Thieves In The Night by Tara Janzen

Author:Tara Janzen [Janzen, Tara]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance
Publisher: Tara Janzen
Published: 2012-04-20T04:00:00+00:00

Dinner at the Hotel Orleans had a lot of things going for it—fine food, good wine, and better service than the bar. But the best thing was their menu setup. They only served one entree per night, take it or leave it. That night’s selection could have been hog jowls and Chantal wouldn’t have cared less as long as she didn’t have to make a decision. She was still feeling the repercussions from one she’d made weeks ago in this same dining room.

She moved the lightly sauced and undoubtedly delicious tournedos maison around her plate, arranging and rearranging the shitake mushrooms between the two pieces of meat.

Roger waved the waiter over. “Take Ms. Cochard’s plate back to the kitchen and bring her another.” In typical fashion, he didn’t check with her first.

“No, It’s fine, really,” she said, stabbing her fork into a broccoli floweret. If she married Roger, if he ever asked, her decision-making days would be over, she mused. Jaz had let her make plenty of decisions, and the only emotional blackmail he wielded was the sensual kind. In that department he made the other men she’d known look like rank amateurs. A very private smile softened her mouth.

“Now, that’s the Chantal we all know and love.” Roger gave her hand a squeeze. His voice was a grating intrusion on her thoughts, and her smile immediately disappeared. Yes, she silently agreed. He and Elise both loved the pliable, subservient Chantal, a role she was having a harder time maintaining. Jaz was a breath of fresh air in her life, accepting her decisions even when his life depended on them. The knowledge was a heady source of power, as was the potent desire that flamed between them. Never had a man made it so clear that he wanted her at any cost. No, Jaz Peterson wasn’t shy. Her smile returned.

“Chantal?” Elise asked. “Will you take some papers down to the courthouse for us tomorrow?” Wine had softened the timbre of her voice. “I’ll bring them to lunch.” It had also softened the rather pinched look she’d worn this morning. But it hadn’t changed anything else, Chantal thought. Lunch would be a time of reckoning.

“Yes,” she said, getting a head start on her penance. Old habits were hard to break.

“Oh, look.” Elise’s voice rose to a lilt. “There are Jimmy and Angela Sandhurst. Have you invited them to the Lodestar Charity Ball yet?”

The broccoli hung in midair, halfway to her mouth, destined not to get any farther. Slowly, with the utmost concentration, she lowered her fork back to the plate. Using all the skill at her disposal, she loosened her stranglehold on the utensil and released it without a clatter. She was ready for this. Right? She’d known it would happen. Right?

“Elise, I don’t think the Sandhursts are interested in charity fund-raisers.” Her voice sounded pretty good, increasing her confidence.

“My dear, everyone with money is interested in charity. It helps ease the guilt of having so much wealth among the starving masses.

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