A Bad Boy is Good to Find - By Jennifer Lewis Page 0,27

I’ve never left the country and I’d love to go to the Caribbean. Alaska sounds fun too, and it wouldn’t be too hot there.” Glowing puppy-dog excitement was certainly a new look for him.

“Thanks for your input. I’m sure the staff of Celebrity Access and I will be able to select a location that will work for all of us.”

“Yeah. Who am I kidding? They all sound good. A five-star hotel with comfy beds, gourmet food, people waiting on us hand and foot…”

“Just your cup of tea, isn’t it? Well, enjoy it while it lasts because this time it won’t be forever.”

Con whistled while he packed. His boyish enthusiasm for a lousy week at a decent hotel almost affected her. But not quite.

Her fiendish plot involved a little twist she had neglected to mention to him. And after that kiss—which demonstrated that she might be crazy enough to lose her head over him again if she didn’t keep it screwed down tight—she was more determined than ever to put it in motion.

Chapter 8

Maisie poked her head out into the reception area and watched her childhood rival teeter across the terrazzo floor. That phone call had been a delicious surprise and frankly things were looking way up here at Celebrity Access. “Lizzie darling! Come in.”

Cousin Lizzie had decked herself out today in a garish red suit that showed off her thick calves. She may have lost a few pounds, but she still wasn’t skinny, poor thing. From the looks of it she’d straightened her hair herself—really, she should know better. “You look spectacular, sweetie.” She kissed both cheeks. At least she’d stopped wearing that awful rose concoction that made her smell like an old woman.

“Come in to my parlor,” she said, annoyed to find herself feeling a little nervous. She ushered Lizzie into her cramped, windowless office. Don had promised her a better one but she was beginning to learn a bit about his promises. She stepped over a pile of paper on the floor.

“Excuse the mess. I inherited it. We’re so madly busy I don’t have time to go through it. Do sit down.”

Lizzie eased herself gingerly into the chair opposite the desk.

“We’re just waiting for Don to get out of a meeting—story of my life! But really, it’s a dream job.” She plastered on a smile. “I was so happy to get your phone call. How exciting to produce my own cousin’s love story! Do tell me more about this man of mystery. I can’t believe you were so secretive with me. Honestly, I’m a bit put out about it.”

Downright peevish, in fact. With all the champagne she’d poured into Lizzie, she’d never dished the dirt. Just said her swain had broken up with her when he found out she wasn’t rich anymore. She never let on he wasn’t the Southern blueblood she’d mooned over.

Lizzie tossed her hair behind her shoulder, tugged at the hem of her suit jacket and looked Maisie right in the eye. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I confess I was a little embarrassed about it. I mean, he didn’t even graduate from high school, and he has a gang tattoo on his butt. But I’m madly in love with him.” Her lips settled into a cool smile.

Maisie realized she was dribbling cappuccino onto her blouse, and she snapped her mouth closed. She snatched up a tissue and dabbed at the stained silk.

Lizzie tipped her head slightly. “Obviously Mummy and Daddy wouldn’t let me marry Con if they knew the truth, so I made up a story about him coming from Louisiana gentry.”

She had the audacity to smile warmly and toss her crudely straightened hair over her shoulder again. “Horribly devious of me, I know, but the stakes were high, at the time. Who knew I was as poor as a church mouse myself?” She shrugged, still smiling that chilling smile.

Maisie found herself blinking and staring. As much at Lizzie’s newfound self-possession as at her bizarre revelations. “I wondered why you never introduced me to him.”

“I know what a keen judge of character you are. I’m sure you’d have sniffed him out in a minute.”

“And there I was thinking you were worried about me stealing him away from you.” Maisie forced a cheerful smile.

“Oh, I wasn’t worried about that. You only did that once.” Lizzie returned her icy smirk. “And really, I’m sure you were doing me a favor stealing my first and only boyfriend. What if I’d married him? I’d never have