Red Hot Lies: A Steamy Fake Engagement Romance by Mia Madison

Author:Mia Madison [Madison, Mia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-01-06T16:00:00+00:00

The crème brûlée for dessert was every bit as good as at the French restaurant I’d taken Liz to. Better, actually, because while I ate, I got to watch Liz blush. Unless I was very much mistaken, she’d gone from wanting her mother to notice her kissing me out on the balcony to praying her mother didn’t know what we’d been up to in her old bedroom. Too bad she couldn’t have it both ways. Well, bad for her. For me, watching the blush and the secret smiles that occasionally crossed her face was every bit as delicious as the rich custard.

Liz’s mother offered a sweet white wine to go with the dessert, but I opted for coffee. I had a lot to think about, all of it concerning Liz. The things we’d talked about—and the things we’d done—would be on my mind for quite some time.

And then her grandfather gave me something else to think about.

He got to his feet, still a sprightly figure despite his age. Everyone quieted down even before he tapped his spoon against his glass. Liz was right about him relishing the role of family patriarch. Everyone seemed to fall in line when he was around.

“A toast,” he announced grandly. His gaze fell on Liz. “To my beloved granddaughter. You’ve found yourself a good man in Jackson Burke. I wish you both health and happiness for many years to come.”

He raised his glass along with everyone else. Liz had her eyes on her mother, but Yvonne seemed just as eager to toast our happiness as anyone else. Hopefully that meant we’d pulled it off.

“Thank you, Grandpa,” Liz said, looking pleased. I echoed my thanks, but Charles Dunlap didn’t sit down. He stood ramrod straight, the hand holding the glass not shaking at all.

“There’s one more thing.” He gazed around the room, looking in turn at his wife, daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter, and then me. “This day has been a long time coming. Dunlap Spices has meant everything to me for nearly my entire life. Even longer than I’ve been married.” He favored his wife with a smile. “But nothing—or maybe I should say no one—can go on forever. Therefore, on Monday I’ll be officially announcing my intention to retire.”

Though the news didn’t sound that earthshattering to me, his family was obviously surprised. Probably he was one of those men people thought would never retire. And he obviously hadn’t consulted anyone because even Liz’s grandmother looked surprised.

Dunlap waited until the questions and exclamations had died down. “I’m still the owner of the company, and I will be until the day I die. And I’ll be on the board. But I’ll no longer be the man in charge on a daily basis. Therefore, I’ll begin the search for a new CEO of the company ASAP. It’s always been my custom to hire from inside. That means I’ll be interviewing several of my upper managers. They’re inside the company. But I’m also interested in people inside the family.”

I glanced proudly at Liz.

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