Manhattan Magic

by Oliver, Marina

  'Who is Arlene?'

  'Arlene? Why does she come into it?'

  'I don't know if she does. But you went to see her the night we met, and then spent the weekend with her in Miami.'

  'And you're jealous, my love? So you do care for me.'

  He tried to recapture her lips, but she evaded him. 'Tell me. Is she another girlfriend?'

  Laughing, he shook his head. 'She's a very wealthy, and very old eccentric widow who pays me well for designing her houses. If I can restrain her from combining Italian Renaissance palaces with Norman English castles I think I have succeeded. She sells them for huge profits and then wants another.'

  'But you don't build that sort of thing!'

  'Not for choice, but she allows me to experiment with new techniques, new materials, and so I learn for bigger projects. Like these hotels I'm going to build. And you can do the photography for me.'

  'You're so certain you'll win the contract?'

  'Yes, if you love me, and come with me. Is winning part of the deal? You won't marry me if I lose?' He kissed her again, lingering and tender. 'Well?' he asked, finally releasing her enough for her to breathe.

  'I always wanted a big wedding in a gown my mother had designed,' she insisted.

  'I thought you had weddings in church?'

  She laughed. 'Idiot!'

  'Does that mean yes? We can go to England and have a religious wedding ceremony later, with all the trimmings, but I can't wait that long for you. I'd be afraid you'd vanish in a puff of smoke. I can scarcely believe I've found the woman of my dreams, after so long looking. Rezia, I do love you, so deeply that when I thought you'd betrayed me I wanted to throw myself off Brooklyn Bridge.'

  'I think I'd have joined you, if you stayed feeling that way,' she whispered.

  He glanced at his watch. 'Go and pack, just for a couple of days, we can be back here on Wednesday. I'll order a car, and we should just make it for the last flight! When we get back we can move the rest of your things into this apartment.'

  Oh well, Rezia thought as she pushed a few things into a case, she'd always wanted to see Las Vegas. But she had no intention of being hustled into marriage there. She grinned suddenly. That would make an interesting discussion during the flight.

  ###

  THE END

  Marina Oliver has written over 60 novels, and has converted most of them to Ebooks. Others have been or are being published as Ebooks by other publishers.

  For the latest information please see Marina's web site:

  http://www.marina-oliver.net.

  A longer contemproray novel by Marina Oliver:

  A Question of Love

  Pippa, an American, wants to prove to her protective family that she can stand on her own feet. She is reluctant to return to the States after a few months in England and do as they and her father's partner expect, marry the partner's son Frank.

  Defying Frank, she accepts a job in Minorca as secretarial assistant to a former film star who is planning to write his memoirs. These promise to be explosive, and both his last wife and his nephew Juan try to persuade him to abandon the idea.

  *