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The Tessarae Inn |
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Suspicions In Scarlet Repose CHAPTER 5 “Who is that guy over there who’s being staring at us every since we arrived. Do you know him?” Todd glanced over to the bar and locked his gaze on Albert for a second then shifted his gaze back to Blair. “No one of any importance. Just another jerk who’s probably panting like a dog after my wife. Nothing unusual.” “Hey.” “You’re the one who decided to wear that dress. Plus, you’ve plied me with drinks with the obvious intent of getting me all liquored up. Do you want to tell me why we’re here?” “Dancing. ” “You’re dancing. I’m just standing here giving you something to hold onto.” “I noticed that. Not nearly as much fun as it should be.” “You want fun? Let’s go home and I’ll give you some big fun—something solid to hold onto. Give you something real to feel.” “You need to stop talking like that, right now.” “Turning you on?” “What do you think? Good thing you’re not moving.” He pulled her closer to him and pressed himself even closer then began to move very slowly. “We can correct that but you have to pay up as soon as we get off this dance floor. There’s a couch in RJ’s office.” Blair laughed then stepped back and grabbed his hand. “Okay, enough of the dancing. You win.” "Whimp. You give up too easily, Blair." She snorted and pulled him along toward the bar. He was very happy to see his drink waiting for him where he had left it when Blair insisted that they just had to dance. Dance his ass. She just wanted to drive him nearly crazy moving like that in that dress because she damn well knew what she did to him. She’d pay for it later. He had plans for his babe tonight. “Well, my little establishment is graced by your presence.” Todd begrudgingly shifted his gaze away from Blair. “RJ, fancy meeting you here.” “I can see why you’d say that given it’s my club and all. Not like I’d be around or anything.” Todd gritted his teeth and turned his head toward Blair. “See why I’m keeping my distance from him, her, and this place?” “Oh, come on, Manning, and let’s get this over with. I’m sure you are looking forward to it as much as I am.” Blair suddenly sat up straight then leaned forward. “Well, RJ, I hadn’t quite gotten around to telling him…” “I see, that explains why he’s here." Blair rolled her eyes at RJ who just looked at her with a big smirk on his face. Todd studied both of them for a second. Whatever was going on could not be good. RJ reached below the bar and pulled out a bottle of Scotch. He topped off Todd's glass then said, "Care to join me, best man, in my office for some more Scotch, Bourbon, and privacy. No need of fighting our women folk without a plan.” What the hell? What had Blair gotten him into. He stared at Blair through narrowed eyes but she pressed her lips together and looked up at the ceiling. Was she actually humming? When in the hell had his life gotten to a point where he not only had to fight off the Cramer Coven but also the honorary member Toni Reynolds’ self-appointed emissary? He didn't like where this was heading. He didn't like it at all.
Blair took a sip of her drink and then glanced toward the hallway that led to RJ’s office. Toni could never claim she hadn’t given it her best shot but they invented the phrase “lost cause” for a reason. She picked up her drink. It was probably better to put some distance between her and RJ’s office if for no other reason than to give Todd some space when he came barreling out of there. She walked over to the empty booth near the back of the club and settled in to wait for Todd. “Mind if I join you for a second?” Blair looked up and found a man she'd noticed earlier now leaning against the other side of the booth. Yellow flags started waving. Okay, she would never admit it to Todd but she did wear this dress to turn him the hell on but she was not interested in any other male attention. She’d try to be gentle but this guy needed to keep his eyeballs to himself and move on to his next target. “I am waiting for my husband.” He smiled gently. “My intentions are at worst honorable. We just have some mutual acquaintances, one of which is your husband, and I wanted to take the opportunity to meet you is all.” “You know my husband?” “We have met and discussed a few things.” “As long as you know who he is.” “A man in love with his wife, I see. Not likely to handle covetous attention very well.” She smiled. “Not well at all.” He smiled back at her and Blair realized for the first time what a handsome man he was. He was tall and solidly built with thick, wavy, dark-brown hair cut short in the back but long on top so that even in the still atmosphere of Capricorn his hair seemed to be moving. He had dark brown eyes framed by round tortoise shell eyeglasses and a mustache that trailed down into a goatee. He was dressed in jeans, a soccer jersey and tennis shoes. There was something sexy about him in a low-keyed natural way as if he was Clark Kent or an athlete for one of the unsung sports who wore his prowess and physical grace lightly. She gestured toward the other side of the booth and he slid in then reached across the table and shook her hand. “My name is Albert Wright. I am head of an a charity organization that is concerned about world hunger.” Blair raised her eyebrow. Oh, so this was about hitting her up for a donation. She glanced at her watch. RJ had at the most five minutes before Todd blew up. She’d give this Wright guy until then to make his pitch. “I know that I appear somewhat casual but we believe in meeting people on common ground. No pretension.” “I guess this is truly common ground.” He smiled. “I don’t frequent bars usually. That is true, but I also don’t pass judgment about where other people