The Millionaire Claims His Wife(3)

A moment later, the ceremony was over.

* * *

It was interesting, being the father of the bride at a wedding at which the mother of the bride was no longer your wife.

Dawn had insisted she wanted both her parents seated at the main table with her.                       
       
           



       

"You can keep your cool, Daddy, can't you?" she'd said. "I mean, you  won't mind, sitting beside Mom for a couple of hours, right?"

"Of course not," Chase had said.

And he'd meant it. He was a civilized man and Annie, for all her  faults-and there were many-was a civilized woman. They'd been divorced  for five years. The wounds had healed. Surely they could manage polite  smiles and chitchat for a couple of hours.

That was what he'd thought, but reality was another thing entirely.

He hadn't counted on what it would be like to stand at the altar, with  Annie standing beside him looking impossibly young and-what was the  point in denying it-impossibly beautiful in a dress of palest green. Her  hair had been the wild cluster of silky strawberry curls she'd always  hated and he'd always loved, and her nose had been suspiciously pink.  She'd sniffled and wept her way through the ceremony. Well, hell, his  throat had been pretty tight there, once or twice. In fact, when the  minister had gone through all that nonsense about speaking up or forever  holding your peace, he'd been tempted to put an arm around her and tell  her it was okay, they weren't losing a daughter, they were gaining a  son.

Except that it would have been a lie. They were losing a daughter, and it was all Annie's fault.

By the time they'd been stuck together at the head of the receiving line  as if they were a pair of Siamese twins, he'd felt about as surly as a  lion with a thorn in its paw.

"Smile, you two," Dawn had hissed, and they'd obeyed, though Annie's smile had been as phony-looking as his felt.

At least they'd traveled to the Stratham Inn in separate cars-except  that once they'd gotten there, they'd had to take seats beside each  other at the table on the dais.

Chase felt as if his smile was frozen on his face. It must have looked  that way, too, from the way Dawn lifted her eyebrows when she looked at  him.

Okay, Cooper, he told himself. Pull it together. You know how to make  small talk with strangers. Surely you can manage a conversation with  your ex-wife.

He looked at Annie and cleared his throat. "So," he said briskly, "how've you been?"

Annie turned her head and looked at him. "I'm sorry," she said politely, "I didn't quite get that. Were you talking to me?"

Chase's eyes narrowed. Who else would he have been talking to? The waiter, leaning over to pour his champagne?

Keep your cool, he told himself, and bared his teeth in a smile.

"I asked how you've been."

"Very well, thank you. And you?"

Very well, thank you... What was with this prissy tone?

"Oh, I can't complain." He forced another smile, and waited for Annie to  pick up the ball. She didn't, so he plunged into the conversational  waters again. "Matter of fact, I don't know if Dawn mentioned it, but we  just landed a big contract."

"We?" she said, in a tone that could have given chilblains to an Eskimo.

"Well, Cooper Construction. We bid on this job in-"

"How nice," she said, and turned away.

Chase felt his blood pressure shoot off the scale. So much for his  attempt at being polite. Annie was not just cutting him dead, she was  icing the corpse, craning her neck, looking everywhere but at him.

Suddenly a smile, a real one, curved across her mouth.

"Yoo hoo," she called softly.

Yoo hoo? Yoo hoo?

"Hi, there," she mouthed, and waved, and damned if some Bozo the Clown at a nearby table didn't wave back.

"Who is that jerk?" Chase said before he could stop himself.

Annie didn't even look at him. She was too busy looking at the jerk, and smiling.

"That 'jerk,'" she said, "is Milton Hoffman. He's an English professor at the university."

Chase watched as the professor rose to his feet and threaded through the  tables toward the dais. The guy was tall, and thin; he was wearing a  shiny blue serge suit and he had on a bow tie. He looked more like a  cadaver than a professor.

He had a smile on his face, too, as he approached Annie, and it was the  smile, more than anything, that suddenly put a red film over Chase's  eyes.

"Anne," Hoffman said. "Anne, my dear." Annie held out her hand. Hoffman  clasped it in a pasty, marshmallow paw and raised it to his lips. "It  was a beautiful ceremony."

