“I hope Cain doesn’t see the bill,” Jenny said. “The masks are beautiful, but they cost a fortune.”
Millie just smiled. “They’ll be nice mementos of the evening. We would have had to give people something. The masks work perfectly.” Millicent tossed her a glance. “Have you picked yours out yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Let’s go do it right now.”
Millicent led the way. Their unlikely friendship had continued, grown even stronger. Jenny thought it was based on mutual respect. They were both good at their jobs and proud of the work they had done to make the Grandview a success.
An array of masks was spread across a table in the bar. “What color is your dress?” Millie asked.
“It’s black velvet, with a touch of white satin.”
“Good choice. You can never go wrong with black.” Millie sorted through the display. Some were full masks, but most were half masks designed to cover the top of the wearer’s face. Millie plucked out a red-satin mask with tiny devil horns and held it up.
Jenny shook her head. “Reminds me of Dante’s Inferno. Definitely not for me.” Especially after what had happened in room 10.
Millie held up a gold Venetian butterfly mask.
“I don’t know . . . it’s not too bad,” Jenny said.
“Wait! What about this?” Millie held up a black-sequined half mask with gleaming black feathers around the eyes. “Simple and elegant.”
Jenny smiled. “I’ll take it.” Some of the masks had elastic bands to hold them in place; others had a wooden handle. Jenny picked up the handle, held the mask over her face, and looked at herself in a mirror over the bar. “I like it. What about yours?”
“I want to stand out,” Millie said. “I deserve it after all the work I’ve done on this place.”
Jenny nodded. “You’re right. What color is your dress?”
“Teal-blue taffeta. Very short, low-cut front and back, and accented with sequins.”
Jenny laughed. “That ought to stand out.” She held up a mask. “How about this one?” Dark blue satin, with gorgeous waving peacock feathers. It was flashy, but it was beautiful.
“Perfect.”
They laughed and wound up having a glass of wine at the bar. It was a good day. Work at the Grandview had gone well all week, and she’d had no more problems with ghostly sounds in her room. Still, she hadn’t slept very well. She missed Cain, missed his big, powerful body curling her against him.
Part of her dreaded seeing him tomorrow night. She was afraid he was going to tell her it was over.
She would deal with it, of course. She was a strong woman. She’d dealt with other disappointments. But nothing that had happened in the past had broken her heart.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
HE’D MADE A MISTAKE. CAIN KNEW IT AS HE DROVE TOO FASTthrough the mountains, backup the hill to Jerome. He’d spent a week determined to get Jenny out of his system, give them both a break and himself time to think. It hadn’t worked.
He’d thought of Jenny every day, every hour. And he’d worried about her. What if Ryder showed up? What if something else happened in the new section of the hotel? He’d asked Barb to let him know if any problems came up, but if they did, he was too far away to help.
Ten times a day, he’d almost picked up the phone on his desk to call or punched her number into his cell phone. But he had made a promise to himself, and he was determined to keep it.
He needed to clear his head, think things through. He had done the best he could, but his plans were still unclear. In the week since he’d left Jerome, all he’d discovered was that he was hooked on Jenny and hooked badly. He was seeing her tonight, and he was going to let her know how much she meant to him, how much he cared.
He had no idea where things would go from there, but admitting that much was a start.
As he passed the city-limits sign, he wanted to drive the Jag straight to the Copper Star. But even more, he wanted the night to be special for Jenny. He headed for the Grandview, parked in back, and took the elevator up to his suite.
His tuxedo waited in a plastic bag spread over the bed, messengered up earlier that week. He showered and dressed, checked his appearance in the mirror, then the time on his watch. It was a little too early to pick her up, so he contented himself with a scotch on the rocks at the bar in his living room.
When it was finally time to leave, he opened the door to the refrigerator under the bar and took out the white-orchid corsage he’d had delivered to the hotel.
