Marriage Terms

Daniel put his hand on the small of her back. “This is my friend, Amanda.

Amanda, Mrs. Cavalli.”

Amanda held out her hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Do you have any pets, dear?”

“Uh, no.” Amanda shook her head. “I’m afraid I don’t.”

“You should consider adopting one from the shelter. That’s where we got Buttons, three, maybe four years ago.” Mrs. Cavalli turned to Daniel. “The little dickens got into some caramel candy last week.”

“Did she?”

Mrs. Cavalli chuckled, her bosom jiggling. “Took the groomer three hours to get it out of her fur.”

Then she turned back to Amanda. “She’s a cockapoo. Big brown eyes. Just a treasure.”

“She sounds adorable,” said Amanda.

“Will we see you at the Children’s Hospital tea, dear?”

Amanda glanced at Daniel.

“Amanda works during the day,” he said.

Mrs. Cavalli drew back, her eyes rounding. “Oh, I see.”

“Amanda is a lawyer.”

“Well, that’s lovely, dear. Perhaps another time?”

“Perhaps,” said Amanda.

Mrs. Cavalli gave a fluttery-fingered wave. “I must go find Maeve.”

“Nice to see you,” called Daniel.

“Daniel!” boomed a hearty voice as a gray-haired man in a tuxedo reached for his hand.

“Senator Wallace,” Daniel greeted in return.

“Did you catch the closing numbers in oil futures this afternoon?” asked Wallace.

Without waiting for an answer, he held up his palms. “We have got to drill in Alaska, that’s all there is to it. Sooner the better as far as California is concerned.”

“What about conservation measures?” asked Daniel.

Senator Wallace pointed his index finger at Daniel. “You show me an SUV owner willing to turn down his air-conditioning, and I’ll show you a liberal Democrat about to support Adam Simpson.” He laughed heartily.

Amanda smiled, even though she didn’t really understand the joke.

“You get caught up in the Chesapeake scandal?” asked the senator.

Daniel shook his head. “I got out of tech stocks early.”

“Damn accountants,” said the senator. “No better than the lawyers.”

Amanda’s discomfort must have shown, because Senator Wallace acknowledged her for the first time. “Don’t get me wrong, little lady. I’m a lawyer myself. But damn these upstarts, we’ve got to put the economic clout back in the hands of the Fortune 500.”

Amanda clenched her jaw, and her hand tightened on Daniel’s arm.

Daniel quickly redirected the senator’s attention. “Senator, you remember Bob Solomon. Bob, come and say hi to Senator Wallace.”

A man disengaged himself from a nearby conversation group and shook the senator’s hand.

“Bob was a big supporter of the Nicholson campaign,” said Daniel.

The senator’s grin broadened.

Daniel eased Amanda away from the conversation.

“What I want to know,” she said, “is, if the economic clout is no longer in the hands of the Fortune 500, who the hell does he think has it?”

“Let’s move on,” said Daniel.

“Let’s move upstairs,” said Amanda.

He glanced down at her. “Upstairs?”

Amanda stopped and faced him. She had planned to have a drink, maybe two or three before this moment, but she didn’t think she could last much longer.

“I have a confession.”

His brows went up. “Do tell.”

“I rented a room.”

“You what?”

“I—”

“Wait. Damn.” He latched on to her arm and spun her around. “Keep walking. Don’t look back.”

“Is it your parents?”

“No, it’s not my parents. Jeez, Amanda. They like you already.”

“No they don’t.”

He scooted her around a corner where they were hidden from the main ballroom.

Rich burgundy curtains accented paned glass doors that led to a balcony overlooking Fifth Avenue. It had started to rain, so nobody was outside. Wet droplets blurred the city lights and darkened the secluded corner.

“Who did we escape from?” she asked.

“Sharon.”

Amanda blinked at him. They were hiding from his ex-wife? Why did he have to hide her from Sharon?

“She’s been…” He tightened his jaw. “Difficult.”

Amanda’s stomach lurched. Maybe she’d got this all wrong. Maybe her imagination and Karen’s enthusiasm had led her down a completely wrong path.

