Mistress of Magic by Heather Graham Read Free Book Online Page A

“Reggie—”
    “Max.”
    “All right,” he said softly. “I’d be here whether employee resignations were pouring in by the hour or not. It feels good to be out here. Good to be moving.”
    “Good to use the energy?” Reggie suggested. She curled her bare feet beneath her and sat down on the asphalt Max had just swept.
    He smiled at her. Still in his suit, he seemed incongruous with the industrial-sized broom. But then again, she must have seemed incongruous in her red tailored suit, plopped upon the ground. He smiled suddenly, leaning on the broom handle. “We always promised each other that the park would be clean. Remember when we were afraid to hire too many employees? We always swept up then.”
    “I remember,” she said softly. She wanted to stand up, to put her arms around him. But as close as they were, Reggie knew that he didn’t want her sympathy right now.
    “We’re going to survive this, Max.”
    He started to sweep again. “Yeah. Well, the park deserves to survive.”
    “And so do we, Max!”
    He stopped again. “God, Reggie, if this—this thing—winds up falling on you, too—”
    “Oh, Max, don’t! It’s not going to fall on me. I won’t let it. Maybe nothing will happen. Maybe Daphne will walk in on us tomorrow morning, laughing—”
    “I wish she would. I really wish she would,” Max said softly. He smiled ruefully. “But I don’t think so.”
    Reggie didn’t think so, either.
    “Poor Daphne. But she really was such a bitch,” Max reflected.
    “You married her,” Reggie reminded him.
    “And though you always knew it was a mistake, you never said a word to me about her. I knew, though, of course. I always knew how you felt.”
    Reggie raised her hand limply. “Sorry.” She was silent for a minute. “Why did you marry her?”
    Max shrugged, dropping the broom and sitting down beside her. “I’ll be damned if I know,” he said at last. And then he smiled. A real smile. “Sex, maybe.”
    “Max!”
    “You asked.” He wagged a finger at her suddenly. “You haven’t answered me. Why are you still here? You know, you did agree to go to dinner with Wes.”
    “I just got—busy,” she said lightly.
    “He’s not going to be happy.”
    “Oh, Max, I don’t mean to jeopardize—”
    “You’re not going to jeopardize anything as far as I’m concerned. You’re usually so perceptive about people. Wes won’t betray me—no matter how you behave toward him. He’s not another Rick Player,” Max said bitterly.
    “Then—”
    “Hey—this is between you and him, sweet cakes.” Max laughed. “I’m just warning you—he’s not going to be pleased.”
    She felt a shiver seize her and clamped down hard on her jaw, annoyed with herself. Why should she care what Wes Blake felt or thought? With any luck, he would just go away.
    He wasn’t going to go away. Somehow she knew it.
    The adrenaline seemed to come rushing through her again. He did make her think. And shiver.
    And feel.
    “I take it women don’t usually stand him up?” she said to Max, determined to break the silence before her brother could start to wonder what was really going on in her mind.
    “ People don’t usually stand him up,” Max said. “Men or women. I’m just warning you.”
    “Well, you might have warned me that he was about our own age!” she told her brother.
    One of his dark brows shot up. “I didn’t know that you assumed him to be anything other.”
    She flushed slightly. “Well, I did. I thought he was some eccentric old millionaire.”
    Max burst out with laughter. It was good to hear it.
    “Why did you assume that? You knew we were in the service together.”
    “Yes, but I thought he was one of your officers. Older. You know, the career military type.”
    Max shrugged. “Well, he was that. Until our last war. Now he feels that there’s just too much shrapnel in his leg.”
    “His left leg,” Reggie murmured.
    Max’s eyes narrowed at her. “Yes,” he said.
    She lowered