A Man Apart Read Free Page B

repletion.
    â€œThanks.” Maggie arched an eyebrow as she rose to start clearing the table. “How’s the career progressing?”
    â€œRight on schedule. I figure by the time I’m eighty or ninety, I’ll be the best damn consultant in the entire marketing industry,” Hannah drawled, rising to help clean up.
    Maggie shot a frown at her. “No, seriously, how is it going for you?”
    â€œVery well, actually,” Hannah answered, helping Maggie to fill the dishwasher. “I gave myself a raise by raising my fee in November. Not one of my clients objected. My end-of-year earnings have put me into a higher income tax bracket, and I don’t even mind.”
    â€œThat’s great,” Maggie exclaimed, rewarding her with a hug. “Congratulations.”
    â€œThank you,” Hannah said simply, going on to candidly admit, “At the risk of sounding arrogant, I’m rather pleased with myself at the moment.”
    â€œAnd why not?” Maggie demanded, her hands planted on her slender hips. “You should be pleased and delighted. You’ve worked your butt off getting yourself established. I know. I was there. Just as you’ve always been there for me. Remember?”
    Hannah smiled, recalling the day the previous June when she had walked into Maggie’s apartment to witness her friend slashing the exquisitely beautiful, extremely expensive wedding dress to shreds. “Remember? How could I forget all the pain—and fun—we’ve shared?”
    â€œWell, while you’re here, let’s just remember the fun, and say to hell with the pain. Deal?”
    Hannah laughed. “Deal.”
    They shared a hug and, sliding an arm around each other’s waists, strolled to the other side of the room to settle back down on the window seat behind the table, chattering away while they waited for Mitch.
    With each passing moment, Maggie’s face took on a becoming glow, her eyes shining with anticipation. And with each of those moments, Hannah felt her own anticipation rise, as she wondered what kind of man this Mitch Grainger must be. Not to mention his enigmatic brother.

Two
    H aving listened to Maggie rave, through several long-distance phone calls, about how handsome, exciting, wonderful and flat-out sexy her employer and fiancé was, Hannah was prepared for the visual impact of Mitch Grainger.
    So, when he arrived at the apartment a half hour later, she was neither surprised nor disappointed. Mitch appeared to be everything Maggie claimed him to be and then some. His manner was polite. He was gentle and tender with Maggie, and the perfect gentleman toward Hannah.
    She couldn’t help but notice that every time Mitch looked at Maggie, his eyes gleamed with near adoration, joy and male sexual hunger. Strangely, that gleam of light gave Hannah an odd little twist in her chest.
    Surely not envy of Maggie and the emotions the mere sight of her so obviously induced in Mitch?
    Envy? Of her very best friend? The very idea was both confusing and shaming. Hannah might have examined her unusual feeling more closely if there had been just the three of them around the small table.
    But Mitch had not come to the apartment alone.
    While Hannah had been prepared for Maggie’s fiancé she hadn’t at all been prepared for the impact of Mitch’s older brother, Justin.
    And what an impact he made. Hannah felt the reverberations in every molecule of her being—felt it and resented it. In looks, the brothers were quite similar, but altogether different in attire.
    Mitch was dressed in a navy-blue business suit, ice-blue shirt, a striped, pale-blue and grey tie and a long gray obviously cashmere coat, the walking picture of the conservative businessman. Justin, on the other hand, had removed a brown, well-worn Stetson and shrugged out of a deep-collared suedejacket. Beneath his coat he wore a blue chambray shirt tucked into faded low-slung jeans