Free Deception by Gina Watson Page A

the Opera , I asked her to accompany me to a one-thousand-dollar-a-plate charity dinner hosted by the firm I work for—”
    “Anything local?”
    “You mean in Baton Rouge?”
    “Sure.”
    “Like what?”
    Maura fastened her watch to her wrist while she spoke. “I wouldn’t know, Everett. This is your hometown. Maybe something in New Orleans.”
    He wrinkled his nose. “Like a bar?”
    “Or a jazz club.”
    “Yeah, I guess I could do that.”
    “You know what you should do, Everett . . . You should invite her to go eat this gumbo I’ve heard way too much about.”
    “I don’t think so.”
    “Why not?”
    “I don’t want to take a girl that I like to dinner with all of my brothers and sisters and my parents.”
    “Fiona likes large families. People that don’t have them generally do. I’m telling you, she’d love it.”
    Everett tilted his head at her, as if pondering her suggestion, and then he stood. “Thank you for your time.” His hand touched her elbow. “You’re beautiful in that green, by the way.”
    She was left speechless. Everett David was definitely a charmer.
    ***
    Maura was losing it. She heard Ride of the Valkyries playing in her head. But no, there it was again, playing for a second time. She walked out into the hallway and found Julian. “That’ll be Max. Six-thirty. A little eager for my taste, but it’s your call.”
    “Did I hear Ride of the Valkyries playing?
    “You did. Dad must have switched on his custom doorbell. It also cycles through Rodeo Hoedown and Beethoven’s Fifth even though I’ve told him Beethoven’s work doesn’t belong with those others.”
    “I’m glad you confirmed it. I thought I was losing my mind.”
    “Maura, Max is here!” Ari shouted from downstairs.
    Everyone had been briefed by Julian. The rest of the family was prepared to act as if nothing out of the ordinary was occurring. The big aha moment would come during Max and Maura’s departure. Energy sizzled through Maura’s veins in anticipation.
    “I guess I better head down,” she whispered at Julian.
    “I’ll escort you.” His hand on the small of her back sent her reeling. “You look beautiful in that dress and extremely tall in those shoes.”
    “I thought it would be fun to dress up.” She clasped her hand over the stair rail to guide her on the way down.
    “I’m glad you did. I’ll enjoy the view all night.”
    “I think you look very nice tonight as well.” He’d dressed in dark gray slacks and a pink tailored dress shirt. She’d never seen him in anything but a Henley or a T-shirt.
    “Can’t have Everett and Max outdoing me.” He winked at her.
    They found Max sitting in the family room. He’d helped himself to a drink from the bar—whiskey, Maura guessed.
    “Hello, Maura. Can I fix you a drink?” Max asked.
    “No, thank you.”
    “I hope you don’t mind if I have one.”
    “Not at all.”
    “Come, sit with me.” He’d either not yet noticed Julian’s presence or he was ignoring him. Max pulled Maura to the couch.
    “So, Emily Brontë.”
    “Yes. Emily Brontë.”
    “Her work wasn’t well received during her time. Guess you could say that about most of the female classic authors. The work is highly feminist, wouldn’t you say?”
    He was breaking the ice with shoptalk—he was smooth she’d give him that. “Her work crosses multiple barriers. Feminism is certainly one, but she also touches on societal factions determined by class standing and education.”
    “You’re amazing. Your project is original and intuitive. I don’t need to tell you how difficult it is to obtain a research grant for British literature, or any other literature for that matter. On top of that your grant is furthering student research involvement as you’ve provided a graduate education for four students. You’ve done quite well in your first year.”
    Maura squirmed. She had to tell him the steam behind the grant belonged to her ex-husband and his generosity did not come