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herself in the mirror. She ignored the fact that the color of her blouse
matched her eyes and was a perfect foil for her hair. She barely noticed her
long, shapely legs and trim ankles and looked instead at her low-heeled sling
backs, which were as comfortable as slippers. Most of all, she studied her
face carefully for signs of defeat by the determined assault of a man called
Chazz Herman.
"Don't you dare think he has defeated you," she admonished her mirror
image as she pouted her mouth to apply lip gloss. "Tell him to go to hell."
She nodded at the image, slapped the lip gloss into her shoulder bag, picked
up her carryall, and left the locker room.
Chazz was waiting for her in the lobby, his hair still damp and curly from
his shower. He wore beige slacks with a beige shirt in a deeper shade and a
tan suede vest that he had left open. His shoes were beige loafers in finest
suede. He looked like what he was, a modern Croesus, Teel decided
grudgingly.
Chazz seemed to sense Teel's presence, and he looked around, his face
lighting up when he saw her. "Ready, darling?"
Teel had no intention of smiling at him, but she couldn't help it. She just
stood there and grinned and nodded. Maybe she really was coming down
with something!
The change in Chazz was electric. He snapped erect, his own smile fading
as he strode toward her.
Teel almost collapsed when he leaned down and kissed her mouth not a
light kiss, but a searching, passionate caress. "That's the first time you've
smiled at me since we left the Deirdre," he whispered, his mouth just above
her own.
"Hello, Miss Barrett." Teel instantly recognized the cold, stiff voice. Miss
Daisy Butler, teacher, spinster and member of the board at Mary Dempsey
School, was staring at them in shock and amazement.
"Miss Butler." At Teel's stricken look, Chazz's eyes narrowed warily. He
turned to Miss Butler, placing an arm around Teel's waist, and smiled at the
tight-lipped woman. "Miss Butler, you are the first to congratulate me," he
said. "Teel has just promised to marry me next week."
"What?!" Miss Daisy's cry was louder than Teel's protest. The older
woman's eyes darted to every corner, as if looking for someone to tell. Teel
knew Miss Daisy loved news, yet was rarely the first to hear any.
"Yes." Chazz held a struggling Teel at his side. "I finally convinced her, and
since neither of us can take another vacation now, we're going to get married
right away and honeymoon later." His smile seemed to mesmerize Miss
Daisy. "Of course the wedding will be small." Chazz had to tighten his hold
on a now moaning Teel. But Miss Daisy took no notice of her. Her birdlike
eyes snapped in anticipation of Chazz's next words. "But we'd like all of
Teel's many well-wishers to join us for the reception.
"Never," Teel promised.
"Delightful," Miss Daisy exclaimed. "Where will you marry? Here in New
York?"
"Never."
"We've haven't settled that yet," Chazz said over Teel's answer.
"Lovely. How romantic!" Miss Daisy clasped her hands and looked
heavenward. Teel kicked Chazz in the shins, but Miss Daisy didn't seem to
notice.
"And we hope," Chazz continued through gritted teeth, "that you'll tell
everyone you meet. Teel and I are so happy we want the world to
know owww."
"Oh, dear. What happened? Do you have a stitch in your side?" Miss Daisy
focused her attention on Chazz's middle, giving Teel the chance to pinch his
rear end. But Miss Daisy apparently forgot her question in the more
delightful prospect of informing the town of Selby that Miss Barrett was to
marry "Oh dear, I don't know your name."
"Charles Herman, Miss Butler, but everybody calls me Chazz."
Miss Daisy looked over her glasses at him, frowning. "I shall call you
Charles. I can't abide shortened names."
Chazz smiled and bowed gallantly from the waist, endearing himself to
Miss Daisy for life, Teel was sure.
"I really must go. There are many people to see," Miss Daisy said vaguely,
and she fluttered across the lobby and out the door.
"The old dear can really move when she wants to," Chazz commented wryly
as he watched Miss Daisy skip across the parking lot to her Edsel.
Chazz was still watching her when Teel kicked him again. "Love, I wish you
wouldn't do that." Without releasing her, he bent down to massage his ankle.
"Now you've done it," Teel accused him. "By nightfall she'll have everyone
in the county talking about our marriage. How could you?"
"Don't be so surprised." Chazz looked down at her, his smile gone. "I'd do
anything to get you, angel. I thought you knew that." He kissed her mouth
again, paying no heed to curious onlookers. "Come on. I'll buy you
breakfast."
- 8 -
TEEL PROTESTED CHAZZ'S high-handedness day and night. She was furious
with him for going out of his way to inform anyone he thought might not
know of their coming nuptials. She seethed when Nancy placed a copy of
The New York Times on her desk, folded open to the proper page, and she
saw the photographs of Chazz and herself.
"I'm giving you a shower," Nancy said, then ducked out the door when Teel
took a firm grip on a paperweight.
The phone rang just then, distracting Teel from the newspapers. She
reached for it absently and said, "Hello?"
"Hello, darling. How are you this morning? I'm sorry I had to leave before
you " [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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