Behind the Red Doors - Omnibus (2003) by Vicki Lewis Thompson;Stephanie Bond;Leslie Kelly

Author:Vicki Lewis Thompson;Stephanie Bond;Leslie Kelly
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, Adult, English, General, Love Stories
ISBN: 9780373835690
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2003-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

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CHAPTER SIX

Saturday, February 8, 2003

CARTER WAS THANKFUL for the Saturday crowd of people who’d heard about the massive Valentino diamond and wanted to take a gander at it. Constantly scanning the bodies queued up in serpentine fashion between black velvet ropes, and standing sentinel next to the glass case, helped pass the day without too many awkward encounters with Faith. Of course, she was busy in her own regard, maybe more so, handing out little cards to anyone willing to take a few minutes to create something called a “wish list,” and waiting on customers without a break in her smile or her step.

He’d replayed yesterday’s events in his mind until he wished he could hit an erase button. He’d snapped at everyone in sight, including Faith when she hinted that she could arrange special financing for “Trudy’s” ring. He’d felt like a louse for deceiving her, not to mention embarrassed and annoyed that she assumed he had no resources. Of course, why wouldn’t she? He’d agreed to look at the rings only to be alone with her, then pretended the prices were out of his reach to get out of buying one! The truth was, he didn’t earn an exorbitant salary, but he spent much less than he made, and he could have paid cash for any two rings on that tray, dammit, if he’d had a mind to.

So now on top of all her other opinions of him, she also thought he was poor—or cheap. And while that played into his plan of not becoming involved with Faith, it did not play well into his ego. He sank his hand into his pocket and fingered the small box that had burned a hole into his thigh all day. His mind kept saying that he might as well take care of an item of family business while he had access to a jeweler that he could trust. But his heart chimed in that revealing the box would go a long way in soothing his pride.

Last night at the gym…well, that had been a pure fuster-cluck all the way around. He suspected that Faith had gone out with Sills afterward because this morning the man kept hinting at what a “hot” date he’d had. The thought of the two of them together made him want to break something—especially since the guy was traveling on to Schenectady or somewhere after this gig was over. If Faith was suddenly hip to the idea of having a fling, why not have one with him?

Because, he reminded himself with a mental thump to the forehead, she thought he was on the verge of proposing to another woman! And wouldn’t the box in his pocket only further cement his lie? His head hurt from chasing the same thoughts over and over. And he felt a distinct pain in the middle of his chest. He rubbed the skin over his breastbone with his knuckles. The only explanation he could think of was that he’d pulled a muscle in his chest last night at the gym.

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