The Taming of a Wild Child by Kimberly Lang Page A

set Vivi’s latest dust-catcher on the table in front of her and stifled a yawn. Functioning on about five hours of sleep was not easy—especially when that five hours hadn’t been consecutive. She’d barely lain down for a much-needed nap this morning before her phone had started ringing. After running to the studio to sort out a problem, she’d barely gotten home in time to shower and come here. She could do Vivi’s life or she could do hers. Doing both just might kill her.
    Ten more days. She could make it ten more days.
    Of course, she needed to make it through the next ten
minutes
without falling asleep first. Snoring on the table would make
such
a good impression, practically advertising to the world that she’d been out all night.
    And, oh, what a night …
    She felt herself starting to smirk and quickly reschooled her face into an expression of polite interest. Out of the corner of her eye, she scanned the ballroom. Donovan had said he might come, but she hadn’t seen him yet.
    That was probably a good thing. She wasn’t a very good actress, and her little secret would be obvious to everyone. Since she was trying to live down a reputation—not enforce her old one—that would not be good. Plus she was still feeling a bit bad about sneaking out this morning without saying goodbye, and she still hadn’t figured out how she was supposed to interact with Donovan now. They weren’t friends, but they were certainly more than casual acquaintances. Who would have thought that things could get
more
awkward?
    Yeah, she was very glad he wasn’t here. She had a job to do, and thinking about last night would not make it any easier.
    The awards and speeches finally ended, giving her the opportunity to get up and walk around. The movementhelped wake her up, and shaking hands and making small talk proved boring but kept her alert. At the bar, she ordered a club soda.
    Tipping the bartender, she turned to find Julie Cochran, who’d only recently moved back to town as she fought through a bitter and nasty divorce, right behind her.
    “I’m fine,” Julie insisted when Lorelei offered condolences—and alcohol, if needed.
    When Julie exhaled, the Scotch on her breath told Lorelei she was a little late for that.
    “The lying, cheating bastard is going to pay dearly for his inability to keep his pants on. My lawyer won’t settle for less than a damn nice settlement and nearly half of his salary for my humiliation and pain.”
    She and Julie had never been particularly close, so this seemed like information she shouldn’t be privy to. She wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “Wow. Amazing. Remind me to call you if I ever need a recommendation for an attorney.”
    “Three words, sweetie.
Prenuptial agreement
. Make sure there’s a penalty for adultery.”
    Lorelei wasn’t sure if
prenuptial agreement
counted as three words or two, but she nodded anyway.
    “Let me give you some more advice. Learn from my mistake. If a man is marrying up by marrying you,
run
. Dump him. He’ll never truly respect you, and will only come to resent you for it.”
    That was a little more than expected
.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
    “Good.” Julie patted her arm. “You’re probably the exact person I needed to run into tonight. Now that I’m back home, I really need some help.”
    “Okay.” This was normally the kind of thing peoplewent to her sister for, but Lorelei was pleased to step up.
Inroads, indeed
. “How can I help?”
    “Point me toward the single men.”
    “Oh. Um …” That was unexpected. She glanced around the room. It wasn’t as if the eligible bachelors traveled in packs or anything, to make them easier to hunt. “Anyone in particular?”
    “I don’t really care as long as he’s young, handsome and rich. Preferably good in bed, too.”
    Lorelei nearly choked. To think Vivi was always accusing
her
of being too blunt or outrageous. Vivi would faint at Julie’s words.
No, Vivi would handle it with