Secret Moves(65)

"Okay. Well, thanks for the dance, Shuffles."

They smiled at each other and stood there, looking into each other's eyes for a long moment while other partygoers danced around them. Then Clarise turned and left the dance floor.

He followed, not caring where she was going, only knowing he wanted to talk to her some more.





"Darling, there you are!"

Will glanced sharply at the man who called out to Clarise. He bristled as the intruder possessively put his left arm around her shoulders while openly regarding him with a questioning look.

"Hi, I'm Victor Michaels." The other man extended a hand and it took him a second to register the action.

"William Matthews," he responded, shaking Victor's hand as his eyes narrowed imperceptibly at Clarise who had an unreadable expression on her face.

Mark approached them at that moment. "Oh, good, Will. You've obviously met Clarise. And Victor, too. Just the two people you want to meet. Have you mentioned the article you want from them?"

"Victor, too?"

Will was sure he would have preferred not to have met Victor. He was somewhat antagonistic towards the man. Especially when he had his arm around Clarise like that. Especially when he looked like the possessive boyfriend.

He tried to mentally shake his irrational feelings and looked at Mark quizzically.

"Yeah, he works for the magazine too."

"Yup, I'm the head graphic designer there," Victor confirmed. "Clarise is the one who writes the articles, along with Jessa Allen, if an article is what you're interested in."

"Yes, Clarise and I discussed that briefly." Looking at Clarise, he said, "So I'll be meeting with you sometime this week, then?"

"Yes, just talk to Elena. You'll find our phone number on our website."

He nodded, thinking he'd accomplished what he came here to do—to meet Clarise Carson for business purposes—and now he could leave. He said his goodbyes and went to look for the engaged couple.





Will tapped Rick and Megan on their shoulders. "May I interrupt your marathon dancing session?" he said with a grin. "I just want to say thank you for inviting me tonight. I've really enjoyed myself but I'm afraid I have to go. There's still some urgent work I need to finish this weekend."

Megan pulled them towards a more quiet area before giving him a hug. "Will, thanks so much for coming. We really appreciate it. I know Rick mentioned introducing you to someone tonight but it turns out she's already going out with someone else," Megan said sheepishly.

"No worries about that, Meg," he said with a chuckle. "Quite frankly, I wasn't really looking forward to your matchmaking so that's a relief. Apart from wanting to be here to help celebrate your engagement, I really just wanted to meet your sister."

Megan and Rick exchanged a startled glance. "Why?" Megan asked.

"I wanted to talk to her about a possible article for my business in Lifestyle."

"Oh, okay. Good luck with that."

"Thanks, and thanks again for inviting me. Rick, I'll see you at tennis in a few days."

"Yep, see you then, Will."