Page 42 of The Playboy Meets His Match
“Probably, but it doesn’t hurt to keep looking. You never know what you might uncover or where.”
It was half past eight when they walked into the elegant entryway of Claire’s. The lighting was dim and the carpet thick. A couple leaving the restaurant headed toward them and paused.
“Hi, Jason,” the tall, handsome man greeted Jason. Merry looked at an attractive black-haired woman standing beside the man.
“Merry, this is Pamela and Aaron Black, some friends of mine. Meet Meredith Silver she’s from Dallas.”
“I think we’ve met,” Aaron said with a twinkle in his green eyes.
Meredith blushed as she nodded. “Aaron was outside the Texas Cattleman’s Club when I first arrived and was searching for Dorian Brady,” she explained to Jason.
“How’s the baby?” Jason asked.
“As wonderful as ever,” Pamela answered, smiling. “She’s almost seven months old now.”
“I just happen to have her latest picture,” Aaron said, grinning and whisking a picture from his wallet. “This is our Amy,” he said, and Merry looked at a picture of an adorable baby girl with huge blue eyes and wisps of black hair.
“She’s beautiful,” Merry remarked.
“Thanks. We think so, too,” Aaron replied proudly.
“Put the picture away,” Pamela said, laughing. “Aaron is immersed in fatherhood and he pins everyone down to show them pictures and tell them about Amy.”
“That’s great,” Merry replied.
“Yeah, it is,” Jason added. “Thanks again, Aaron, for coming to help fight the fire the other night.”
“Glad to do it. You’d do the same for me. If you need any more help with anything, let me know,” he added solemnly, and suddenly Merry didn’t think he was talking about fires or ranching at all.
“I will.”
“I hope you find the cause.”
“We’re working on it,” Jason replied grimly, and Merry was certain Aaron knew more about the fire than the general public did. “When things settle and I get the house rebuilt, you two will have to come over and bring Amy for a cookout.”
“Thanks,” Aaron said. “We’d like that.”
“It was nice to meet you,” Pamela told Merry.
“We’ll let y’all get to dinner,” Aaron said, taking his wife’s arm and heading toward the door.
“He’s a fellow rancher and a fellow Texas Cattleman’s Club member. He used to be in the diplomatic service. The worldly diplomat married the local school marm. I doubt if Pamela has ever been one hundred miles out of Royal. At least, not until she married Aaron.”
“They seem very happy.”
“Yeah, they are happy. This past year Aaron has been the happiest I’ve ever seen him.”
“So marriage isn’t always all bad,” she teased.
“I never said it was bad. I just said it wasn’t for me. And that was all before I met you.”
“You come up with statements like that as easy as breathing,” she accused, determined not to be taken in by a charming expert at seduction.
“I mean what I say, Merry,” he said solemnly, and she tried to ignore the thud of her heart. “Here’s the maître d’,” Jason said, turning to the man.
In minutes Jason and Merry sat at a white-linen-covered table with a candle and a single rosebud in a crystal vase. Jason ordered steaks for both of them, but when hers came, Merry could barely eat. All she wanted was to be back in Jason’s arms.
Halfway through dinner she sipped her red wine and lowered her glass, slanting her head. “What? You’re looking at me and not saying anything, but something’s on your mind.”
