In His Wildest Dreams by Debbi Rawlins

Author:Debbi Rawlins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2001-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

9

“ATTENTION EVERYONE.” Mrs. Simon tapped the side of her crystal wineglass with a silver cocktail fork. “May I please have everyone’s attention for a moment?”

Propped in front of the stone fireplace like a damn centerpiece, Nick glared at the woman. She’d promised him there’d be no big to-do over this award. Shit! A root canal without Novocain would’ve been preferable to standing here in front of all these people. See if he volunteered for next year’s fund drive.

To top it all off, he was pretty sure he’d seen Doc earlier. So what the hell was she doing here? Recalling the glimpse he’d had of her—hair down, that black dress that showed off every damn curve better than he could’ve fantasized, got his heart pumping faster than an oil rig.

While Mrs. Simon droned on about the importance of volunteerism, Nick scanned the crowd. Just as she handed him the bronze plaque engraved with his name, he spotted Emma.

She stood in the back next to a potted palm, looking as happy to be here as he was. Her hair was down, draping her breasts, the rich brown strands highlighted golden by the waning sun streaming in from the terrace doors.

Her lips were tinted pink, glistening, tempting. And that dress, showing off just the right amount of cleavage—enough to make a grown man cry—was downright lethal.

“Nick?”

He stared blankly at the concern in Mrs. Simon’s face. “Yeah?”

Someone coughed. A few others laughed.

Mrs. Simon pressed her lips together but couldn’t quite conceal the smile lurking at the corners. “Don’t you have anything to say?”

He glanced down at the plaque, and then at the curious and amused faces out in the crowd. He cleared his throat, pushed a hand through his hair. It was still damp. “Yeah, thanks.”

More laughter.

He didn’t care. All he wanted was to get out of here, and a drink sure as hell wouldn’t hurt either. He moved away and headed straight for a tray of champagne.

“Well, since Nick is too modest to speak on his own behalf,” Mrs. Simon began. “I’d like to further extend my appreciation for his generous contribution to the shelter and to the people of this city.”

Emma watched Nick try to make a run for it. He downed nearly an entire flute of champagne and was heading toward the back of the house before Tiffany caught up with him. He didn’t seem pleased that she’d wrapped a hand around his arm and tried to stop him, or that she tried to follow him when he wouldn’t be waylaid.

“Most of you don’t realize,” Mrs. Simon was saying, “that Nick doesn’t only donate a goodly portion of his own money, but he gives a considerable amount of his time to the shelter. Currently he is working on developing a small business that would employ many of our city’s homeless men and women with all profit generated going to the shelter.”

The crowd applauded and started looking around to see where Nick had gone.

He looked angry, standing in the back, Tiffany still plastered to his side.

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.