Second-Chance Seduction(76)

                Deidre grabbed the phone. “You’ll pay us back by dancing your little toes off with my son. Now, you have a fancy dance to prepare for. Go. Get off the phone and go.”

                “Yes, ma’am,” Maggie said, and laughed as she disconnected the call.

                * * *

                The elevator moved slowly on the trip down to the lobby, giving Maggie more time to worry about every little thing that could go wrong. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the elevator’s mirrored wall, and it helped remind herself that there were plenty of things that were going to go just right.

                She had made a pact with herself that from now on, the past would stay in the past. It was time to forgive herself for the mistakes she’d made back then. She was ready to move forward, not backward.

                And tonight she was going to dance. With Connor, of course, and with anyone else who asked. Deidre was right. Maggie refused to sit in a corner anymore, worrying whether she might make a mistake or do the wrong thing. It was a risk, but she was ready to take it.

                Two hours ago, she had refused to even try on the pink dress because the very thought of walking into the dance tonight made her queasy. Would she have flashbacks? Would someone criticize her for laughing too much? Would people sneer at the way she danced? Would they think her dress was too sexy? Too sparkly? Too pink?

                There would be hors d’oeuvres and desserts served at the dance, too. What if she spilled something? What if she used the wrong fork? Because Ashcroft had once punished her for using the wrong fork.

                “Good grief,” she muttered. The wrong fork? Seriously? Who the hell cared?

                She began to laugh at herself, so hard that tears came to her eyes. Then she tried to picture Connor sniveling about the wrong fork, and she laughed even harder.

                It was ludicrous. And worse, it was tearing her apart inside and destroying her hard-won self-confidence. So really, wasn’t it about time she drop-kicked her asinine ex-husband and his bony old mother out of her memory banks? Yes!

                “And take your wrong fork with you!” she said in a loud voice, shaking her fist in the air.

                Recalling her minitirade, Maggie giggled again. It was a good thing she was alone in the elevator. Otherwise, she might’ve received more than a few strange looks from her fellow passengers.





                                      Nine

                “Where’s your date?”

                Connor glanced at his brother while he casually sipped a beer, refusing to reveal how concerned he was over the subject of Jake’s question. “She’ll be here.”

                “You sure?”

                “Yes,” he said with a nonchalance he didn’t feel.

                “Good,” Jake said, and grinned. “Think she’ll dance with me?”

                He scowled at his brother. “No.”

                Jake looked affronted. “Why the hell not?”

                “Because you were a jerk to her.”

                “That’s ancient history,” he said, brushing away Connor’s comment. “I thought we got along really swell at dinner the other night.”