Dark Paradise by Tami Hoag Read Free Book Online

her a motherly
    squeeze on the shoulder. "I didn't know her. That crowd she ran with
    don't come in here much."
     
    "What crowd?"
     
    "That Hollyweird bunch. Bryce and all them. Don't you know them?"
     
    "No. I never met any of Lucy's friends here." She had heard bits and
    pieces about them, details Lucy dropped extravagantly into her few
    letters and conversations, like brightly colored gemstones, designed to
    dazzle and impress. Celebrities. Important people. Movers and shakers
    who came to New Eden for some trendy communing with nature. The kind of
    crowd Lucy would be drawn to for the excitement, the novelty, the
    notoriety. She had always thrived on being at the center of the storm.
     
    "Well, that's a strike in your favor with me," Nora said dryly. "They're
    big tippers, but I don't go much for their attitudes. I'm not some trick
    poodle for them to come in here and snicker at. They can just take all
    their money and go play somewhere else as far as I'm concerned."
     
    "Come on, Nora," a warm male voice sounded from the booth behind
    Marilee. She craned her neck around and looked up as a cowboy rose and
    slid his arms around the waitress. He was trim and athletic with silky
    dark hair falling across his forehead and sky-blue eyes brimming with
    mischief. He grinned a grin that would have put Tom Cruise to shame.
    "You tellin' me you don't want a part in Clint Eastwood's next big
    western?"
     
    A grudging blush bloomed on Nora's cheeks even as she set her features
    into a scowl. "I'm tellin' you to keep your hands to yourself, Will
    Rafferty."
     
    He ignored her command, rocking her from side to side in time with the
    crooning of Vince Gill on the jukebox. He laid his lean cheek against
    hers and his eyes drifted shut dreamily. "He'd go for you, you know.
    You're five times better looking than Sondra Locke ever was. He'd make
    you a star, Nora Davis."
     
    "I'll make you see stars," Nora snorted. She pulled her order pad from
    the pocket of her starched apron and smacked him in the forehead with
    it.
     
    "Ouch!" Will stepped back, making a pained face, rubbing at the spot
    where the binding had nailed him.
     
    Nora cut him a look. "You're married, Romeo, in case you forgot." She
    snatched up her coffee urn and walked away, turning back when she was
    three tables away, a sassy smile canting her wide painted mouth. "And I
    am ten times better looking than Sondra Locke with her stringy hair and
    runny red nose and no eyelashes."
     
    Will Rafferty threw back his head and laughed, delighted. "Nora, you're
    a wonder!"
     
    "Don't you forget it, junior," she drawled, sashaying off toward the
    kitchen, her wide hips swinging.
     
    From under her lashes Marilee studied the man standing beside her.
    Rafferty. He had to be a relative. There was a strong family resemblance
    in the square jaw and chin, the straight browline. He was younger than
    the man she had met last night - probably around her own age - and slighter
    of build, not nearly so imposing physically. He had the lithe, athletic
    look of a dancer. But the biggest difference was that this Rafferty had
    no trouble smiling.
     
    He turned the power of that bright white grin on her, blue eyes on high
    beam, a dimple biting into his cheek.
     
    The smile was irresistibly incorrigible. Marilee half expected to see
    canary feathers peeking out from between his teeth. It was the kind of
    smile that made sensible women do foolish things. She felt her knees
    quiver, but the weakness never made it to her head. She considered
    herself temporarily immune to charming men. One of the few benefits of
    getting dumped.
     
    "Will Rafferty." He introduced himself with a flamboyant little
    half-bow, then held a hand out to her in greeting. "Welcome to the
    Garden of Eden."
     
    "Marilee Jennings. Are you supposed to be Adam or the snake?" she asked
    with a wry smile as she shook his hand.
     
    "Cain." He slid into the seat across from her and bobbed his eyebrows.
    "As in 'raisin'