Page 10 of Craig

“What about you?”

“On top of the world,” she told him with a quick laugh. Lifting her face, she squinted at the sun and absorbed its rays.

It was going to be another simmering day.

“Are you back in the states? Last I heard you were in Mexico or Morocco or something like that.”

“Keeping tabs on me?” The amusement deepened.

“I love the gossip rags as much as anyone else. What’s up?”

His tone changed abruptly. He had thought long and hard and told himself this was not going away, and he had a deadline.

“Can you meet me for lunch?”

Her tapered brows lifted. “When?”

“Tomorrow. I know it’s short notice and you have things to do-”

“Tomorrow is fine. Maisel. It’s a charming-”

“I know the place. Say noon?”

“Fine.”

“All right. I’ll see you then.”

On his end, Craig hung up the phone and brooded over his coffee. He was in his suite and had refused to go down to breakfast.

He wasn’t in the mood to play nice with the old man. Millicent had, of course, brought him up a meal.

Rising, he went to the window, coffee cup in hand and a brooding expression on his face. His suite faced the east side of the estate, where flowers rioted, a vivid splash of colors against the natural rocks that sprouted water into the pool.

He had yet to relax enough to take a dip. From where he stood, he could see the barns housing the horses and the tennis court.

A pergola, faded with age, overlooked the stream where he had played as a child. Rolling hills, eye-searingly green despite the intense heat, were a pleasure to the eyes.

He had explored the several hundred acres when he lived there and found niches and crevices where a boy could pretend to play cowboys and Indians. Taking a sip of his now lukewarm coffee, he contemplated the best approach to use on her.

Regina was outrageously blunt and unfailingly materialistic. His mouth twisted cynically as he recalled their brief affair.

She had told him frankly that she wasn’t looking for permanency. She wanted a fun time and all the gifts he could heap on her.

When he told her he had walked away from his inheritance, the passion had cooled. It had ended when he asked her to move in with him.

She had just laughed and patted his cheek.

“Not a chance in hell.”

Now he was looking to ask her to do him the biggest favor. But it involved money and he was almost certain she would go for it.

Tossing back the coffee, he wished it had managed to wash the bitter taste from his mouth.

*****

Maisel might be small and charming, but it was hopping, and very popular. It was difficult to get a table on short notice, but he supposed a woman of Regina’s … talent could more or less accomplish the impossible.

Craig had arrived early and was shown to a corner table with an unrestricted view of the entrance. He had requested it.