Champagne Romance (Romance Novel) by Suellen Smith Page A

out the necessary paperwork and
made arrangements for tomorrow’s departure.
    After making sure that Swan was settled in
for the night, Kat checked in to the Timberland Hotel. Her room
faced the steep mountainside of activity and skiers. The
accommodations had a rustic elegance that gave the ambiance of
being in an inviting log cabin, but had all the amenities of a
luxury home. Unpacking her bag and refreshing her makeup, she got
ready to go on the prowl. She pulled a red-scooped neck cashmere
clingy sweater over her head to compliment the black stretch pants,
black pointed high heel shoes, and gold loop earrings that she had
worn on the plane. Adding a little lip-gloss, she headed downstairs
to the martini bar, Red Square.
    The bar was full of singles and
affluent jet setters all mingling together. It was just the kind of
diversion, which Kat was looking. She perched herself on the stool of the thirty foot long ice bar.
It wasn’t long before she was surrounded by young admiring males
hoping to “score” for the evening.
    After a couple of martinis, Kat found
herself in a chinchilla coat and hat entering the $250 vodka a
glass freezer room. In this icy atmosphere, the affluent enjoyed
specialty vodka from all over the world. The exquisite vodka was
smooth, but not nearly as smooth as the gentleman in a man’s
Russian sable that had joined her. The evening ended as would have
been predicted--- Kat scratching and clawing in the bed of the hunk
from the martini bar downstairs.
    By 10:00 the next morning Kat rolled out of
bed with a smile, dressed, grabbed a cup of coffee, and hailed a
taxi to the medical center. By noon she had her friend, Swan,
checked out of the Breckenridge Medical Facility and on a plane to
her home in Newport Beach. They were in Swan’s luxury condo by late
afternoon.
     

CHAPTER 18
     
    Swan’s home was a modern condo at the top of
a small private building. It had high ceilings and lots of space
that had originally appealed to her. The furniture was unique and
expensive. Fireplaces were in every room of her home, including the
three bedrooms and balcony that took the chill off of the
California evenings. Ironically, considering her present
predicament, she bought it for the occasional picturesque view on a
clear day of Catalina and because it overlooked the tiny island of
Balboa that sported a colorful rainbow Ferris wheel. A hot tub
surrounded by lots of blooming colorful plants faced the fireplace
on the balcony. All the rooms had a touch of antiques and
interesting personal mementos that she had collected from all over
the world. There were no pictures or reminders of the past.
    Swan and Kat had gone to bed hours ago, but
Swan couldn’t sleep. She walked out onto the dark balcony in her
flimsy pale blue silk nightgown. She knew no one could see her as
her house was isolated and strategically placed to shield the
privacy that she held so dear. As she became rich and famous, it
was important to protect herself and her surroundings. If other
women had been a little more vigilant and less naïve, they might
still be alive today. Swan had no intention of joining the
statistics of becoming a victim of anyone as she had in her
growing-up years. She had taken some karate defense classes. She
had continued to take additional classes to keep herself alert and
ready. For the first time, she had control of her life or so she
thought.
    Swan could feel the cool salt sea breeze on
her face. She could hear the break of the tide that was in the
close distance. It was soothing as it always had been, but tears
still gathered in her sightless eyes and began falling down her
soft cheeks. She couldn’t help it, the tears soon turned into
uncontrollable flood of weeping. She wrapped her arms around
herself and was reminded of the arms of her lover and fellow wreck
mate, Ace. She never knew his last name, she never asked. It seemed
better that way. The possibility of being permanently blind was
devastating and she