She took a couple of steps back. “Hey, if you’ve still got a thing for—”

Daniel reached out and grasped her arms, halting her retreat. “I do not have a thing for Sharon.” He loosened his grip and closed the space between them. “It’s just that she’s loud and unpredictable. I didn’t want her to insult you.”

“Insult me?”

He shifted closer still, and his voice went gravelly. “Forget Sharon. Let’s get back to the part where you rented a room.”

Amanda’s heart flip-flopped.

“You rented a room?” he prompted, his blue eyes smoldering with obvious desire.

She drew in a bracing breath. This was going to be even harder than she’d imagined.

His voice dropped to a whisper. “I rented a room here once.”

“Yeah?” she managed.

His eyes twinkled like a moonlit ocean. “It was prom night. And I got very, very lucky.”

Amanda ducked her head and focused on his chest.

“Hey.” He tipped her chin up with his finger. “Is it possible that you’re propositioning me?”

She slowly nodded. “It’s possible.”

A broad grin grew on his face. “All right.”

His palm slid around to cup her cheek, and he dipped his head to kiss her.

She stretched to meet him, her muscles tense, her entire body humming with pent-up need.

His lips touched hers, and her limbs all but melted. He opened wide without preamble, stroking her tender mouth with the tip of his tongue. Her pulse pounded and their bodies fused with delicious heat.

Her hands twined around his neck, clinging to him, while he braced a forearm over the small of her back, holding her solid.

Their kiss deepened and lengthened. The orchestra music faded to the background and the pounding of the raindrops drummed in her ears.

“Mandy,” he whispered, stroking her face with the pad of his thumb as he stared into her eyes for a long moment.

He returned to her lips. He grasped her buttocks, emphasizing his arousal.

Amanda felt her bones turn to liquid.

“Daniel,” she whimpered.

“Uh-hmm.” A male voice sounded from behind her.

Amanda wrenched back, whipping her head around to see the senator, Sharon and two other people staring in shocked silence.

Chapter 9

Daniel could think of a dozen directions this could go in. All of them bad.

He’d wanted to thumb his nose at Sharon’s orders, but this wasn’t anywhere near what he’d had in mind.

Sharon’s eyes glittered like granite; her mouth was drawn into a thin line of anger.

Senator Wallace looked faintly amused. He offered a quick salute with his single malt before turning to leave.

The Wilkinsons had the good grace to simply fade back into the party.

Sharon, on the other hand, advanced. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Do we really need to do this?” asked Daniel, keeping an arm around Amanda. The seven-figure settlement should have wedged Sharon out of his life for good.

“Yes, we need to do this. What did I ask you? What did I tell you?”

Amanda started to pull away. “I think I’ll just—”

“Don’t you go anywhere,” Daniel demanded, tightening his hold on her waist.

Her eyes widened, and he moderated his voice. “Please wait.” He turned to Sharon. “Go back to the party.”

“Not a hope in hell. I’ll be the laughingstock.”

“Only if you act like it.”

“You don’t think this story has already circulated the room a dozen times?”

“It’s been three minutes.”

She leaned forward and poked him in the chest with her index finger. “You’re the one who screwed up here, Daniel. And you’re the one who’s going to fix it.”

“Don’t be melodramatic.”

“You are going to dance with me.”

“What?”

“I mean it, Daniel. You get your butt out on that dance floor and let everybody see us laughing and talking together. That’ll tamp down the gossip.”

“Not in a million—”

“You owe me.”

“I do not owe you anything.”

Amanda shifted away again, this time breaking Daniel’s grip.

He didn’t blame her. Who wanted to watch a fight between a divorced couple? It probably brought back terrible memories for her.

He realized in an instant that if he wanted to get anywhere in his relationship with Amanda, he had to neutralize Sharon. And, right now, neutralizing Sharon meant dancing with her.

“Fine,” he spat out reluctantly. He turned to Amanda. “This will only take a minute. Meet me by the statue?”

“Sure,” she agreed with a shrug and an enigmatic expression.

Sharon grasped his arm, and he followed her onto the dance floor.

But halfway through the fake dance, Daniel spotted Amanda. She was leaving.