The Taming of a Wild Child by Kimberly Lang Page B

aplomb
. “The first three are easier to deduce than the last, Julie.”
    “We’ll start with the ones I know. Mike Devereaux?”
    “Sorry, he’s married.”
    “John Howard?”
    “Married.”
    “Seth Ryland?”
    “Gay.”
    Julie’s eyebrows pulled together. “Really?”
    Lorelei nodded.
    “Well, that’s a pity.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Kyle Hamilton?”
    “The Hamiltons lost all their money in the last crash.”
    “Well, damn. Who
is
eligible?”
    Lorelei scrambled for words as Julie ran through names like she was reading from the phonebook. This was getting quite uncomfortable. Even if she did have a viable suggestion, she’d feel dirty setting Julie loose on some unsuspecting man. Before she could come up with an answer, Julie grabbed her arm.
    “Well, hel
-lo
, yummy goodness … Wait—is that Donovan St. James?”
    Her head snapped to follow Julie’s line of sight. He had come after all. The fluttery sinking of her stomach at seeing him was complicated by a stab of possessiveness at the open lust on Julie’s face. She tried to keep her voice even. “Yes, it is.”
    “He’s moving up nicely in the world. Who’d have thought it?”
    Did Julie actually expect an answer?
    The answer seemed to be no, as Julie moved on. “I’ve seen him on TV. He’s much hotter in person and he ticks all my boxes nicely.”
    Now there was an uncomfortable stab of jealousy she didn’t care to examine. “Julie …”
    “Lord, I’m not going to marry him. I just want to—”
    She coughed, not wanting to hear the details. Donovan was the one guy on Julie’s list whose prowess Lorelei could attest to, and Julie was now drooling over him as if he was a tasty morsel she was ready to gobble up. Belatedly, she remembered Vivi saying Julie had always been a viperous bitch, but before she could extricate herself from the conversation and Julie’s clutches gracefully, Julie was dragging her across the ballroom.
    “Introduce us.”
    “You went to school with him for four years, Julie. You don’t really need an introduction.”
    “But he wasn’t Donovan St. James back then.”
    She dug her heels in and forced Julie to stop. “What?”
    “Oh, you know what I mean.”
    Lorelei had the sneaking suspicion that she did. It was tacky and calculating on Julie’s part. She didn’t have time to mull about it, though, as they were now just feet from Donovan and she was not ready to face him just yet. She didn’t have a plan in place. If there was ever a time to simply brazen through, now would be it.
    To make things worse, Donovan was standing with Jack Morgan—possibly the only man Julie hadn’t had on her list. But then, there was some kind of bad blood between Julie and Jack that went back to their prom as far as she could tell. That was just going to make this even more fun.
    She plastered a smile on her face. “Jack. Donovan. Good to see you both tonight.”
    Donovan nodded at her, a short, sharp motion that implied complete uninterest in her, and her hackles went up a bit.
    “That was a nice speech. Pass along my congratulations to your sister.”
    Jack was giving the same short, uncomfortable nod in Julie’s direction, which she returned.
Well, this was just awkward all the way around
. Then he leaned in to kiss
her
cheek in greeting.
    “Hi, there.”
    There was something a little too intimate in Jack’s voice, and Lorelei felt like he was making a very premature claim with that kiss. She peeked at Donovan, but his face didn’t so much as move. Granted, it would be strange if she and Donovan suddenly seemed all chummy, but still … It was just
wrong
.
    Julie cleared her throat, and Lorelei remembered why she was standing here. “Sorry. Donovan—do you remember Julie Cochran?”
    “Hebert,” Julie corrected smoothly, extending her hand. “I’ve already taken back my name.”
    Donovan shot Lorelei a look that she didn’t fully understand, but then turned to Julie. “From St. Katharine’s. Of