Full Blast by Janet Evanovich & Charlotte Hughes Page B

Lyle’s bakery to buy brownies. Wouldn’t surprise me if half the women in this town ended up pregnant before long,” she added with a knowing look.
    Jamie promised herself to steer clear of the brownies.
     
    THE FOLLOWING NIGHT, JAMIE SLIPPED ON HER blue silk dress, and checked herself in the mirror. Her makeup and hair were perfect. She had taken a long bubble bath, slathered herself with lotion from head to toe, and then given herself a manicure and a pedicure. She tried to convince herself it had nothing to do with Max.
    She’d even tried to convince herself that her trip to Maxine Chambers’s lingerie shop had nothing to do with Max, but beneath her clothes she wore a body suit that was designed to make a man’s tongue fall to the floor. The fact that she’d spent close to two hundred dollars in the shop had almost caused her to swallow her own tongue.
    The doorbell rang at precisely six forty-five. Jamie opened the door and found Mike on the other side. He wore a baby-blue tux that was outdated, and at least one size too small. Ruffles peeked out from his sleeves. “Oh, geez,” she said.
    “I know it’s a little snug,” he told her. “My parents bought it for my high school prom. I guess I’ve filled out.”
    “You look fine,” Jamie told him, not wanting to hurt his feelings. She knew he tried to help his parents financially from time to time, and odds were he couldn’t afford to rent a tux. Probably nobody would notice his white socks anyway. Besides, it wasn’t a date. Mike was going as part of his job.
    “Hey, you look gorgeous,” he said, taking a long look. “You should dress up more often, and you wouldn’t have so much trouble finding a date. Hey, speaking of gorgeous, what’s your friend Destiny doing tonight? I’m here to tell you, that woman is hot. You should fix us up.”
    “Don’t you think she’s a little, um, mature for you?” Jamie asked.
    “Age is not an issue with me. I’m taking you out, aren’t I?”
    Jamie shot him a dark look. “May we leave now?”
     
    JAMIE DID NOT SEE MAX AMONG THE CROWD OF people when she and Mike came through the door at Frankie and Dee Dee’s, and her heart sank. What if he’d been unable to get away? Or maybe he’d had a better offer in the way of female companionship. Max Holt would naturally have his share of offers. Jamie pushed the thought aside. Max would not renege on a promise to be at his brother-in-law’s fiftieth birthday party. She craned her head, trying to see above the tall heads in the room.
    Max spotted Jamie the minute she stepped through the front door. He smiled at the sight of her so-called date, who immediately headed toward the dining room where the buffet was set up. His smile broadened when he noticed she was looking for him, but he was hidden from view at his place beside one of the round, floor-to-ceiling columns inside the house. He simply stood there for a moment watching her. Finally, he moved toward her until he was standing directly behind her.
    “Looking for someone?”
    Jamie felt the hairs stand on the back of her neck at the sound of his voice. Every nerve in her body sprang to life as she turned and found herself looking into Max Holt’s handsome face. For a moment all they could do was stand and stare at each other. It was as though all the people in the room had evaporated.
    “Hello, Max,” she said, trying to sound cool. But cool wasn’t easy, what with her heart beating like a conga drum in her chest. Damn, he looked good in his black tux, which, unlike Mike’s, was simple and elegant and probably tailor made. Of course, the man looked good no matter what he wore.
    Max was all male—sinewy muscle, gorgeous olive complexion, hard jaw. He was as polished as they came, with an underlying air of danger that oddly made her feel safe in his presence.
    His smile was slow and lazy as a winding river. “You amaze me, Swifty. I thought you couldn’t get any prettier. I was wrong.”
    Jamie offered