spend their time. I am involved in a charity organization, not a religion. I am trying to do my part to make the world a better place.” “Why did you target me?” His eyes widened. “Target you?" He stared at her but then seemed to relax and almost smile. "No, you have misunderstood. I am not here to solicit money or a donation. I just wanted you to have some idea of who I am. To understand why finding someone who shared my passion was such a miracle.” “Todd? Are you sure you've even met my husband?” “No. That’s not what I mean.” “Blair. Blair. Blair. Cousin, you are looking good." She looked up quickly and was greeted by the sight of Kelly dressed in an extremely short yellow slip dress that matched the color of her hair and emphasized the gold tint of her skin. She was obviously dressed to impress the male gender and Blair doubted she'd have much trouble achieving that goal tonight. "Kelly." "I can’t believe my luck running into you here. I was just about to lose my mind with Aunt Dorian. She is in a rage about something and wants an audience. If I hadn’t sneaked out while she was on the phone yelling at Andrew, she’d probably be here right now, stuck to me like glue. She was making noises about you too, by the way. So-o-o-o-o if she shows up here I’m pitching you to her like a piece of raw meat to a hungry lion. No hard feelings. Okay?” Oh, crap. Blair bit her lip and shook her head. Dorian. That was another thing she needed to tell Todd about. She was trying to give Toni’s plan a chance to work and having Todd fuming about Dorian was not the way to put him in a receptive mood but she couldn’t lull herself into thinking Dorian was not serious. Thankfully, she had a chance to warn Cassie, who, it seemed, was now successfully hiding out. “Oh, hello, I’m Kelly Cramer.” Blair glanced up and realized that Kelly had zeroed in on Albert Wright. She had to smile at Kelly's single minded determination but then stopped short when she saw the whiff of sadness in Kelly’s eyes. She was on the prowl because the final divorce decree from Kevin had come a couple of weeks ago and she’d been working like mad to pretend it didn’t bother her. Blair knew that strategy well. Kevin and Kelly never belonged together in the first place. Even Kelly knew that but it was still a hard job letting go of something your heart pretended it wanted. Kelly was going to be all right. She just needed a little time and a safe distraction or two. “Kelly, this is Mr. Wright. He is head of an organization trying to eradicate world hunger.” Kelly’s eyes lit up. “Really? How wonderful.” She slipped into the booth next to Albert and said, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Right, unlike Mr. Wrong, who it is never nice to meet or marry.” Kelly giggled loudly. “I bet you hear that a lot, don’t you?” Albert frowned slightly. “No," he said slowly. "Not really, but maybe it would be easier if you just call me Albert.” Kelly flipped her hair then settled her gaze on Albert. “Do you have a middle name?” “Bernard.” “Ummmm. How about AB?” “What?” “I think I’ll call you AB. Frankly, you don’t look like an Albert or a Bernard.” “Miss Cramer, I’m not sure why it matters but if you prefer AB to Albert it is fine with me.” “Good. I feel better now. I always like to feel that connection, you know.” “I’m not sure--” “Are you looking for money?” “Ms. Cramer, in my line of work we are always looking for money.” “Call me Kelly.” “As you wish.” Kelly bounced slightly in her seat. “Here’s an idea. I’ll listen to your pitch but first you have to dance with me.” “I don’t think that’s appropriate.” “It’s just a dance. You can dance, can’t you?” “Actually, I’m very good at it.” “Great then,” said Kelly. She slipped quickly out of the booth then stuck her hand out to Albert. He glanced at Blair who shrugged. Finally, he slid out of the seat, took Kelly’s hand and led her to the dance floor. Kelly glanced over her shoulder and caught Blair's eye then pointed at Albert's back and gestured as if she was whipping off a pair of glasses then mouthed the word “gorgeous.” Gorgeous or not, didn’t she see the ring on his finger? Of course, something like that would not stop Kelly given her current state of mind. Poor Albert “AB” Wright. Still, at the worst, Kelly would just talk his ear off, dance him into the ground and then cough up a sizeable check for his organization. There were worse and a whole lot less profitable ways to spend an hour or so. She watched Kelly and Albert for a few minutes. Apparently, he hadn't lied about his dancing ability. He and Kelly quickly fell into a rhythm and were doing some complicated two-step pattern with shifting hand positions, turns and dips. It was somewhat disconcerting because it looked as if they had been dancing together for years. Blair shifted her gaze to the hallway at the far end of the bar. Todd would probably come steaming out any second now. And that would be one explosion behind them but suppose Kelly told Dorian where she was planning to go tonight? It would be just like Dorian to time her entrance so that she would run smack dab into an irate Todd. Blair took a sip of her drink then gave up and drained her glass. Dorian was just mad about Cassie and Carl and she was taking it out on her and Todd. But an upset Dorian could be a force of nature. They would work it out and mend fences but tonight was not the time. In fact, she couldn’t think of a worse time. Blair glanced at the main entrance to Capricorn warily. When she saw a whirl of dark hair barrel in, she held her breath. A cold front and a hot front were about to collide and the resulting storm was not going to be pretty.
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Suspicions In Scarlet Repose FAN FICTION SLIDESHOWS
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