Not So Snow White by Donna Kauffman Page A

stay in London. I sublet the village house, anyway." Which was kind of close to the truth. There were other people living there now.
    Just thinking about that sent a little pang through her heart. Wimbledon was a quaint, traditional English village just outside of London, and one of her very favorite places on earth. And not just because she'd won five championships there. Walking through town and down Wimbledon Park, one would never suspect that just around the bend was one of the world's most venerable institutions. Quiet for most of the year, it turned into a massive tourist mecca during the fortnight of the Championships. Many owners of the houses along the main road rented out their places to players and fans alike, and even went so far as to rent out their driveways and lawns to vendors looking to hawk food and memorabilia to the throngs who walked daily from the subway stop in the village proper down the hill to the grounds themselves. She'd always liked staying close by, loved the feel and sounds and just the hum of activity that surrounded the event. London was close enough that she could easily get into town for shopping and an occasional evening of fun.
    In fact, she was going to miss—terribly—not having her little village p ied-à -terre. Head in the game, Tess. Head in the game.
    "Where did you book?" her father inquired.
    "I'm, ah, staying with some friends," She hadn't meant to sound so wishy-washy, but she was scrambling here.
    Wade, of course, picked up on it immediately. "Ah," he said knowingly. "Shacking up in the city, huh? Anyone we know?" His smile grew. "Anyone we need to do a little background check on before you're both splashed all over Page Six?"
    "Wade." Their father's censure was automatic, but didn't carry much weight. Especially given the equally disappointed glance he sent her way.
    Wade would make a good poker player, too, Tess thought. And oh, what she wouldn't give to take his ass to the cleaners. Wipe that stupid smug smile off his face. But at the moment, as she didn't exactly have a good backup story in place, it behooved her—once again—to live down to her reputation. Would it never end?
    She let her smile curve slowly, careful to keep her father to the very edge of her peripheral vision. "Jealous?"
    Before Wade could r etort, or their father could step in, they were called to board their flight. Armed with enough magazines and her handy little sleep mask, Tess scooted out in front of them and boarded first. She had every intention of burying herself in a few magazines, then sleeping her way across the Atlantic.
    If she was going to launch an all-out assault on the collective unsuspecting tennis consortium hovering about London for the next couple of weeks, she had to have a base of operations. Maybe by the time they landed in Heathrow, she'd have figured out where in the hell that was going to be … and how she was going to finance it.

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 4
     
     
    " W ell, there you are, my dear boy!" Aurora Favreaux waved across the crowded suite at the groom-to-be, enjoying, as she always did, the musical way the thin gold bracelets on her wrist clinked together. The recessed lighting, though tastefully muted, still created a dazzling effect as it bounced off the rings lining her fingers.
    She smiled easily and nodded at several acquaintances as she expertly wove her way through the clusters of guests who'd come to congratulate the lucky couple. She loved parties. Especially engagement parties. The warm chatter, the hum of excitement, the room was simply infused with sincere happiness. That the two lovebirds were surrounded by such love and affection was a testimony that they'd both chosen well.
    Aurora fussed with the chiffon scarves she'd loosely tied at her neck as she finally approached the always-charming Bobby Hamilton and his lovely bride-to-be, Andrea. Aurora reached out with both hands, taking one of Bobby's and one of Andrea's, before squeezing them both