The Edge of Eternity by Stevens Amanda

Author:Stevens, Amanda [Stevens, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Suspense
ISBN: 9780373228829
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2005-11-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

The festivities were well under way by the time Elizabeth and Paul arrived at the Glacier Ballroom later that night. As they entered through the double doors, Elizabeth had the strangest sensation of having stepped back in time. The room was magnificent with its hand-painted frescoes and elaborate domed ceiling, which was an exact replica of the original. High arched windows looked out on a manicured garden draped with tiny fairy lights that twinkled like stars against a backdrop of night and shadow.

From a dais at one end of the ballroom the orchestra played something old-fashioned and romantic as couples glided across the polished marble floor, the women’s swirling gowns a kaleidoscope of silks and satins that shimmered sumptuously beneath the imported chandeliers. A champagne fountain flowed freely near buffet tables laden with delicacies and adorned with ice sculptures and crystal bowls of floating orchids. In every corner banks of flowers—cyclamens, camellias and stargazer lilies—were showcased brilliantly against a background of feathery ferns and stately palm trees.

No expense had been spared even for a trial run, and Elizabeth could only imagine what the owners of the hotel had planned for the actual grand opening.

Her arm was looped through Paul’s as they stood just inside the doorway. She wasn’t quite certain how that had happened. Earlier he’d had someone from the hotel pick them up at the cottage so that she wouldn’t have to walk even so short a distance in her high heels. He’d taken her hand to help her out of the golf cart, but afterward Elizabeth couldn’t quite remember when or why she’d slipped her arm through his. But here they stood, joined together as if the last eighteen months hadn’t ripped them asunder.

As if sensing that she might pull away from him at any moment, Paul placed his hand over hers and squeezed. Elizabeth tilted her head to look at him. Neither of them said anything, but for the longest time their gazes clung.

Elizabeth shivered, not from the cold draft that had followed them inside but from the sudden heat in her husband’s eyes. He wanted her. More than ever, he seemed to be telling her.

Drawing a deep, quivering breath, she tore her gaze away just as Frankie came up beside her. She wore one of Elizabeth’s designs, too, a metallic satin sheath that draped her lush curves like liquid silver. She’d pulled her dark hair back and rimmed her gray eyes with kohl, giving them an exotic tilt at the corners.

“There you are,” she said to Elizabeth. “I wondered if you were going to make it.” She glanced past Elizabeth and nodded. “Hello, Paul.”

He nodded back. “Frankie.”

The greeting was about as cold and perfunctory as Elizabeth could imagine.

“Would you mind if I borrowed Elizabeth for a moment? I need to have a word with her,” Frankie said coolly. “It’s business. You understand, don’t you, Paul?”

Rather than relinquishing his hold on Elizabeth, his grip tightened on her hand. “Can it wait? I’ve been looking forward all day to dancing with my wife.

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