Free Just Curious by Jude Devereaux Page B

didn’t take her long to figure things out. He was sitting beside her, opening gifts, his face as innocent as a sleeping child’s. “You were busy while I was at the hairdresser’s, weren’t you?” she asked softly, so just he heard. It was obvious that he had purchased all her gifts, had them wrapped, then labeled them as coming from his friends.
    He didn’t bother to deny it, but just smiled, his thick, black lashes half lowered. “Like your gifts?”
    Her lap and some of the floor around her were covered with beautiful objects: a cashmere sweater, a music box, a pair of gold earrings, three pairs of slouchy socks, a silver picture frame.
    â€œWhat did I give you?” Steve called. He and Catherine had postponed their honeymoon until the day after Christmas.
    Karen laughed. “Let’s see,” she said, picking up tags. “I think you gave me the string bikini.”
    â€œThe what?” Mac blurted then turned red when everyone burst out laughing. “Okay, okay,” he said, smiling, but he put his arm possessively around Karen’s shoulders.
    A woman who was Steve’s cousin looked at Karen thoughtfully. “You know, Karen, I have met all of Mac’s fiancées, and I can tell him now that I’ve never liked any of them, but you, Karen, I like. You are the first one who has ever looked at Mac with love in her eyes.”
    â€œActually, I forgot my contact lenses,” Karen said, “and—” She was halted by boos that made her blush and look down at her lap. Mac’s arm tightened about her shoulders.
    â€œSo when’s the wedding?” someone asked.
    Mac didn’t hesitate. “As soon as I can persuade her. Look, she won’t even wear my ring.”
    â€œMaybe it’s worn out from being slipped on and off the fingers of so many other women,” Steve called, and every-one laughed.
    It was at that moment that Steve’s mother, Rita, stepped in from the kitchen. “Stop it, all of you! You’re embarrassing Karen. And I need help in the kitchen!”
    To Karen’s consternation, the room cleared instantly. Within thirty seconds, there wasn’t a single male, young or old, in the huge room, only women, girls, and a mountain of gifts and torn paper. “Works every time,” Steve’s mom said with a grin. “Now, come on, ladies, let’s go gossip.”
    Laughing, the women went upstairs to dress before settling into their various tasks. Alone in the bedroom she shared with Mac, Karen dumped her gifts onto the bed and looked at them. It hadn’t taken much sleuthing to find out that everything she’d received as a gift since she’d arrived had been from Mac. She’d been curious to find out what the other women had received as bridesmaid’s gifts and was told the gifts had been given out last week. Hadn’t she received hers?
    More questioning had revealed that pearl necklaces and earrings had not been the gifts given. “If you’re referring to the pearls you had on last night,” one of the women said, “and if they were a gift from Mac, then you can bet your bank account that they are real.”
    Karen blinked. “So I guess the bride didn’t give out complete sets of white silk underwear.”
    She’d said it more to herself than to the other women around her, but they heard and set up a howl of laughter that made Karen blush.
    So now, alone in their room, she looked at what he’d heaped on her and knew she’d trade everything for an extra hour with Mac. Tomorrow they’d return to Denver and by the day after they’d be separated forever. Or at least as good as, she thought, remembering the office, with her desk about a million miles from his.
    Turning, she noticed an envelope on the pillow, and when she moved the scarf she’d tossed onto the bed, she saw that it had “Merry Christmas, Karen” written on