Holiday With Mr. Right by Carlotte Ashwood Read Free Book Online Page A

foolish enough to fall in love with and get married to, she supposed it might as well be at three a.m.
    So she sighed. “What do you want to know?”
    “Anything Angie, everything. I want to know it all. What was his name, what was he like? What did he do to you to make you so distrustful of men?” At her look of surprise, he shrugged and said with a wry smile. “Credit me with some intuition.”
    Angie gulped down some of the coffee which had rapidly cooled in the air conditioned kitchen. It wasn’t Dutch courage by any means, but it would have to serve. “His name was Michael. He was the only child of his parents, who were really very wealthy and they spoiled him rotten. He was used to getting his way. But he was so charming, so full of life and laughter that most people would let him trample all over them and thank him for it. At least I know I did.” She became quiet for a few moments, lost in thoughts of Michael and his boyish charm. With a sigh she continued, “When we met, I had been running my business for a few months, I’m an interior decorator,” she informed him. “I needed a cash injection so I could expand. He heard about me from a friend of a friend or a cousin of a friend, I’m not sure which now.” She frowned, then shook her head. “Whatever. Anyway, he wanted to be an angel investor and I would make him a partner with fifty percent of the business. My mom was dying of cancer then and I was just so grateful that he was willing to invest in my business. He brought the money and referred quite a lot of new clients my way. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was.” She let out a bitter laugh.
    She could still remember how excited and grateful she’d been. Lord, she’d been so naïve. “We started dating, my mom died and he helped me through the process. He asked me to marry him and after a year of living together I finally agreed. We got married and three months later we were on our way to his mother’s when he said he wanted an annulment. The accountant he had hired was not just an accountant. Oh no, the multi-talented woman was actually his mistress. They’d been having an affair for almost the same duration as our relationship. As a matter of fact, I knew she was pregnant and he told me then that the baby was his. I just sat there in shock while it seemed as though my life was crumbling around me. Somehow he lost control. We skidded and ended up beneath a truck. He died instantly. I wasn’t so lucky.”
    “Angie,” Alex murmured.
    “What I don’t understand is how I could’ve been so completely blind. I worked with them. Why didn’t I notice that there was something going on between those two? I didn’t even have the luxury of saying it was behind my back. It was right in my face! And I was too blind to see it.”
    Alex stood then and lifted her into his arms, her pain almost more than he could bear. He walked with her to the sofa and settled her on his lap. “Angie, listen to me. You married a man who deceived you. How on earth is that your fault?”
    “But I should have known Alex.” She looked up at him earnestly, her eyes shadowed by remembered pain. “How could I not have known? I trusted him, I loved him. How could I love such a person?”
    He brushed her hair from her face tenderly. “Baby you gave your love freely and he abused it. That makes him an idiot. You can’t seriously think love goes through a selection process, picking out only those who are worthy of our love.”
    She shook her head sadly. “I hear you Alex,” she said softly, “but I felt so stupid. They made a fool of me and I helped them do it.”
    Alex rubbed her back gently, comforting her, but also trying to comfort himself. “So who’s taking care of your business while you’re here?”
    “What business?” she laughed derisively. “By the time I came out of the hospital, I discovered that he’d left his fifty percent to her and she decided to help herself to what was left of mine. There was