready to trust a matchmaker again.
Chapter 6
SHE HAD TO KNOW THAT THE DRESS LOOKED SEXY AS hell on her, Davis thought. She must have chosen it deliberately to make an impact on him.
He decided that might or might not be a good thing. If Celinda had set out to tantalize him because she was attracted to him, that was excellent. But in all likelihood she was playing him in order to distract him from the missing relic. Either way, though, it made for an intriguing evening, just as he had anticipated. Frustrating as hell, though. He had been half-aroused ever since he’d picked her up at her door.
They managed to get through a couple of glasses of wine and dinner without discussing the artifact. In fact, three hours later, when the check arrived, Davis was a little stunned to realize how much they had talked about without even straying toward touchy subjects like relics and Guilds.
Either Celinda was an expert when it came to the feminine art of distraction, or else she really did feel some of the sizzle he was experiencing.
She looked up as the waiter came back with the plastic box that contained the uneaten portion of her grilled fish.
“Thank you,” she said, taking the box.
Davis got to his feet. “Is that for you or Araminta?”
“Araminta. I told you, she’s been eating like a very large farm animal lately. I’m a little worried, to be honest. Does Max eat a lot?”
Davis shrugged. “Seems like a reasonable amount for an animal that size.”
“What do you feed him?”
“He seems happy to eat whatever I’m eating.” He smiled a little. “Or drinking. Whenever I open a bottle of beer, he insists I give him some.”
“Wonder what they eat in the wild?”
“Probably better not to ask.”
Outside, the air was a warm, silken cloak. The night was luminous with the faint green glow of the nearby Dead City wall. Parking around restaurants and nightspots was always at a premium in the Quarter. He’d been forced to leave the Phantom a block and a half away in a narrow side lane.
“Why don’t you wait here,” he said to Celinda. “I’ll get the car and bring it around.”
“That’s all right,” she said. “I love the energy here in the Quarter, especially at night.”
She felt it, too, he thought. The energy of the night was all around them. Screw the damn relic. He’d worry about it later. Next year, maybe.
He looked at her. “You’re right. Great energy.”
She smiled.
He took her arm, savoring the feel of soft, bare, female skin under his fingers. In a heartbeat his senses opened wide to the night and the woman beside him. Take it easy; you don’t want to scare her off. But she didn’t look scared.
He managed to wait, just barely, until they left the main street and walked a short distance into the shadowy lane where the Phantom was parked. He stopped in front of the vestibule of a darkened doorway, turned Celinda toward him, and pulled her into his arms. She did not resist. Her hands went to his shoulders.
In the faint, green glow that emanated from the towering quartz wall at the far end of the lane, he could see that her eyes were deep and mysterious, and her lips were slightly parted. Definitely not scared.
He wrapped her close and kissed her hard, letting her feel the rush that was heating his blood.
She made a soft, urgent little sound. Her hands slid from his shoulders, moving up around his
“What do you do when that happens?”
“Terminate the client’s agency contract and refund the fees that have been paid. Marriage consultants try to avoid being responsible for bad matches at all costs. It’s not good for business in a field where referrals are everything.”
“I can see that. Until the marriage laws get loosened up a little more, getting stuck in a bad CM is the equivalent of a jail sentence.”
Spoken with great depth of feeling, she thought. It was going to be a very long time, if ever, before Davis was ready to trust a matchmaker again.
Chapter 6
SHE HAD TO KNOW THAT THE DRESS LOOKED SEXY AS hell on her, Davis thought. She must have chosen it deliberately to make an impact on him.
He decided that might or might not be a good thing. If Celinda had set out to tantalize him because she was attracted to him, that was excellent. But in all likelihood she was playing him in order to distract him from the missing relic. Either way, though, it made for an intriguing evening, just as he had anticipated. Frustrating as hell, though. He had been half-aroused ever since he’d picked her up at her door.
They managed to get through a couple of glasses of wine and dinner without discussing the artifact. In fact, three hours later, when the check arrived, Davis was a little stunned to realize how much they had talked about without even straying toward touchy subjects like relics and Guilds.
Either Celinda was an expert when it came to the feminine art of distraction, or else she really did feel some of the sizzle he was experiencing.
She looked up as the waiter came back with the plastic box that contained the uneaten portion of her grilled fish.
“Thank you,” she said, taking the box.
Davis got to his feet. “Is that for you or Araminta?”
“Araminta. I told you, she’s been eating like a very large farm animal lately. I’m a little worried, to be honest. Does Max eat a lot?”
Davis shrugged. “Seems like a reasonable amount for an animal that size.”
“What do you feed him?”
“He seems happy to eat whatever I’m eating.” He smiled a little. “Or drinking. Whenever I open a bottle of beer, he insists I give him some.”
“Wonder what they eat in the wild?”
“Probably better not to ask.”
Outside, the air was a warm, silken cloak. The night was luminous with the faint green glow of the nearby Dead City wall. Parking around restaurants and nightspots was always at a premium in the Quarter. He’d been forced to leave the Phantom a block and a half away in a narrow side lane.
“Why don’t you wait here,” he said to Celinda. “I’ll get the car and bring it around.”
“That’s all right,” she said. “I love the energy here in the Quarter, especially at night.”
She felt it, too, he thought. The energy of the night was all around them. Screw the damn relic. He’d worry about it later. Next year, maybe.
He looked at her. “You’re right. Great energy.”
She smiled.
He took her arm, savoring the feel of soft, bare, female skin under his fingers. In a heartbeat his senses opened wide to the night and the woman beside him. Take it easy; you don’t want to scare her off. But she didn’t look scared.
He managed to wait, just barely, until they left the main street and walked a short distance into the shadowy lane where the Phantom was parked. He stopped in front of the vestibule of a darkened doorway, turned Celinda toward him, and pulled her into his arms. She did not resist. Her hands went to his shoulders.
In the faint, green glow that emanated from the towering quartz wall at the far end of the lane, he could see that her eyes were deep and mysterious, and her lips were slightly parted. Definitely not scared.
He wrapped her close and kissed her hard, letting her feel the rush that was heating his blood.
She made a soft, urgent little sound. Her hands slid from his shoulders, moving up around his
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