Masquerade and Other Tales by Amanda Ashley

Author:Amanda Ashley [Ashley, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Butterfly Kisses Press
Published: 2017-08-24T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 3

Kathy woke slowly, reluctant to return to the real world after the wonderful dream she’d had the night before. She had spent the night with Elvis, in his arms, in his room, in his bed. He had made love to her as gently and tenderly as ever a man had made love to a woman, and afterward, he had held her in his arms. She had asked him to sing to her, and he had, his voice low and husky, as soft as a sigh, as intimate as a lover’s caress. But it had only been a dream, nothing more…

She took a deep breath and her nostrils filled with the scent of roses.

Suddenly wide awake, she opened her eyes and sat up, the last vestiges of her dream fading into reality.

There were roses everywhere. Crystal vases filled with roses. On the floor. On the dresser. On the desk. Dozens and dozens of pink blooms. And on the pillow beside her, a single, perfect red rosebud. And beneath the bud, a sheet of paper, neatly folded in half.

Her hand trembled as she picked it up.

Kathy, please don’t go home today. Jessie.

Seven words. She read them over and over again, her heart pounding.

Please don’t go home today.

How had he known she was leaving this morning?

Please don’t go home.

Oh, but she couldn’t stay. She had to be at work tomorrow morning…

didn’t she?

Please don’t go.

She picked up the red rose, inhaled its fragrance, brushed the velvet soft petals across her lips. What would happen if she called Mr. Whitney and told him she needed an extra day off? She had some sick time accumulated. Surely he could spare her for just one more day.

Digging her cell phone out of her handbag, she made a quick phone call, all her arguments lined up. As it turned out, they were unnecessary.

“Things are pretty slow right now, Kathy,” Mr. Whitney said. “Take next week if you need to. Myrna can cover for you.”

Kathy was grinning when she closed the phone. Another week. And thanks to the money she had won the night before, she could afford to stay!

She called the airline and cancelled her flight, took a long hot shower, washed her hair.

Even though Jessie had asked her not to go home, he hadn’t mentioned anything about meeting her later, but surely, since he had asked her to stay, he intended to see her tonight.

She dressed quickly, grabbed her handbag, and left the hotel. She had seen a darling little black cocktail dress in the window of an exclusive shop yesterday afternoon. At the time, four hundred dollars had been out of her price range. But not anymore.

There were more roses when she returned to her room. White ones, yellow ones, lavender ones. And another perfect red bloom in a delicate crystal vase. A red ribbon was tied around the vase, and attached to the ribbon was a small white envelope. Inside, she found a ticket for a front row table at the eight o’clock show, and a short note that read:

Order anything you want tonight.

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