"Thank you, Milton."

"The flowers were perfect."

"Thank you, Milton."

"The music, the decorations...all wonderful."

"Thank you, Milton."                       
       
           



       

"And you look exquisite."

"Thank you, Milton," Chase said.

Annie and the Prof both swung their heads toward him. Chase smiled, showing all his teeth.

"She does, doesn't she?" he said. "Look great, I mean."

Annie looked at him, her eyes flaming a warning, but Chase ignored it.  He leaned toward her and hooked an arm around her shoulders.

"Love that low-cut neckline, especially, babe, but then, you know how it  is." He shot Hoffman a leering grin. "Some guys are leg men, right,  Milty? But me, I was always a-"

"Chase!" Color flew into Annie's face. Hoffman's eyes, dark and liquid behind horn-rimmed glasses, blinked once.

"You must be Anne's husband."

"You're quick, Milty, I've got to give you that."

"He is not my husband," Annie said firmly, twisting out of Chase's  embrace. "He's my ex-husband. My former husband. My  once-upon-a-time-but-not-anymore husband, and frankly, if I never see  him again, it'll be too soon." She gave Hoffman a melting smile. "I hope  you've got your dancing shoes on, Milton, because I intend to dance the  afternoon away."

Chase smiled. He could almost feel his canine teeth turning into fangs.

"You hear that, Milty?" he said pleasantly. He felt a rush of primal  pleasure when he saw Hoffman's face turn even paler than it already was.

"Chase," Annie said, through her teeth; "stop it."

Chase leaned forward over the table. "She's a wonderful dancer, our  Annie. But if she's had too much bubbly, you got to watch out. Right,  babe?"

Annie opened and shut her mouth as if she were a fish. "Chase," she said, in a strangled whisper.

"What's the matter? Milt's an old pal of yours, right? We wouldn't want to keep any secrets from him, would we, babe?"

"Stop calling me that!"

"Stop calling you what?"

"You know what," Annie said furiously. "And stop lying. I've never been drunk in my life."

Chase's lips curved up in a slow, wicked smile. "Sweetheart, come on. Don't tell me you've forgotten the night we met."

"I'm warning you, Chase!"

"There I was, a college freshman, minding my own business and dancing  with my girlfriend at her high school's Valentine Day dance-"

"You were never innocent," Annie snapped.

Chase grinned. "You should know, babe. Anyway, there I was, doing the  Mashed Potato, when I spied our Annie, tottering out the door, clutching  her middle and looking as if she'd just eaten a bushel of green  apples."

Annie swung toward Milton Hoffman. "It wasn't like that at all. My date had spiked my punch. How was I to know-"

A drumroll and a clash of cymbals drowned out her voice.

"...and now," an oily, amplified voice boomed, "Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas  Babbitt will take their very first dance as husband and wife."

People began to applaud as Nick took Dawn in his arms. They moved onto the dance floor, gazing soulfully into each other's eyes.

Annie gave Milton a beseeching look.

"Milton," she said, "listen-"

"It's all right," he said quickly. "Today's a family day, Anne. I  understand." He started to reach for her hand, caught himself, and drew  back. "I'll call you tomorrow. It was...interesting to have met you, Mr.  Cooper."

Chase smiled politely. "Call me Chase, please. There's no need to be so formal, considering all we have in common."

Annie didn't know which she wanted to do more, punch Chase for his  insufferable behavior or punch Milton Hoffman for being so easily scared  off. It took only a second to decide that Chase was the more deserving  target She glared at him as Hoffman scuttled back to his seat.

"You are lower than a snake's belly," she said.

Chase sighed. "Annie, listen-"

"No. No, you listen." She pointed a trembling finger at him. "I know what you're trying to do."

Did she? Chase shook his head. Then, she knew more than he did. There  wasn't a reason in the world he'd acted like such a jerk just now. So  what if Annie was having a thing with some guy? So what if the guy  looked as if he might faint at the sight of a mouse? So what if he'd had  a sudden, blazing vision of Annie in bed with the son of a bitch?