LITMIR.BIZ

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didn’t want to think about that. It made his blood run hot. He turned Nina to the rhythm. “Anna is Randall’s business, not mine. Dance. Help me get her off my neck.”

      Nina smiled warmly. “My pleasure.”

      Anna watched them dance and took another sip of her punch, and then another. “I wish you could dance, Randall,” she said, the words sounding a little slurred. She felt very relaxed.

      “So do I, sometimes. Want to try it?” he asked, putting down his cup. “I feel pretty loose right now.”

      “Good.”

      She went into his arms and taught him the basic two-step. He began to grin, and his hands brought her gently closer.

      “This is nice,” he said wonderingly.

      “So it is.” She lay her cheek on his chest and closed her eyes, barely moving as the music continued. The devil with Evan, she told herself. She didn’t care if he made love to his old flame right there on the dance floor. She just wouldn’t look.

      “Having a good time, Anna?” one of Polly’s friends asked as she danced nearby with her husband.

      “Oh, yes,” Anna replied politely. “I hope you are.”

      “It’s lovely. Evan’s brought someone with him, I see,” the woman added with a faintly mocking smile. “Warding you off, is he?”

      Anna flushed. Over the years she’d gotten used to being teased about her pursuit of Evan, but tonight it stung. “Nina’s an old friend of his,” she pointed out.

      “Yes, but he doesn’t usually come to Polly’s parties with a woman in tow. In fact,” she said cattily, “he doesn’t usually come at all these days, does he? I suppose he’s really desperate if he has to look up old flames to discourage you.”

      Anna pulled away from Randall, who was openly scowling, and moved back to the punch bowl, leaving the woman with her mouth open.

      “What are you so upset about?” Randall asked, joining her there. “Everybody knows that you used to chase Evan. You’re not doing it now, so why let people bother you?” He slid an arm around her waist. “You’ve got me, now.”

      Had she really? Every time a new woman came into the room, she could see Randall’s eyes sizing her up. He was a born flirt, and despite his lack of conventional good looks, he could be utterly charming.

      “I guess I didn’t realize how blatant I must have seemed,” Anna said quietly, her eyes downcast. “I was only playing.” She hadn’t been, but it salvaged some of her pride to pretend she was.

      “I know that,” Randall said. “So do most other people. Don’t worry about gossip. I’ve been ignoring it for weeks.”

      Her head jerked up. “What have you heard?”

      He shrugged and smiled a little. “Just that you’d been madly pursuing Evan all over town. Accidental meetings that weren’t accidental, hanging around him at parties and flirting shamelessly, that kind of thing. They said Evan couldn’t go anywhere in Jacobsville without your turning up there. I thought it was funny.”

      “Evan didn’t,” she said miserably. “I went overboard and he’s finally reached the end of his rope. I wish I’d realized sooner how silly I was behaving.”

      “Was that woman right? Did he bring the lovely Nina to ward you off?”

      She nodded, feeling conspicuous now. “I’m sure of it. Poor Evan.”

      “I don’t know,” Randall murmured, smiling at her. “It must be flattering to be chased by a pretty young woman.”

      “It must be exasperating, you mean,” she said, suddenly understanding. How could she have let things go that far without realizing the position she was putting Evan in? She’d teased and flirted, hoping to make him notice her. But all she’d accomplished was to scare him off. What an idiot she’d been!

      As if realizing that wasn’t bad enough, she had to face the fact that everyone knew that his squiring of Nina was to keep her at bay. It was humiliating to have him publicly reject her like this. As she glanced around, she caught people looking at her and began to notice the faint pity in their eyes.

      She had to fight tears as the evening wore on. Evan danced with no one except Nina and was so attentive to her that speculation on the rekindling of the old relationship ran rampant. The way he avoided Anna spoke volumes. Nobody noticed that Anna was doing her best to avoid him as well. She clung to Randall like a leech.

      Polly gave a speech and introduced two of the mall’s main backers, along with the merchants who were already committed to opening businesses in it. The speech was well received, and it did divert Anna from her misery.

      But despite Randall’s company, Anna felt dejected and empty inside. She put on a good front, laughing and glittering, so that no one would guess how badly hurt she was.

      When the crowd started to dwindle, Polly paused beside her daughter with an affectionate smile. “I thought it went rather well. How are you doing, darling?”

      “Marvelous, thanks,” Anna said airily, forcing a smile. “It’s been lovely, hasn’t it, Randall?”

      Randall was watching her narrowly. “How many times have you hit that punch bowl, Anna?”

      “Only three,” she said, blinking. “Why?”

      He exchanged a knowing look with Polly.

      “Somebody spiked the punch,” Polly guessed.

      “How did you know?”

      “Evan smelled his punch and put it down with a vicious glare in my direction,” Polly said dryly.

      “I should have known he’d notice it first.” Randall laughed. He checked his watch. “Goodness, I’ve got to go. I’m on call at the hospital from midnight, and it’s almost that. I’ll be in touch tomorrow or the next day, as soon as I get some free time. ’Night,” he murmured, brushing a careless kiss across Anna’s forehead.

      She watched him go with no real interest. Polly put an affectionate arm around her shoulders.

      “It’s killing you, isn’t it?” she asked with unusual protectiveness. “You’ll survive, my darling. We all do. Evan just isn’t the type to settle down. You’ve always known that.”

      “I was only ever flirting,” Anna said stubbornly. “It wasn’t for real. I thought he knew it.”

      Polly didn’t contradict her daughter. She recognized the anguish in those blue eyes, though. Her arm contracted. “Let’s go and listen to the band. Randall will phone tomorrow. Maybe he’ll take you out to eat. You stay home too much.”

      “I guess I do. Randall’s nice.”

      “You’ll learn one day that we have to take what we can get out of life and not wish for the impossible things too hard,” Polly said gently. “One day at a time, pet.”

      Anna smiled. “Yes.” But she was thinking of how many days it was going to take to get over tonight.

      Evan and Nina gravitated toward them, and Anna had to fight the urge to cut and run.

      “It was a lovely party. Thank you for asking me,” Nina said with a smile in Polly’s direction.

      “It was my pleasure,” the older woman replied. “Evan, I’m glad you came, too. I didn’t really expect you. If Nina managed to pry you out of your office, good for her.”

      “I plan to pry him out a lot more often, now,” Nina purred, leaning against Evan’s shoulder. Anna didn’t speak or look at him, and after a minute, he stared at her openly.

      “How much of that punch have you had?” Evan demanded of Anna, his dark eyes sparking.

      She

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