Breath of Scandal(49)

Sandra Brown



Breath of Scandal



137



checks and balances. However, nothing could be as bad as returning to that glass box and a drafting table. Motion was always preferable to stagnation.

,,1,m willing to tackle just about anything, Mr. Pilot.

That night Dillon brought home a bouquet of flowers, a loaf of bakery-fresh bread, and a bottle of wine. "What's the occasion?" Debra gasped breathlessly after he released her from a searing hello kiss.

-whars for dinner?" "Hamburgers. Why?"

"Good. Because I brought red wine."

"I think you drank a bottle on the way home," she said, sniffing his breath- "You're acting very strange. A husband bearing gifts in the first year of marriage is as suspect as the Trojan horse, Are you having an affair?"

"Absolutely." He lowered his hands to her bottom and pulled her against him. "With the sexiest broad ever to come out of Atlanta. "

"Lil' o1' me?" . So," he drawled with a lecherous "None other, sugar pie.

grin, "wanna f*ck?"

"Uh-huh. stripped off their They raced each other to the bedroom



clothes, and made love. Afterward, while Debra was catching her breath as she lay amid the rumpled sheets, Dillon slipped from the room and returned with the gifts he had brought home. He laid them out in front of her.

,,What do these three items have in common?" he asked. "They're all bribes."

"Cute. Try again-"

"You must have had a terrific day at work. What's going on?"

"Will I have to find another girl to play with, or what?" "Okay, okay. Flowers, wine, and bread," she mused. s or mold, some"Does it have anything to do with spore



thing like that?"

He shook his head. "It's not so much the flowers as the ribbon around them."

"Red, white and blue striped. " She began to sing. " 'My country 'tis of Thee, sweet land-' "

"Another country whose colors are red, white, and blue. "

:'England. " I



Another. "

She picked up the bottle of wine and read the label. Then, lifting her quizzical gaze to Dillon, she said, "France?" He broke into a wide grin. "Congratulations, young woman! You win first prize."

'Which is?"

:'Two years, maybe more, in Paris!" "Dillon?"

"Actually just outside Paris-Versailles, where the palace is located. I don't think you'll mind living in the suburbs, will you?"

Debra squealed "Dillon, what are you talking about?" He told her about the job Pilot had offered him. "It's for an international insurance firm. They were building a new office complex for their European headquarters. The contracting firm turned out to be incompetent, and the work was scrapped until a new one could be hired."

"Pilot bid on the project?"

"Right. Now Pilot needs a troubleshooting engineer to go over there and whip this mess into shape."

"And Forrest G. Pilot chose you."

He spread his arms away from his naked body and tried in vain to look humble. Debra launched herself against him. He toppled over backward, carrying her down with him and squashing the loaf of French bread.

"Can you believe that he thought living in France would be a drawback?" Dillon asked. "Little did he know that my wife's main ambition in life is to go to France and hone her skills in the language."

"Did you tell him that?"

"Hey, I ain't stupid. I appeared disgruntled over having



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Sandra Brown



Breath of Scandal



139



to live abroad and said that ' I accepted the job, I would I Iif



have to have more money,

"What did he say?" eek raise."

"A hundred dollars a w nt, they made love again. The In an orgy of exciterne for dinner were hamburgers Debra had planned to serve ad and the tepid substituted with the smashed loaf of bre



bottle of wine. After they had demolished the last crumb the last drop, they lay together on top Of the and drained



scattered, crushed flowers and drowsily discussed their sunny future



The move was a nightmare. There were Passports and visas to obtain, weepy relatives to bid goodbye, and a milThose responsibilities generally



lion loose ends to tie up. if fell to Debra while Dillon was busy familiarizing himse with the unfinished project he had taken on. He was eager to get under way. As it turned out, he went to France ahead



met her at Charles of Debra to make living arrangements and



de Gaulle Airport three weeks later.

Leaving customs, she rushed into his arms and they held escorted her through the busy ineach other close. As he how much he had ternational airport, he told her repeatedly



missed her.

"You can't fool me, Burke," she teased as they entered Ig garage. "You've probably gone through a score the parkir eks." Laughing, of French mistresses in the last three we asked he ushered her toward a car. "Is this Ours?" she