The Rent-A-Groom by Jennifer Blake Page B

follow them ought to pay the price, no matter what everybody else is doing. No shades of gray for her, no sir. Black or white, right or wrong; that’s the way she sees it and the way she calls it.”
     
    “That right?” Race asked. He leaned back in his chair, his eyes dark blue and steady as they held hers across the table.
     
    “I suppose so.” There was something here she did not quite understand. Still, she could not deny her basic beliefs.
     
    A shadow crossed Race’s face. His voice low, he said, “I should have known.”
     
    “So should I, right from the start,” Bradley agreed. “No second chances, huh, Gina? No forgiving, not from you.”
     
    She stared at the man she had almost married, noting the weakness in his face and, just possibly, a faint trace of regret. In spite of the last, there could be only one answer. “No, not often.”
     
    Bradley looked at Race. “See what I mean?”
     
    It seemed to Gina’s heightened imagination that some flash of understanding passed between the two men. Her head began to throb. What if Diane had been right? What if it was Bradley who had hired Race, had instructed him to wine her, dine her, flatter her silly, then find out just how much she knew?
     
    With the months of their engagement to give him insight, Bradley must have guessed there would be no groom eloping with her to the hotel. He had decided to use that fact for his own ends, plus have a little fun at her expense.
     
    And she had fallen for it. She had let Race into her suite and into her life. The mistake was going to cost her; she knew that already. The only question was how much.
     
    Earlier, when she had seen Race coming from Bradley’s rooms, he had not just stepped inside the open door from idle curiosity as he had implied. No, he had gone to talk to his…what? His buddy, his pal, employer? The two of them must have been setting up this restaurant meeting.
     
    Bradley could not be sure she knew of his illegal operations; she had never told him, since he had presented her with such a fine alternative for calling off the wedding. But possibly he had suspected it. That was what Race’s innocuous question about amateur athletes had been about, then; it had nothing to do with sports, but was a test of her scruples. It had been a trap.
     
    Gina put down her fork and pushed her plate away. Her gaze were steady as she divided a glance between Bradley and Race, then returned her attention to the man she had almost married. “What other answer could there be?” she asked simply. “Right is right and wrong is wrong, and I could never remain in a relationship of any kind with someone who doesn’t recognize the difference. A person who ignores the rules should expect to face the consequences. That’s the way I see it, and I refuse to apologize for it.”
     
    Bradley gave a short laugh. “Sweet and simple, though not very practical. You may get lonesome out there on a limb by yourself with nothing but your principles.”
     
    “Could be,” she answered quietly, “but I’ll chance it.”
     
    What now? Bradley had connections, some of them dangerous ones. If she had ever doubted it, she had only to look at the man across from her. Still, this was a public place. She could hardly be taken out of it without someone noticing. Could she?
     
    Race was watching her with his face set in taut, unrevealing planes. She wondered what he was thinking, wondered if he knew how fast her heart was beating. Did he have any idea of the pain inside her? Could he even begin to guess how much it hurt to think of what he had done?
     
    He could do no more harm. She wouldn’t give him the chance, not if she could prevent it.
     
    Yes, but could she?
     
    He was supposed to be her lover, if not her husband. She had told the concierge otherwise, and the maid Etta also knew, but everyone else who had seen them coming and going from the honeymoon suite would naturally assume they were a couple. He could take her