Tender Deception by Heather Graham Read Free Book Online

the table, “I think you have met Victoria. If I’m not mistaken, she was running around here your last summer.” Directing his gaze to Vickie with a puzzled frown, he asked, “Wasn’t that the summer you were here, Vick?”
    “Yes,” Vickie replied coolly, raising her eyes to meet the crystal blue stare of Brant Wicker. “Yes, Mr. Wicker and I have met. We were here the same summer.” Forcing a stiff smile, she continued. “To be honest, I scarcely remember it myself, so I’m sure Mr. Wicker doesn’t.”
    “Brant, please,” their guest insisted, sliding his long frame into the chair beside Vickie’s and studying her with an intense, contemplative assessment that made her throat burn dry. “Vickie. I remember you very well. I remember a very special night we shared, a night when I was really down and you pulled me back up by the hair.”
    Vickie shook her head and stretched her smile with an apologetic blankness. “Sorry, I don’t remember that.”
    His brow raised teasingly. “Don’t you?”
    “No,” she said flatly, coldly, dragging on her cigarette. “I’m afraid three years is a long time ago to me. I have problems remembering last week.” She attempted to smile again and sprang to her feet. “Brant, it’s a pleasure seeing you again. Monte, forgive me, but I have to get out of here. I can’t keep Mrs. Gimball too long.”
    “Vickie!” Monte protested. “I wanted you to have a drink with Brant and me. You two will be working very closely together. You could chat a bit, renew an old acquaintance.”
    If there was anything she didn’t want to do, it was renew an old acquaintance. “Sorry, I have to go.”
    Her polite excuses might have been working on Monte, but they certainly weren’t on Brant. He rose slowly and took her hand in a gentle but strong grip from which she couldn’t possibly escape without making a scene. His jaw was hardened, and his blue eyes were narrowed dangerously. “Really, Miss Langley, do come along.” His voice was steel-plated. “We’ll be spending a lot of time together, you know.” A warning rang beneath his pleasant words, one intended to be noted by her only, but she could read it plainly in his eyes. I don’t understand this, but I don’t put up with petty grievances on stage.
    “I can’t join you,” Vickie snapped. “Excuse me.”
    As she moved toward the dressing room, she heard snatches of their conversation.
    “I don’t know what’s gotten into Victoria,” Monte said ruefully. “She’s usually the most pleasant person you’d ever want to meet.”
    “Who knows,” Brant replied with an offhand shrug. “I believe I stepped on her toes three years ago. But she certainly did turn into a stunning young woman…”
    Vickie slammed the door to the dressing room and sank into her chair before she fell down. Her body had become as formless as wet cement, and she was shaking like a dry leaf in winter. This can’t be happening, she thought, laughter bubbling in her dry throat. Not this nightmare!
    But it was. Brant Wicker had returned. Tears were forming in the large gray eyes that returned her stare from the mirror. A summer! she moaned inwardly. An entire summer. I’ll never make it. And what will happen when he sees Mark? Nothing, she assured herself, concentrating on long deep breaths for control. Nothing. No one could possibly see a resemblance. Just keep playing it cool and everything will be all right.
    Without taking off her makeup she changed into her street clothing and fled from the theater. At home she thanked Mrs. Gimball and fell into bed as soon as the baby-sitter left. But Vickie couldn’t sleep. The memory she had been fighting all day was upon her, flooding over her like the massive wash of a tidal wave. Her cheeks burned with a humiliation compounded rather than diminished by the years, and she tossed about her bed fitfully. The buzzing she had experienced earlier turned into a taunting monotony that whispered a name over and