Free She Sins at Midnight by Whitney Dineen Page A

once and for all.
    For a minute Melinda wished she had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth like Vivian Ashwood. Vivian was the rich, beautiful daughter of a Duke, although Melinda realized that she was much more the Countess type than the dried up old debutante. After all, she and the Countess were ladies of the world. They knew how to get their man.
    When Melinda checked into her room in The Bentley House, she found out that she was registered under the name Bertha Plunket. She wondered who had come up with that alias and thought of Lila. That was exactly the kind of thing Josh’s bitch assistant would do. She immediately informed the desk clerk to change the name to Isabelle Rapscallion, after her two favorite characters in her new book.
    Thinking of her nemesis gave Melinda a thrill that she was able to get her suspended without pay for an entire month. Lila was probably holed up in a seedy apartment in North Hollywood eating baked beans straight out of a can. It was a thought that delighted her. After all, how dare that over-the -hill, fat-assed cow call her names? She was Melinda Forrester!
    When she got to her room, Melinda found a huge bouquet of roses that had been sent from Oscar’s law firm. There was also a fruit basket, a bottle of champagne and a note from a girl named Amy. The message said that she was going to be picked up the following evening at 5:30 by one of the partners of the firm. Melinda wasn’t quite sure why she had to fly to Chicago to meet this particular lawyer. All she knew was that he settled a lawsuit for Prissy Calder and Prissy came out of her troubles looking like a prom queen. Oscar assured her that she would have the same result. So there she was, in Illinois of all places.
    As it was only 7 p.m. in L.A., Melinda wasn’t the least bit tired, so she popped open the bottle of champagne, ran herself a bubble bath and checked in to see how the Countess was doing.
     
    Julius was beyond entranced by the young woman in his arms. He still wasn’t convinced his mother hadn’t orchestrated the whole thing. Just the thought of it set his teeth on edge. Yet he couldn’t seem to dispel the image of rolling Vivian around his big mahogany bed, utterly and completely naked.
    Realizing that he couldn’t seduce the virginal daughter of the Duke of Wentworth, without marrying her first, made him ache all the more. What was it about forbidden fruit that made it all the sweeter? That’s when his eyes strayed to the Countess of Trent. There was a brazen hussy if he’d ever seen one. Maybe she was the perfect tonic for the increasing strain on his breeches. He knew for a fact she was no innocent and that she was fair game. A good number of his friends had already sampled her charms and had given her very high marks for creativity and stamina.
    Julius steered Vivian toward the Countess and as soon as the waltz ended, he bowed to his dancing partner, thanked her for the honor of her company and proceeded to find out if Isabelle was all she was cracked up to be.
    * * * * *
    B y nine p.m., Jilly had finally gotten all the kids to fall asleep. As exhausted as she was, she made herself stay up for another hour so that she could have actual grown-up time with Bill. She’d gotten so used to communicating with him at a yell, to be heard over the noise of their offspring, that she was worried he may have forgotten that she didn’t always sound like a harridan.
    Bill came out of the bathroom, crawled under the covers and gave his wife a long and lingering kiss. Then he asked, “How happy are you that Lila’s home?”
    “Oh Bill, you have no idea. I’ve missed her so much.”
    “I know you have, honey. Why don’t you ask your Mom to babysit the kids so you can have some fun girl time together?”
    Jilly smiled, “I’ve already decided to do that.” Looking thoughtful, she added, “Have you noticed that any time Jack spends time with my mom, he picks up weird new habits?”
    “I have. In fact, I