Heart's Reward by Donna Hill Read Free Book Online Page B

was a man of her own so that she could stop salivating over men she would have to turn over to other women.
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    More than two hours later, Melanie had finally made some serious headway with her list and moved on to sketching out the menu, theme and entertainment. Humming to herself, her brief moment of self-satisfaction was interrupted by Jessica at the door. Melanie turned away from her computer and realized that evening had fully descended upon the island. In the distance from her window she couldsee the yellow dots of lights begin to fill the windows of the homes on the bluff. She stretched. “Come on in Jess,” she said over a muffled yawn.
    Jessica stepped partially in. “We’re done. Mr. Lawson wanted to say good-night.”
    I bet he does, Melanie thought. She got up, adjusted her top and followed Jessica out. Rafe was standing in the grand foyer in an animated conversation with Vincent. Melanie approached.
    The two men turned in her direction. A smile moved Rafe’s mouth.
    â€œI hope the interview process wasn’t too difficult,” she said when she came to a stop in front of the duo.
    Rafe chuckled. “I was just telling Vincent that your team could get a job with the FBI any day.”
    Her right brow flickered in amusement. “Yes, they are very good at what they do.”
    â€œI’m looking forward to seeing who you’ll come up with to fit the bill.”
    Melanie extended her hand. “We’ll be in touch.”
    He clasped her hand in his. “I’ll give you a call when I get back to New York—in about a week.”
    â€œFine. Safe travels.”
    He released her hand and Vincent walked him to the door, clapping him heartily on the back before returning to the women.
    â€œShould we meet now?” Jessica asked, “Or do wewant to wait until tomorrow?” She looked from one face to the other.
    â€œWe may as well run through everything now and make our decision,” Melanie said, knowing that her real motivation was that she could rationally convince herself that Claude—and Rafe for that matter—were clients and nothing more. Some other woman’s dream come true. She inhaled deeply and released a breath of resolve. “Let’s do this.”
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    Claude let his Harley rev down to a soft purr and coasted into his Westchester estate driveway. It wasn’t often that he had a chance to ride, take his bike out and run her full throttle. But when opportunity presented itself, he took it.
    There was a lone light coming from the ground-floor window of his two-story Tudor. His housekeeper, Lin, always left a light on when she knew he’d be coming home. The small gesture took some of the edge off of coming home to an empty house. The upside was he generally was only here maybe two weeks out of the month. The rest of the time he was either in Albany or in D.C., where the work and rigorous hours ensured his being alone. There were women. There were always women to take the chill off of lonely nights. But he had yet to find someone that he wanted to be with beyond a few meals at great restaurants and uncomplicated sex. In his world it took a certain kind of woman tounderstand the demands of his life. So for the most part he kept his relationships few and far between. It was simpler that way.
    After changing into his workout clothes, he went downstairs to his home gym in the basement, loaded with the latest exercise equipment that could easily rival the most upscale gym.
    He put in at least an hour three days per week. It not only kept him in peak physical condition, but also kept his mind sharp and his hormones at a manageable level. After a good workout and a hot shower, Claude settled down in front of the television and tuned into his favorite news show, MSNBC. Rachel Maddow was interviewing the Health and Human Services Secretary on the health reform bill.
    He leaned back and tried to focus on the discussion, but his