LITMIR.BIZ

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soon served appetizers for the sit-down dinner.

      Up front, CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper was in conversation with Karen Ballard, who specialized in motion picture photography. Jacqueline and Raymond whispered conspiratorially about Cooper’s possible appearance in a film and they entertained themselves by concocting stories about the plethora of attendees that spanned the gamut of journalism, and swapped stories about some of their memorable assignments.

      Raymond was equally as traveled as Jacqueline and spoke three languages fluently, compared to her two. He’d lived in Japan for a year, spent several summers in Europe and loved motorcycle riding.

      “What was it like being embedded with the troops in Iraq?” he asked.

      “Scary. But I knew that they wouldn’t let anything happen to me. I was there to do a job and they respected that.” She glanced off.

      “Must have been tough. The things you saw…”

      She nodded. “It was.” She turned and looked into his eyes. “The sad part is, I’ve seen and photographed worse.”

      “I know. In this business when you think you’ve seen everything there’s one more thing that sucks the air out of your lungs.”

      “Fortunately, there’s still some beauty left in the world.”

      “Fortunately,” he said and raised his glass to her, his gaze moving with appreciation across her face.

      After a long line of award-winners and acceptance speeches, the event wound down to a glittering close.

      Jacqueline and Raymond made their way out through the throng of bodies.

      “Going to the after party?” Raymond asked once they were outside.

      “Oh no,” she said, waving her hand. “I’ve had enough party people to last me at least until this time next year.”

      Raymond chuckled. “Live here or staying in town?”

      “Actually, I’m only here until tomorrow. I fly out in the morning. Off to Israel for the next month.”

      “Busy lady. Where do you call home?”

      She hesitated for a moment. Louisiana was where she was born but it hadn’t been home for a very long time. “California.”

      His head jerked back in surprise. “Me too.”

      “That’s just a pickup line, right?”

      “No.” He chuckled. “Seriously. I moved out there about a year ago from Maplewood, New Jersey. I’m in San Fernando Valley. Been there about two years now.”

      “Hmmm. Small world.”

      “Maybe we can get together the next time we’re in the same time zone.”

      Jacqueline offered a half smile. She lifted her arm to signal for the next taxi in line.

      A cab pulled up in front of them. Raymond stepped forward and opened the door for her. She ducked in the cab.

      Raymond stuck his head in. “Safe travels, pretty lady. Thanks for spending the evening with me.”

      There was no room in her life for a man like Raymond, for any man or anyone. She didn’t stay put long enough for a relationship to have any meaning. And there was no point in opening the door to something that would never get a chance to cross the threshold.

      “Take care,” she said and for a brief instant, she wished things could be different, but they weren’t.

      Raymond gave her a wistful parting smile, shut the door and stepped back.

      She watched him in the rearview mirror until the cab turned the corner. She was sure that was the last time she would see him and in the ensuing months she often wondered what part of the world he was in. Sometimes she would run across his byline only to realize that he was a half a world away.

      And then one day, there he was in the Khan el-Khalili market in Cairo, thousands of miles away from where they’d met nearly a year earlier.

      “Ray?” She approached from his right. He turned and swiped his dark shades from his eyes. His grin spread like the sun rising over the ocean and moved through her.

      “Jacquie, what in the world…”

      She giggled like a schoolgirl. “You stole my line.”

      He tossed his head back and laughed from deep in his belly. “This is one of those crazy surprises…a good one,” he added. He put down the bolt of white cotton that he’d been considering purchasing. “You look…different.” He’d memorized her in the clinging off-white cocktail dress that flirted with her knees and showed off incredible legs. The diamonds at her throat and wrist, the way the dip of the dress teased the senses with hints of what lay beneath. Her scent that he couldn’t get out of his head…and those eyes. Those eyes. And that lush full mouth. And now she looked like a gorgeous cover-model for college girls with her hair pulled back into a ponytail, a khaki baseball cap, T-shirt that barely contained those lush breasts and khaki shorts. Totally delicious.

      “Must be the sneakers,” she teased.

      He snapped his fingers. “That’s it!” He stepped closer. “How long are you here for?”

      “At least another two weeks. You?”

      “Me too. I’m on assignment to cover the Summit.”

      “So am I,” she said, inexplicably happy.

      “Have any free time on your schedule? Maybe we can have dinner or do the tourist thing.”

      “Yeah.” She nodded. “I’d like that.”

      “Where are you staying?”

      “The Semiramis Intercontinental.”

      “I’m at the Atlas Zamalek. Are you free later tonight?”

      “I have to caption some photos, but that should only take a few hours. How about eight?”

      “No problem. I’ll come by your hotel.”

      She bobbed her head. “Okay. I’ll meet you in the lobby.” She took a step back. “I, uh, have some errands to run so…I’ll see you at eight.”

      “Eight.”

      She turned to leave.

      “Hey, Jacquie.”

      She looked back over her shoulder. “You never told me your last name.”

      “Lawson.”

      Chapter 3

      “Hey,” Raymond said softly, moving his head back and forth in front of her.

      Jacqueline blinked away the past and Ray came back into focus. She forced a smile.

      “Where did you just go?”

      She blew out a breath and shook her shoulders a bit. “I just realized that I didn’t get to open my package.” She took his hand and pulled him to his feet. “Come, I want to show you.”

      “Is it more equipment, J?” How many times had he watched her face light up when she discovered a new use for a lens or composed a picture a different way or purchased the latest waterproof camera? And how many times had he wished that he’d see the same kind of excitement in her eyes for him? It came only in flashes, nothing ever sustained. And when it did, she would shut it down, turn off the lights as if she was afraid he would see whatever it was that she was trying to hide.

      “Hush, and just come on.”

      They trooped into her bedroom and she went over to the box that Raymond had placed in the corner.

      She duckwalked it over to the side table near the bed. “It isn’t heavy, just awkward.” Her long slender fingers quickly stripped the box of the securing

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