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that corner, talking with Hannah Loy, the grand old lady of Broadway.” His excitement began to hum in his voice as he continued to scan the room. “Man, there are enough luminaries in this room to light every borough in New York.”
    But Alex hadn’t noticed. Furthermore, he didn’t give a damn. His attention was focused on Bess. She’d stopped dancing, and had leaned up to whisper something in her partner’s ear that made him laugh before he kissed her. Smack on the lips.
    She kissed him back, too, her hands lightly intimate at his waist,before she turned and spotted the new arrivals. She waved, made her excuses, then scooted and dodged her way through the crowd toward them.
    â€œYou made it.” She gave both Alex and Judd a friendly peck on the cheek before holding out both hands to Holly. “Nice to meet you.”
    â€œMy wife, Holly, this is Bess McNee.”
    â€œThanks for as king us.” Holly caught herself starting to stutter, as she had the first time she faced a classroom of ten-year-olds. She flushed.
    â€œMy pleasure.” Bess gave her hands a reassuring squeeze. “Let’s get you something to eat and drink.” She gestured toward a long table by the wall. Instead of the useless finger food and fancy, unrecognizable dishes Alex had expected, it was laden with big pots of spaghetti, mountains of garlic bread, and generous trays of antipasti.
    â€œIt’s Italian night,” she explained, grabbing a plate and heaping it high. “There’s plenty of wine and beer, and a full bar.” She handed the plate to Holly and began to dish up another. “The desserts are on the other side of the room. They’re unbelievable.” As she passed Judd a plate, she noted the gleam in Holly’s eyes. “Would you like to meet some of the cast?”
    â€œOh, I…” The hell with sophistication. “Yes. I’d love it.”
    â€œGreat. Excuse us. Help yourself, Alexi.”
    â€œThis is really something,” Judd said over a mouthful of spaghetti.
    â€œSomething,” Alex agreed. Deciding to make the best of it, he fixed himself a plate.
    He wasn’t going to stay. But the food was great. In any case, he didn’t have anything else to do. It didn’t hurt to hang around and rub elbows with the fast and famous while he was helping himself to a good hot meal. It certainly made a change from his daily routine of wading through misery and bitterness.
    After washing down spaghetti with some good red wine, he found himself a spot on a window seat where he could sit back and watch the show.
    Bess dropped down beside him, clinked her glass against his. “Best seat in the house.”
    â€œSome house.”
    â€œYeah, I like it. I’ll show you the rest later, if you want.” She broke off a tiny piece of the pastry on his plate and sampled it. “Great stuff.”
    â€œYeah. You got a little…here.” Before his good sense could take over, he rubbed a bit of the rich cream from her lip. Watching her, he licked it from the pad of his thumb. And tasted her. “It’s not bad.”
    For a moment she wondered if the circuits in her brain had crossed. Something certainly had sent out a spark. She managed a small sound of agreement as she flicked her tongue to the corner of her mouth. And tasted him.
    â€œYour, ah, partner’s wife. Holly.” Small talk, any talk, had always come easily to her. She wasn’t sure why she was laboring now.
    â€œWhat about her?”
    â€œWho? Oh, right. Holly. She’s nice. I can’t imagine what it would be like to teach fifth-graders.”
    â€œI’m sure you’ll ask her.”
    â€œI already did.” At ease again, she smiled at him. Something about that sarcastic edge to his voice made her relax and enjoy. “Come on, Alexi. We may be in different professions, but both of them require a certain amount of curiosity about