Body Check by Deirdre Martin

Author:Deirdre Martin [Martin, Deirdre]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, General, New York (N.Y.), Love Stories, Publicity, Sports, Sports Stories, Hockey Players, Women Public Relations Personnel, Hockey Teams - New York, Sports - Public Relations, Hockey Teams
ISBN: 9780515134896
Publisher: Jove
Published: 2002-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Christmas Eve. Janna was in her old childhood bedroom. Downstairs, merriment and good cheer were prevailing quite loudly, nearly drowning out the strains of A Bing Crosby Christmas which her father insisted on playing at their open house for as long as she could remember. She had put in her face time, greeting her parents’ friends and making small talk with her father’s most important clients. It dawned on her, as she watched her infinitely charming, cocktail-driven mother circulate among the guests, making sure everyone was happy and well watered, that this is where she herself had acquired her ability to work a room. It was genetic.

After she was sure she had been seen by all, she made a small plate of hors d’oeuvres, poured herself a well-deserved glass of champagne, and crept upstairs to her old boudoir, fully intending to reappear after she’d had a small taste of peace and quiet.

The room hadn’t changed since she’d last occupied it as a teenager: same canopy bed with matching dresser and armoire, same plush white carpet. The back of her door was still covered with a collage of Playbills from Broadway shows she had attended, and the plump, pink silk divan she used to carelessly toss her clothing over still sat in the corner by the built-in bookcases. This was the room in which she used to dream. How fitting, then, that sitting here now on her marshmallow soft bed, her thoughts strayed to Ty.

She was angry with him for oh-so-many reasons: his stance—non-stance—on Lubov; his refusal to give two minutes of time to the men who signed his checks; his kissing her at the party. She shouldn’t have let him do it. Instead, she should have made a great show of pushing him away. Everyone around them thought his grabbing her was a joke, but they both knew better. He said he wanted to show her what she was missing. Did that mean he was missing it, too? Or was he just trying to get under her skin?

She used to scoff at friends who claimed to miss their lovers to the point of actually aching. Now she knew they weren’t exaggerating. She ached for him, ached so badly that she fantasized about putting anger aside and confessing to him she didn’t care where he stood on the Lubov case, she simply couldn’t go one more day without feeling his body next to hers. After the Christmas party, she had picked up the phone at least half a dozen times, but each time she chickened out. The prospect of rejection was too devastating to contemplate, the depth of her own need a source of shame and weakness to her.

Miserable, she drank deeply from her flute of champagne. She wished Theresa were here. Janna had invited her, but apparently, not being with the family on Christmas Eve was tantamount to treason among the Falconetti clan, and she’d had to decline. Theresa is doing pretty well considering, Janna thought. She suffered from sporadic

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.