Free The Princess Bride by Diana Palmer Page A

succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
    She got through the long evening on champagne and sheer willpower. Mark seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. He hardly left Lisa all evening, and when she and her parents got ready to leave, he held onto her hand as if he couldn’t bear to let it go.
    They spoke in terse, quiet tones and as she left, her blue eyes brightened considerably, although Mrs. McKinley looked worried.
    â€œI’m going over there tomorrow to see their horses. You don’t mind?” he asked Tiffany as the other guests were preparing to leave.
    She stared up at him curiously. “She’s very young.”
    â€œAnd innocent,” he added, his hands deep in his pockets. “You don’t need to tell me that. I haven’t ever known anyone like her. She’s the sort of girl I might have met back home, if my parents hadn’t immigrated to America.”
    She was startled. “I thought you were grinding your teeth over your girlfriend?”
    He smiled vaguely. “So did I.” His head turned toward the front door. “She’s breakable,” he said softly. “Vulnerable and sweet and shy.” His broad shoulders rose and fell. “Strange. I never liked redheads before.”
    Tiffany bit her lower lip. She didn’t know how to put into words what she was feeling. Lisa was the sort of girl who’d never get over having her hopes raised and then dashed. Did he know that?
    â€œShe dances like a fairy,” he murmured, turning away, his dark eyes introspective and oblivious to the people milling around him.
    Harrison joined his daughter at the door as the last guests departed.
    â€œYour friend seems distracted,” he murmured, his eyes on Mark, who was staring out a darkened window.
    â€œLisa affected him.”
    â€œI noticed. So did everybody else. He’s a rake.”
    She shook her head. “He’s a hardworking man with deep family ties and an overworked sense of responsibility. He’s no rake.”
    â€œI thought you said he had a girlfriend.”
    â€œShe dumped him for somebody richer,” she saidsimply. “His pride was shattered. That’s why he’s here with me. He couldn’t bear seeing her around town in all the nightspots with her new lover.”
    Harrison’s attitude changed. “Poor guy.”
    â€œHe won’t hurt Lisa,” she assured him, mentally crossing her fingers. She saw trouble ahead, but she didn’t know quite how to ward it off.
    He studied her face. “You’re much more mature. I wouldn’t have recognized you.” He averted his eyes. “Pity King didn’t get back in time for the party.”
    She froze over. “I didn’t expect him, so it’s no great loss.”
    He started to speak, and suddenly closed his mouth. He smiled at her. “Let’s have a nightcap. Your friend can come along.”
    She took his arm with a grin. “That sounds more like you!”
    Â 
    The next day, Mark borrowed Harrison’s sedan again and made a beeline for the McKinley place outside town. He was wearing slacks and a turtle-neck white sweater and he looked both elegant and expensive.
    As Tiffany stood on the porch waving him off, a car came purring up the driveway. It was a black Lincoln. She fought down the urge to run. She didn’t have to back away from King anymore. She was out of his reach. She folded her arms over the red silk blouse she was wearing with elegant black slacks and leaned against a post in adistinctive pose to wait for him. It surprised her just a little that he didn’t have Carla with him.
    King took the steps two at a time. He was wearing dark evening clothes, as if he’d just come from a party. She imagined he was still wearing the clothes he’d had on the night before. Probably he didn’t keep anything to change into at Carla’s place, she thought venomously, certain that it explained his state