Double Dealing (2013) by Linda Cajio Read Free Book Online Page A

married. But the truth is, the shower cap just made me realize how many other things were wrong. It never would have worked. After that, there always seemed to be a shower cap or something else wrong with my dates. Overly cautious, I guess.”
    The doorman, having seen the preceding party to their car, now approached Rae and Jed. Tipping his hat, he said, “Miss Barkeley. Did you enjoy the ball?”
    “Yes, thank you, Bill.” She smiled at him, while reaching into the hidden pocket inside her cape. She pulled out a slim wallet and handed him a generous tip. “I hope the car wasn’t too much trouble.”
    The doorman tipped his hat to her again, thenpressed a set of keys into her hand. He glanced over his shoulder to the antique Rolls-Royce parked to the right of the hotel entrance. “No trouble at all.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I told the police the Rolls was part of a display for the hotel.”
    Rae grinned, as Jed turned and stared at her in astonishment. “That’s your car?”
    “Uncle Merry’s, actually,” she admitted. “Surely you remember it. He’s had it for as long as I can remember.”
    “Vaguely.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the car. “Teenage boys, Rae, are only interested in flashy new cars to impress girls. Men, though, have a more discerning eye for the machine itself.”
    “I’ll try to remember that,” she said, smothering a laugh at his haste.
    “Beautiful,” he murmured, when they halted in front of the car. He gently touched a finger to the gleaming shadow-gray finish on the front fender. “Just beautiful. I wanted to look at her earlier, when I first got here, but she was drawing quite a crowd.”
    “It’s a ’56 Phantom,” Rae said, as Jed squatted down to examine the shining chrome of the spoked wheels. “I probably shouldn’t have taken it out, but I just couldn’t resist. I’ll be relieved, though, to get it home in one piece.”
    “Merriman once offered me a ride in it,” Jed said in a far-off voice. “And I was stupid enough to hold out for that Maserati he had.”
    “It’s still sitting in the garage. He liked his cars, didn’t he?”
    “Mmmmm.” Jed rose to his feet and walked around the car, admiring it.
    Rae grinned. Obviously, Jed liked cars too. At least, he was having a love affair with the Rolls. “Want a ride?” she asked, when he rejoined her on the sidewalk.
    “Now?”
    “Think of it as an early Christmas present.” She unlocked the passenger door. “Hop in.”
    He grinned back at her, and she felt as if she
had
just given him a present. She decided there might be something in having him on her side—even if she had to give him the Rolls to get him there.
    It would take more than a car, she dryly reminded herself, shutting the passenger door. She walked around the front of the car to the driver’s side, unlocked it, and slipped into the tan leather seat. Jed sighed audibly when she started the ignition, and the car purred to life. She pulled it away from the curb without a jolt.
    “I must have been nuts.”
    “What?” she asked, concentrating on the Center City traffic.
    “To hold out for the sports car. I must have been nuts.”
    She chuckled. “Did you ever get a ride in the Maserati?”
    “Once. But it wasn’t like this.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him caress the wood paneling on the dash. “This is like ice cream on a hot day. Smooth, rich, and satisfying.”
    “Oh, brother, are you hooked!”
    “It doesn’t take much, when you’re around something like this,” he said, with a sheepish chuckle.
    At his admission, all her earlier thoughts came back to her in a rush. Jed on her side … his word having weight with the company … getting the man to fall in love with the house …
    Rae’s eyes widened in shock. Maybe it wasn’t such a crazy idea, after all. Put the man in the house and let him fall in love with it. It might work. What the hell, she thought, he was already in