Free Black Rose by Nora Roberts Page A

everyone was gone before you pitched the son of a bitch out on his ear.”
    His voice heated up on the rant, his fury for her lighting little fires. “You’ve got balls of steel, Roz. And I mean that in the best possible way.”
    “It was self-serving, not courageous or ballsy.” She shrugged it off, or tried to. “Causing a scene with a house full of guests would only have been more humiliating.”
    “In your place, I’d’ve scratched both of them blind, then chased them out the door brandishing one of your great-great . . . however many greats-granddaddy’s muskets.”
    She let out a little sigh, sipped again. “That would’ve been satisfying, and damn if I don’t wish I’d thought of the musket after the guests had gone. Well, we didn’t let him spoil that evening, and we won’t let him spoil this one.”
    She polished off the champagne and turned to David with the determined look of a woman prepared for battle. “Let’s get the rest of these candles lit, put some music on. I’m ready for a party.”
    Y ES , IT WAS good to open the house again. To have wine and music, good food, good friends. She listened to snippets of gossip, political debates, discussions on sports and the arts as she moved from group to group, from room to room.
    She hooked her arm through her old friend Will Dooley’s, who was also Stella’s father, and Roz’s landscaper, Logan Kitridge’s future father-in-law. “You slipped by me.”
    “Just got here.” He brushed his lips over her cheek. “Jo kept changing her shoes. She just went upstairs with Hayley. Said she had to peek at the baby.”
    “I’ll find her. Lose your fiancée, Logan?”
    “She’s everywhere.” He shrugged, sipped from his pilsner. “Woman can’t rest until she’s checked every detail personally. Nice party, Roz.”
    “Oh, you hate parties.”
    Now Logan grinned, a quick grin that added charm to his rugged looks. “A lot of people. But the food’s first-rate,the beer’s cold, and my date’s the most beautiful woman in the world. Tough to complain. Don’t tell her daddy, but I plan to lure her out to the gardens later to neck.”
    He winked at Will, then shifted his gaze. “Your Dr. Carnegie just came in. Seems to be looking for you—or somebody.”
    “Oh?” Roz glanced around, and those expressive eyebrows lifted. He’d worn a suit, stone gray, that flattered his lean build. He’d gotten a haircut since the last time she’d seen him, she noted, and was looking a little more GQ than professorial.
    She could admit, to herself at least, that it was a treat to study him either way.
    Still, he seemed slightly befuddled with the crowd, and shook his head when one of the efficient servers offered him a glass from a tray of champagne.
    “Excuse me just a minute,” she said to Will and Logan.
    She started to wind her way through the room, and broke her stride when his gaze skimmed over, then locked on her face.
    She felt a little bump under her heart, and a quickening of pulse she found both baffling and embarrassing.
    He just hones in, she thought. Those eyes just zeroed right on in so she felt—anyone would feel—that she was the only person in the room. A good trick in a space jammed with people and noise, and just a little disconcerting.
    But her expression was easy and friendly as she walked to him.
    “I’m so glad you could come.”
    “When you throw a party, you mean it. I could see the lights from a mile away. You don’t actually know all these people, do you?”
    “Never seen them before in my life. What can I get you to drink?”
    “Club soda, lime.”
    “There’s a bar set up over here.” To guide him, she laid a hand on his arm. “Let’s get you fixed up.”
    “Thanks. Listen, I have something for you. A gift.”
    He dug into his pocket as they crossed to the bar, then offered her a small wrapped box.
    “That’s completely unnecessary, and awfully sweet.”
    “Just a thanks for bailing me out with the gift for my