One Blazing Night by Jo Leigh

Author:Jo Leigh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-04-12T16:00:00+00:00

11

IT TOOK SAM a while to get over Matt’s reaction to seeing her at the lab. The security lighting had made it very easy to see his eyes, and she truly believed he was telling her the truth. That to him, she was beautiful.

Her appearance hadn’t been something she’d ever paid much attention to. Too many other things interested her. But like most little girls, she’d read fairy tales, and besides Matt, she’d had a couple of other crushes on guys—mostly movie stars—so nights like this were stored in her hard drive, but they weren’t anything real.

Of course, he looked like a dream in his tuxedo. He would have looked at home on any magazine cover. All that handsome in one place. It was no surprise that people stared at him. He was better-looking than anyone else she had ever seen, and he was a Wilkinson, after all. And she knew he was the company’s senior counsel, but she had no idea what it meant to be part of a dynasty.

The gala was in the main ballroom, and it was like walking into another world. Sam wasn’t a total rube. Before she’d started sending checks to worthy causes, she’d been to a few fund-raisers, but nothing on this scale. This was extravagant squared. The orchestra was very large, larger than most ballrooms could accommodate. Above the musicians hung a large-screen monitor playing a continuous slide show of hospital promo pics. All around them were round tables, with fall-themed centerpieces. There were the ubiquitous white-jacketed waiters and waitresses carrying trays of champagne, but there were also strategically placed cocktail stations. Made sense if your goal was to raise money. Get ’em wasted and go for the big bucks.

They hadn’t made it very far into the room when the first couple approached them. The man was older than the woman by at least one wife, and he looked Sam over as if she were a brand-new car.

“Matthew,” the man said, holding out his hand. “Good to see you. We only seem to connect at these parties, don’t we?”

Matt was very cordial. Introduced her with her full name. The husband, Culver Gordon, didn’t offer Sam his hand. “I’m a lobbyist,” he said. “American Hospital Association.”

“I didn’t realize hospitals had lobbyists.”

The wife, Georgia, added, with a slight eyeroll, “Everything’s got lobbyists.”

“I suppose so.”

“Sam’s in computers,” Matt said, which was accurate.

“Oh, I just got one of those Apple Watches,” Georgia said, “but I can’t seem to do anything but tell the time on it.”

Sam smiled. “I know. I swear you need an advanced degree to figure them out.”

Georgia smiled and nodded.

“I hope you two have a wonderful evening,” Matt said. “We’d stay and talk, but I haven’t even said hello to the folks yet.” His arm hadn’t left its place around her shoulders, and Sam beamed inwardly at the thought.

They continued on their way through the room, being stopped every few paces. It was ridiculous how many people Matt knew. It had literally taken them ten minutes to make it a few feet.

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.