A Calculated Seduction(23)

Now, if she could just remember her own warning the next time he kissed her.





Chapter Seven



“Well, what I can’t understand is why you’re going to the Gala with your boss,” Barbie said at brunch the next day. They were seated on the terrace at one of Dulcy’s favorite restaurants in Dallas. She enjoyed the magnificent food as well as the relaxed atmosphere. But for some reason, she’d hardly eaten any of her Denver omelet.

Dulcy sighed and waited for the waiter to refill her coffee cup. The bright sunlight hurt her eyes. She hadn’t had much sleep because thoughts of Ethan and his parting kiss had haunted her. Every time she closed her eyes, she’d see the heat in his. When she finally fell asleep, dreams of him drove her insane. Waking with the memory of his hands on her breasts, her mouth on his skin...

“Earth to Dulcy,” Tori said, snapping her fingers in front of Dulcy’s face.

She cleared her throat. “Sorry, what did you say?”

“I said, I saw a picture of your new boss in the paper. He was with Bill at some kind of charity function. That man is yummy.”

Yeah, he was. And she could have had him for dessert, but she turned him down. If she hadn’t been so positive she’d only wind up being hurt in the end, she’d have feasted on him. She would love to lick him from end to end, concentrating on various body parts. Her face heated. Really, she needed to control these lurid thoughts. Especially when she was with other people.

“Mr. MacMillan is very attractive. But this is just like when I went with Bill. Both of us have to be there early and he lives close to me.”

She shrugged.

“I’d like to meet him. He’s definitely my type of my man,” Tori remarked.

Irritation prickled her skin so her words came out more forcefully then she intended. “He’s not your type.”

Tori glanced at her, surprise lighting her blue eyes. “And what would you know about my type?”

“I know you wouldn’t like a man you couldn’t control. I promise you, there wouldn’t be any hope of doing that with Ethan MacMillan. I’ve never seen a man more in control over everything in his life.”

“I don’t date men I can control,” Tori said. “I just meant that your Mr. MacMillan and I have more in common than the two of you. ”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Dulcy, honey, you look great with your new haircut, but sweety, you could never handle a man like MacMillan,” Barbie said. “He’s way out of your league.”

“And what does that have to do with the two of you?” She looked from one stepsister to the other. Both of them were so perfect, it almost pained her to look at them. Two years apart in age, people always mistook them for twins. Blonde hair, long and curly, always dressed in warm bright colors, the two of them never had a hair out of place or showed any nervousness. Something they’d learned at their mama’s knee.

“Girls,” Clarice admonished. “You’re going about this all wrong.”

“Clarice, what the heck are you talking about?”

“Honey, we’re worried about you.”

She studied the perfect faces that studied her in return.

“Worried? Why would you be worried about me?”

“You’ve been working a lot of late nights, all with this new boss and now you’re going to the Gala with him. I know a few people in Houston who know him and they say he goes through women faster than I go through money.” She sipped her mimosa.

“And then there was that fiancée.”

Her world tilted. He’ d been engaged? “Fiancée?”

“Fiona Jackson. He broke it off and she claimed he cheated on her.”

“Oh.” She didn’t know what to feel. Betrayal he’d never told her? Happiness he was no longer engaged? The two emotions tumbled together and her stomach rolled. She set down her fork.

“You three are acting very strangely. What’s up?”

“Just like I said, Dulcy,” Clarice said.

“No, really. What do you need? Charles is going to be back tomorrow, so I can’t do anything until then.”

“Dulcy, we’re just looking out for your best interest.”

She looked from her stepmother, to Tori, to Barbie, her heart warming. This was the first time they had voiced any worry at all about her. All three of them had depended on her father. They had also loved him almost as much as Dulcy did. One of the only reasons she put up with them. That common bond of love for her father would never be broken, no matter how much they irritated her.