Confidential: Expecting! by Jackie Braun Read Free Book Online Page B

a lot of time and effort if she’d done so first, she realized. Miss Felicia Ann Gable had been a fall bride after all. She’d wed anotherman, Nigel Paul Getty. The nuptials were performed by a justice of the peace. This probably explained why no wedding announcement had appeared in the newspaper. When a bride threw over her groom for another man just before they were to say I do, flaunting it in the media was bad form.
    Poor Logan.
    The sympathy Mallory felt for him far outpaced her excitement over the discovery. She told herself it was because she didn’t yet know if this lead would pan out. Besides, she knew how it felt to find out your significant other was cheating. Two years post-Vince, Mallory still felt like a fool for not having put two and two together sooner. It would have helped her save face among their mutual friends, many of whom apparently were privy to the fact he was two-timing.
    Her telephone rang as she mulled over what to do next. “Mallory Stevens,” she said distractedly into the receiver.
    “Just the person I was hoping to reach.”
    The aggrieved groom in question was on the other end of the line. Mallory stared at the photograph of his lovely former fiancée, feeling oddly guilty and fighting the urge to apologize.
    “Logan, hi. What…why are you calling?”
    “I need a favor,” he replied.
    “What sort of favor?”
    “I’ve been invited to a dinner this Thursday evening at the Cumberland Hotel. It’s a benefit to raise funds tosend children with life-threatening illnesses to summer camp.”
    “And you’re hoping to get a mention of it in the Herald, ” she guessed.
    “Actually, I was hoping you’d agree to come with me.” He chuckled dryly. “Good cause notwithstanding, these things can be tedious.”
    “You want me to go with you,” she repeated in surprise.
    “Not interested?”
    “I didn’t say that.”
    “No. But neither have you said yes,” Logan pointed out.
    “Yes.” Even though Mallory had spent the weekend reminding herself of ethical boundaries and the danger of mixing business with pleasure, the answer slipped easily from her lips.
    “Terrific. Dinner is at seven with cocktails and appetizers starting at six. Would five-thirty be too early for me to come by and collect you?”
    She’d have to leave work a bit before her usual quitting time to reach her apartment and be ready on time, but she didn’t hesitate before saying, “That’s fine.”
    “Good. And, Mallory?”
    “Yes?”
    “I’m looking forward to it.”
    She pictured him grinning and her skin grew warm. Despite all of her internal lectures to focus and be professional, Mallory knew Logan wasn’t the only one filled with anticipation.
     

    Between Monday and Thursday, Mallory put in more than a dozen hours fleshing out what she knew about Logan’s failed relationship. Felicia not only had hurriedly remarried, she’d moved out of state a few months later. She and her husband relocated to Portland, Oregon, where they’d had a son, who was either premature or conceived before they were wed. This, Mallory figured, was the reason for Felicia’s defection.
    A year after that, Felicia and Nigel Getty were divorced. These days, Felicia was a businesswoman, though perhaps not for much longer. Barring an infusion of cash, her upscale fragrance boutique would soon be in Chapter Eleven.
    What went around came around.
    Thursday started out bad and continued downhill for the rest of the day. Mallory forgot to set her alarm clock, missed her El train and then spilled half of her first cup of coffee down the leg of her ecru trousers while waiting for the next one. Unfortunately, she had no time to return home to change clothes, so she arrived at the Herald wearing spotted pants that smelled like Arabica beans.
    As Mallory slunk to her desk, Ruth Winslow, the Lifestyles section editor glanced up from her computer and then consulted the large wall clock.
    “I wasn’t aware you had an interview this