Reluctant Deception - Cambria Smyth Page 0,73

their workout together. Lord, but she was feisty.

How he'd wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her until they were both senseless and out of breath.

Two pigeons landed on the ledge outside Chris's window, pecked at some unseen tidbit, then flew away when Chris tapped his foot against the glass.

Didn't Libby know by now he wasn't one to be so easily dismissed? Sure, she was mad at him and rightfully so. They'd been like two spiders caught in the same tangled web of deceit. He was willing to put all that aside. Was she?

He had one more chance to convince her. Maybe. Thank heaven he'd already put part of the plan into motion. And according to Edwina, things were progressing nicely. Right according to schedule. If Libby hadn't gotten so hot-headed this afternoon, she'd be sitting here learning all about it, and his love for her, right now. Instead, she'd stormed out the door like a bull elephant on the march.

He'd need help from Libby's secretary. What was her name? Connie? Edwina would know. Somehow he had to get Libby to attend the dinner dance at Harte's Desire. She'd already vowed never to set foot there again, so it wouldn't be easy. But he'd find a way. He could be as persistent, stubborn, and pig-headed as she was.

She'd stopped him from getting what he wanted before. But not this time.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Libby! Pick up the darn phone and talk to me!"

Connie's voice, loud and urgent, rang out over the speaker on Libby's answering machine.

"I know you're home. And if you won't talk to me on the phone, I swear to God I'll come over there and make you talk to me in person. It's an absolute disaster here and I need you now," Connie continued persistently.

Hitting the stop button on the TV remote control, Libby reached over and lifted the handset.

"This better be important, Connie Garrett, or you will be looking for a new job come Monday morning," Libby grumbled, annoyed that Connie's call had come just when the movie was getting interesting. "I'm in the middle of a great movie, and I've already told you that wild horses and the President himself couldn't drag me to Harte's Desire tonight. So what's the crisis over there?" Libby demanded.

"I know you don't want to be here tonight, Libby, and I know you sent me in your place to handle whatever might come up. But this is more than I can manage."

"What could possibly be more than you can manage?"

"I swear, Lib, it's a catastrophe of the tenth magnitude over here. The hot water heater isn't working, so the caterer thought she'd just heat some water on the stove. But then she discovered that the stove's not working either. You know how old it is. Seems the electricity on the first floor is out and if I didn't know better, I'd say Christopher Darnell was out to sabotage us."

"Anyway," Connie continued, "We've got at least two hundred and fifty very hungry people here and we can't serve them cold food. The caterer's in a real snit and I don't know what to do."

Libby scratched her head, straining to find a solution that didn't require her presence.

"I'm pretty sure Jim Baxter was coming tonight, Connie. Remember him? The electrician who wired the office for me? Why don't you track him down and see if he could take a look at it? Maybe it's only something minor, like a blown fuse.” Libby relaxed slightly, thinking she'd gotten a reprieve from a potentially damaging mishap.

"That's a good idea, Lib. See? I knew you'd come up with something," Connie responded. "But there's another problem that, uh, I have no idea how to resolve."

"Another problem? What else could possibly go wrong?"

"Well…you see…there's this crane here."

"A crane?"

"Yeah, a crane with a big, black wrecking ball hanging off of it."

"Did I hear you right? A crane with a wrecking ball?"

"Yep."

"Where?" Libby's voice was climbing higher with each response.

"It's, uh, in the driveway to the back. Between Harte's Desire and the carriage house. Believe me, it's huge. Gotta be six stories high--it towers over Harte's Desire! Somebody said the wrecking ball dangling from the cable must weigh about two-tons. Anyway, you can imagine what everybody’s saying. Actually, a lot of them are plenty mad that Christopher Darnell would be so blatant about his plans for the mansion, what with tonight being the fundraiser and all. Honestly, Libby, I don't know what to do about it."

Libby's heart started racing, slamming