Excerpt from Romance With An Heiress

Kendra slipped into the hotel that evening
and smoothed her hand down her blouse. The top two buttons were left undone to
show off her throat and the gold chain she wore.

She hadn’t wanted to overdo with a tie and
jacket, though she rocked the hell out of a suit. Tonight was about relaxing,
and Spencer assured her she’d invited at least four other women, so maybe she
could get in a few dances if not a little flirting.

All she did was work, which was her
parents’ point. They were eager for her to settle down with the right woman,
have some kids. They were worried about the next generation of Dairs with her
brother being a confirmed bachelor.

She pushed open the door to the Cozy
Hunting room to find Spencer there with Kate, and they were merrily talking to the
lovely curly-haired Adra McCain, brown-haired Mori Baker who’d become her close
friend, and—she was here.

Alice was gorgeous in the simple summer
dress that accentuated the gold of her skin while enhancing the blue of her
eyes. She was short at five-foot-six next to Kendra’s five-foot-nine.

“Hey, girlfriend,” Spencer called. “Come
on over. Mori was just telling us about her trip to New York.”

“You and Mori were reminiscing about your
old stomping grounds?” Kendra replied, and Alice looked at her then.

Her blue eyes were shining with curiosity.
Her long black hair tumbled around her shoulders in a cloud of curls, and she
wore light make-up, her lips shining from the gloss. Everything about those
just-shy-of-full-lips said, “kiss me”.

And Kendra wanted to do just that.

She walked over to the table and scanned
it, looking for a seat next to one of her friends though next to Alice was
where she wanted to be.  

“Here’s a perfectly good seat right here
between me and Alice,” Mori said. “Who by the way is looking so hot tonight.”

Alice flushed and gave Mori a look.
“Thanks,” she said. “You did pick out the dress I could just barely afford.”

“But she is right,” Kate said. “That dress
looks great on you. Mori seems to have great taste.”

“Of course I do,” Mori agreed. “It’s my
job to match the right woman up with the right dress.”

“You just have a good eye for women,”
Spencer teased.

“Oh, yeah, that too,” Mori agreed with a
laugh. “And Alice does have a great ass as well as—”

“Shut up,” Kendra said, smacking her on
the back the head before sitting down next to Alice.

“Hi, Ali,” she said after sitting down. “You
look gorgeous tonight.” Alice’s cheeks pinkened a little, and she looked away,
but not before Kendra saw interest in her eyes.

“How are you?” Kendra asked, leaning
toward Alice.

“Good and you?”

“Tired. It’s been a long day with the work
we’ve got going on at the hotel.”

“What kind of work? I thought you guys
were all through with the renovations inside,” Alice answered.

“We’re just finishing some painting,”
Kendra told her. “And daddy dear is making me help.”

“Why? Does he want you to be able to say
you’ve logged the man hours learning every aspect of the business?” Alice asked
in a teasing tone.

“Maybe,” Kendra said, making a face. “He
can be a slave-driver at times, but I love him.” She reached for one of the two
bottles of wine and poured a generous splash into her glass. “Another?”

“No.” Alice held up her hand, shaking her
head. “I’ll have a half glass with dinner. I have class in the morning.”

“Class?”

“Yeah. Summer session. It’s almost over.
We’ll have a few weeks before the fall session starts, which means I’ll have
time for a quick break or vacation.”

“I know a beautiful spot or two around here,”
Kendra said. “I’ll give you my number, and you can call if you really want to
know more.”

“Okay.” That was a bad idea. If Kendra had
her number, Kendra could just call her. Alice picked her phone up from the
table and handed it over to Kendra.

Their fingers brushed, and electricity
zinged through Alice, causing her to catch her breath. She dropped the phone,
and Kendra caught it.

“Are
you okay?” Kendra asked, concern in her gaze.

“Y-yes.” She swallowed tightly.

Kendra put her number into Alice’s phone
and handed it back. “You can use it anytime. I have my phone with me even when
I’m working.”

Alice nodded, wishing Kendra had taken her
number. “My schedule is going to be pretty busy as the session winds down.”

“So, maybe you should just take her
number, Ken,” Spencer suggested.

“That way you can call her,” Mori added
conversationally.

Alice’s heart was pounding even as Spencer
and Mori chimed in, but she was grateful for their input.

“Tell you what,” Kendra said. “You call me,
and I’ll have your number.”

Damn her.

Why was she making this so hard?

“Right.” Kendra probably just didn’t want
to go out with her.

Alice knew Kendra was a player. She’d seen
her in a few clubs in the city. She knew she took women home or to a motel
every time she left. They were all so pretty and way thinner than she was.

It was never going to happen. She may as
well resign herself to settling for someone else.