Only Forever by Linda Lael Miller Read Free Book Online Page B

tribe heads for the island, it’s like some kind of Italian exodus.”
    Vanessa swallowed a weary giggle. “The island?” she asked, trying to sound casual.
    The mischievous look in Rodney’s eyes said she’d failed roundly. “Nick owns a big Victorian house in the San Juans,” he answered.
    “Don’t you ever read the tabloids? He’s famous for the parties he gives.”
    A picture came into Vanessa’s mind, the image of herself walking into Parker’s condominium on Maui, planning to surprise him by arriving for their vacation a day ahead of time. She’d surprised him, all right—along with the Polynesian beauty sharing his bed.
    Her thoughts turned to the storm of that afternoon, and the searing, crackling lightning. Vanessa felt betrayed.
    The fiery gentleness of Nick’s lovemaking had eased many of her doubts about him, but now she realized that the patience and caring he’d shown had probably been nothing more than pretense. If he liked to party and play the field, a relationship with her wasn’t likely to change him any more than it had changed Parker.
    Every self-help book on the market was screaming the message that men are an as-is proposition, once a rogue, always a rogue.
    Vanessa put her hands over her face, her appetite gone.
    “Van?” Rodney sounded worried. “What’s the matter? Are you okay?”
    Vanessa got out of her chair, carried her sandwichto the counter, wrapped it carefully and tucked it into the refrigerator. Although she didn’t say a word, she was shaking her head the whole time.
    Rodney’s chair scraped against the floor as he pushed it back. “I said something wrong, didn’t I?”
    “No,” Vanessa said, unable to meet her cousin’s eyes, “you brought me to my senses, that’s all. I’d forgotten that a jock is a jock is a jock.” She paused at the base of the back stairway, her hand resting on the banister. “Good night,” she said.
    Words, Vanessa discovered, did not make it so. The night was not a good one, and the morning showed every sign of being worse.

4
    T he porcelain statuette of a Grecian goddess toppled precariously when Vanessa bumped into it, and it would have shattered on the studio floor if Mel hadn’t been so quick to grab it.
    Paul Harmon signaled from off-camera, and Vanessa was grateful for the respite.
    “Are you all right?” her friend and employer asked, when she left Mel to sell the goddess unaided.
    Vanessa drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. She’d been a klutz all morning, crashing into props and sales items, saying nonsensical things, getting prices and details wrong. She splayed her fingers and shoved them through her hair, thus spoiling the coiffure Margie in Makeup had spent twenty minutes styling. “Let’s just say I’ll be glad when this day is over.” She sighed loudly.
    Paul grinned. “Nick?” he asked.
    Vanessa squared her shoulders. What egotists men are, she thought. One of them comes along and screws up your life, and all his friends think what a guy. “Nick who?” she countered coolly, turning around and marching back on camera.
    An elderly lady from Tucson, calling in to order the statuette for her daughter, was on the air. “I’ve got all my credit cards up to their limits, but I can’t help myself,” she enthused. “I just had to get Venus for Allison. She’ll love this for her bathroom.”
    Distracted, Vanessa forgot the cardinal tele-marketing rule and said worriedly, “Maybe you shouldn’t buy anything for a while. After all, there will be other statues, and you’ve worked hard to build up your credit….”
    Mel looked at Van as though her nose had just grown an inch and elbowed her aside. “Vanessa’s kidding, of course,” he boomed in his best it’s-me-and-you-against-those-guys-who-charge-high-prices voice. “This is a unique piece of art that would grace anybody’s bathroom.”
    Paul was signaling again, but this time he didn’t look quite so friendly. When Vanessa reached him, he took