The Trophy Wife by Sandra Steffen

Author:Sandra Steffen
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Physicians, Deception, Contemporary, General, Romance, California, Upper Class Women, Fiction
ISBN: 9780373387137
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2001-01-02T07:00:00+00:00

Eight

The inn's door opened easily when Tripp nudged it with his elbow; Amber had left it ajar. The woman thought of everything.

As he shouldered his way through, he noticed that she appeared to be having a serious conversation with the no-nonsense woman standing near a desk in the next room. Apparently, there was a problem.

The bed-and-breakfast could have been lifted straight off the pages of a glossy magazine. It was Southern in style, with tall pillars and a verandah that stretched along the entire front. As long as it had running water and a couple of clean rooms, Tripp wouldn't have cared if it was a shack.

He looked around him in the foyer. This was no shack.

He'd paid the taxi driver, arranged his carry-on and most of Amber's bags over his shoulders and in his arms, then followed the course she'd taken up the wide brick walkway. He was hot and sweaty, his clothes wrinkled, his shirt stuck to his back. With every step, the thought of a cool shower and a quiet room grew more appealing.

"I have the confirmation right here." Amber lowered a shoulder bag to her feet and rifled through her purse.

Tripp stopped a few strides away. Whatever the problem, she seemed to be handling it. Which came as no surprise to him.

"According to this fax, dated two days ago," she said with quiet emphasis, "rooms ten and twelve are reserved in our names."

The other woman's countenance changed by degrees as she perused the fax. Next, she studied her register again. "Oh, dear."

Easing closer, Tripp said, "Problem?"

The other woman was probably fifty, and wore it well. Her auburn hair was smartly styled. Her diamond ring must have been three or four carats, her clothing as refined as the Southern lilt in her voice. "I don't know how it happened, but we just ushered two dentists and their wives from Iowa to rooms ten and twelve. They had confirmations, too."

The bags were getting heavy. "You're saying you don't have a room for us?" Tripp asked.

"Oh, no." She gave him a small smile. "We have a room for you."

Hoisting the bag that was slowly slipping from his grasp, he said, "Excellent. Where are they located? If you'd point us in the right direction, we'll find them ourselves."

He didn't know what to make of the furtive glance Amber and the other woman exchanged. It was Amber who answered. "Not them, Tripp. It. There's only one room reserved for us."

The innkeeper said, "If it's any consolation, I've always felt it was the loveliest room in the inn."

Tripp glanced down at Amber. Her hair was mussed, her lipstick long gone. She'd been traveling for hours. She'd been ill. How in the hell did she manage to look so damned appealing?

He needed some space.

He needed a shower, bad. And he needed both soon. "It doesn't matter if our rooms aren't next to each other," he said. In fact, it might be better if they weren't. Turning to the other woman, he said, "Put Amber in your loveliest room, and give me another one.

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