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Mary tugged at Van’s tuxedo-clad arm. “Let’s go. Sheesh. Anybody’d think you wanted to take Lancelot’s place in the take-care-of-family department.”
Vanrosetohisfullaffrontedheightandrearranged his features into a scowl. “I’ve already got too much family to take care of. Let’s get on with seeing whether this singer guy is the one to take care of that for me.”
He stalked toward the stage he’d had built in the center of the terrace.
Buzz,however,wantedtobeclosertohisaudience than even the stage would put him. He circulated as he sang, kissing cheeks, occasionally wrapping an octogenarian in a theatrical hug.
“Rememberwhen?”hecrooned.“Thestarswerein your eyes, you finally realized, our hearts entwined us then. Remember when?”
As the second verse lilted to a close, Buzz’s path tookhimnearCyn,andhiseyestookonanewluster. Hesignaledunobtrusivelytothemusicians,andthey dropped their accompaniment to a soft hum.
“My dear, dear lady.” He took her hands in his and bowedelaborately,likeacourtierfromanotherplace and time.
Rising slowly, he looked deep into Cyn’s eyes. “Do you remember when, my dear, dear one?”
So, he’d figured out they’d met before. His managerprobablykeptnotesonthoseluckyladiestocoach Cauldron.
It must be too-too for Cyn, Mary figured. Still, Cyn had known what he was like, and had said yes to bringing him in for husband-audition-party No. 2.
Buzz slowly raised one of Cyn’s hands to his lips, kissed it softly and took a few more eons to bring it back down, keeping his gaze locked on her during every single, sensual second.
Huh. So much for too-too. This was smokin’. No wonder Cyn had almost gone out with him. In fact, why hadn’t she?
Cyn looked like her bones had turned to mush. She slid closer to the singer, drawn in a mesmerized trance. Van had said she’d always been a sucker for romantic gestures.
Mary heard a crash. It sounded like five pounds of hors d’oeuvres, ten pounds of plates, and enough glasses to serve a demijohn of champagne. Out of the corner of her eye, Mary caught sight of Uncle Brock removing his hands from a Belgian-lace-covered catering cart at the back. He unbent and stood military straight, his face looked appalled, his moustache quivered, and his chef’s whites were covered in splashes of who-knew-what.
What was Uncle Brock doing out of the kitchen? His iron control of his kingdom, and his renowned results, rested in good part on him never taking his eyes off anything in his kitchen. He checked every morsel and every drop. Why was he doing the plebeianworkoftransportingfoodfromkitchentoparty room?
Cyn snapped out of her trance. She rushed over. She locked heads with a stormy Uncle Brock for a few moments, then beckoned this waiter and that bus boy to help clean up. She shouldered a tray of broken crystal herself and headed for the kitchen. Uncle Brock followed.
And to think things had been looking so good between Cyn and Buzz for a few minutes there. Mary turned to look for Van. She wanted to vent her frustration and listen to his.
She didn’t have to look far. He was so close she could feel his warmth. She followed his gaze down. “You’re checking out my cleavage.” She smiled.
“I was hoping you’d fall out of that dress.”
Mary hummed for happy and thrust back her shoulders to make her neckline even more suspenseful. She had tried to model the new dress for Van when she’d first bought it, but she hadn’t been able to keep it on long enough for a proper assessment. What was usually called the neckline was actually better described as a belly-button-line. She linked her arm into Van’s and headed for the nearest dark corner of the party piazza.
But they found Buzz in their way.
He’d been bereft in center stage after Cyn’s departure, but now he interrupted his song to fold the nearest woman into his arms. He bent her backward in a swooping tango kiss. That sure looked more like a real kiss than a peck in the air.
Almost every female in the place turned a-twitter withthevicariousthrill.Maryhadtoadmitshewasn’t entirely immune herself.
She was a little miffed on Cyn’s behalf that Buzz had started seducing another woman so quickly after the hostess’s departure. Still, it seemed to be his style of performing. No wonder he had taken Toronado by storm. And he didn’t know he was here on an audition for the role of Cyn’s husband.
Besides,itwashardtostayannoyedwithhimonce Mary recognized the woman he’d swooped into his theatrical gesture.
She was a shy creature Mary had noticed before, heavilypregnantandallbutplasteredagainstawall, for all the world as though she wanted to fade into said wall. By the time Buzz got her upright again after the tango move, though, the glow on her face was enchanting. Choosing her to be so flamboyant with had been kind, and more than Mary had come to expect from Buzz Cauldron.
Mary glanced at the time and reluctantly abandoned her quest for the dark corner. “Drat. I have to go set up for the auction of your Puppy Palace.”
BythetimeBuzzwounduphisset,Maryhadfound a hammer for a gavel, a table she could pound on and pen and paper to keep track of bids. She set up on a stretch of patio between the pool and the garden. She went in search of willing arms to hold thepuppieswarmandsafeasVanhauledtheirPuppy Palace up onto the stage.
OnesetofprotectivearmsMarychosebelongedto the woman who’d been tangoed by Buzz Cauldron. At first, she was still glowing. Soon, though, the puppyinherarmsbroughttearstohereyes.“Youare socute,youpreciouslittlebaby,you,”shewhispered in accented English.
***
