Page 3 of Hayes

*****

“My dear,” Celeste bustled into the office with her usual flair and efficiency of movement, her expensive perfume trailing behind her. With her red hair piled on top of her head and peaches and cream complexion glowing from her hour at the spa, she beamed at the young woman seated behind the modest looking desk.

“What do you have for me?” Stretching out long fingers—with the nails painted a vermilion red, she glided forward. “I was there with the lovely Gerard—”

She perched on the edge of the desk, blue eyes gleaming. “Gerard pretends that he is French, and I indulge that thinking because, poor darling, he spent three months in Paris and picked up the accent, not much, mind you.

Not like you, who are utterly fluent in French, Spanish, and Italian.” She gave Camelia an appraising look, admiring her flawless complexion and the exquisite bone structure.

Camelia DeWinter might have scandal cloaking her, but the woman had survived a nasty situation and still managed to look as classy as they come. She was cultured and knew more about art and antiques than anyone Celeste had ever come across. What was more, she could write.

Whenever she composed a story about anything, be it waxing about the edifying information about finding and identifying the proper soil or a man and a woman caught up in the throes of an unfortunate liaison, she made the story riveting and captured her audience by the way she told it.

She had asked for a rather large compensation package, and Celeste had balked at the idea, but Camelia had panache, and spending twelve years in Europe had given her plenty. She was also not one to talk about her feelings.

Who could blame her? Celeste mused silently. Having your father murder your mother and then turning the weapon on himself would be enough to silence anyone.

“Nothing yet.”

“Darling–”

“I am finetuning the piece I am doing and you promised to leave me in peace to do as I wish.”

Lifting her head from the topic she was doing, she aimed a cool glance at the woman. Celeste had offered her a job, a badly needed one at that, but she was not about to bow down and allow herself to be walked on.

“I did.” Celeste sighed in her usual dramatic manner. “Your aunt warned me against pushing you.”

“I did, too, remember?”

“Of course. Ah well. I will just have to wait and see what you come up with.” Turning away, she headed toward the door. “By the way,” turning back, she sent Camelia a catty look, “have you seen Hayes Marsden since your return?”

It took every ounce of will to remain impassive. “No. Why?”

“Just wondering. I know you two were hot and heavy back when you were teenagers.

He is on the verge of getting married, did you know?”

“Good for him. I need to get back to this.”

“Of course. Open or close?” She nodded to the door.

“Close, please.”

Camelia waited until the door closed before pressing a hand to her stomach and taking several breaths. It could not be avoided; mentions of Hayes would be coming at her, and she was going to have to learn to deal with it. She was also wondering if she did the right thing coming back to a place where it had all happened in the first place.

*****

“Dear, this is indeed a surprise!” Ignoring the others in the room, Simone flew into his arms. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

“And ruin the surprise?” he teased, kissing her on the lips. “I was a few blocks away and decided to stop by.” Hayes looked around the conference room at the men gathered there. “Have I come at an inopportune time?”

“You know Daddy is away for a week, and he left me in charge of the museum. An expected shipment somehow got delayed, and we are trying to find out what went wrong. Tucking her hand through his arm, she led them out of the room.

Pushing the doors open to an elegantly appointed office, she let go of his arm and turned to face him. “You seemed troubled.”

His thick blonde brows lifted in amusement, a smile curving his lips as he stared at the petite brunette. He was with Simone because she had accepted when they first started out that he had had his one true love and was not looking to be in that awful position again.

And he admired her wit and ability to converse with even the dullest of his business associates.

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