The Cinderella Obsession by Opal Carew, Amber Carew Page A

cut off that persuasive voice, certain that Rachel would try again to talk her into telling Nick. "Don’t you see?" She sank into the chair. "I can’t stay. If I do, I’m afraid he’s going to figure it out."
    "No, Vanessa. Don’t you see? This means that you’ve got to stay."
    Vanessa locked gazes with her. "Why?"
    Rachel’s hands fluttered up. "Well, what better way to keep him off track than to be on hand when the clues come in? That way, you’ll know what he knows, and maybe you can divert any information that lets him get too close."
    Vanessa felt her face drain of blood. Rachel had a very good point. It had already happened once.
    "And you’ve got to get your earring back," Rachel continued. "You can’t do that if you run off."
    "I guess you’re right, Rachel."
    She grinned impishly. "Aren’t I always?"
    * * * *
    Nick walked through the hospital corridor, following the blue line on the floor that the receptionist had told him would lead to the maternity ward. He glanced at the numbers on the rooms, following until he saw five seventeen, then peered inside to see if Rachel was awake--and decent. She was, on both counts, wearing a red plaid nightgown and glancing through a magazine. He tugged on his collar as he entered the room. He always felt a bit uncomfortable visiting a woman in a hospital.
    "Rachel, how are you doing?"
    Rachel looked up from the magazine--something with a picture of a baby on it--and smiled warmly.
    "Nick, what are you doing here?"
    He stepped further into the room. "Can’t a guy come visit the woman who’s kept his office in order for five years?"
    "Thanks for the flowers you sent. They’re gorgeous." She indicated a huge basket of mixed flowers, the purples and pinks adding vibrant color to the beige room. "So how are things at the office without me? Falling around your ears?" she teased.
    "They would be if it weren’t for the great secretary personnel hired for me."
    Rachel’s hand fluttered to her flannel-clad chest. "I’m crushed. I’m gone a whole day and you don’t even miss me."
    "Seriously, you know I do, Rachel. And your job will be waiting for you when you get back."
    "Thanks, Nick." She took a sip from the water glass sitting on the little bedside table. "So, how’d your party go? Meet anyone special?"
    He settled into her guest chair. "Funny you should ask that. A woman crashed the party."
    Her gaze flicked to his face. "Oh? And how do you know that? With everyone wearing a mask and all?"
    "I thought she was Amy, but when we…." He cleared his throat. "Well, I figured out it wasn’t her."
    "So, did you have her thrown out or something? The impostor, I mean."
    "No, in fact, I want to find her."
    Again, that flickering glance. "Why?"
    "I want to know who she is and why she came to my party." His reasons were a lot more complicated than that but he wasn’t about to confide his inner secrets to Rachel, no matter how long they’d worked together.
    "You don’t think she was up to something shady, do you?"
    "Shady?" He glanced at Rachel and was surprised by the look of concern etched across her features. "No, nothing like that."
    "Nick, I know you. You wouldn’t be chasing after this woman if you didn’t have a solid reason."
    He shifted in his seat, unsure how to explain his crazy reaction. Was it a good enough reason that he couldn’t stop thinking about her? That he desperately wanted to hold her again, to feel her lips under his?
    "Did … something happen between you two?"
    He folded his hands together and dropped them between his knees. "Not really."
    Except the most devastating kiss I’ve ever experienced--then she ran away with my heart. But no, he was being foolish. Love at first sight didn’t make any sense, especially when he didn’t know anything about the woman. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t get to know her. He had to find out why she had this unnerving affect on him, to explore the magic that had shimmered between them when they danced,