Champagne Romance (Romance Novel) by Suellen Smith

had happened. The trauma (just
as the doctors had predicted) of a breech birth and the intense
desire of a mother to see her first born had probably been
instrumental aids in restoring her eyesight back to happy
normal.
     

CHAPTER 27
     
    Almost four years had passed since the
disastrous airline crash on the mountaintop in the Rockies. Slater
had managed to tuck the memory of Swan at the back of his brain and
rarely gave her a thought.
    It was late August and Slater had just sat
down to have lunch with some businessmen at a popular Newport
restaurant when this familiar saucy redhead walked into the Italian
eatery. He felt as though he had just been polar-axed deep in the
belly. Swan looked directly at him and sashayed right past as
though he were some lowly peasant. He watched with narrowed eyes as
she sat down and began to READ the menu. That just about sent him
over the edge with fury. As unreasonable as it was, it really
irritated him that she was no longer visually impaired. Slater’s
befuddled emotions begun to churn out of control before he realized
that Swan had never seen him although it was quite obvious that she
had regained her eyesight. He suddenly realized that he had the
advantage of knowing her, and not vice versa. He was not averse to
using that knowledge to his advantage.
    Swan’s napkin floated from her lap to the
floor shortly after she sat down. Slater saw a perfect opportunity
that he could not pass up. He graciously excused himself from his
table on the pretense of heading for the gentleman’s room. Masking
himself with masculine charm, he leaned down to pick up the fallen
napkin.
    “ I believe you dropped
this.”
    Swan gave him a cool blank glance, “Thank
you.”
    Then, she dismissed him with the turn of her
shoulder. That was it! No hint of recognition! Nothing!
    For Swan, she was more upset by the handsome
gentleman than she was outwardly showing. She was disturbed by the
intensity of the piercing blue eyes of this stranger’s gaze that
seemed to reach into her soul and beyond. He made her insides
quiver and she immediately closed any more of a view of him by
totally turning her back.
    Still boiling with rage, Slater returned to
his table. Excusing himself, he indicated that an emergency had
developed and he was needed at the office.
    Sitting in his Jag and trying to settle down
with a smoke, Slater watched the doorway where Swan would
eventually have to emerge from the restaurant. An hour later, he
was reward for his patience. He followed her every move with angry
eyes as she slipped those long lanky legs that he remembered so
well into her silver Mercedes. He felt a bit like a stalker as he
watched her pull from her parking place and steer her vehicle onto
Pacific Coast Highway, but it bothered his conscience--not.
    Five minutes later, Slater followed Swan as
she was turning into a posh condo overlooking the Pacific. An
address was all that was needed to hack into the computer and get
the information that he wanted. Returning to his office, it wasn’t
long before he had a complete dossier on her history. From there,
he planned their reunion.
     

CHAPTER 28
     
    It was really quite simple to arrange a
meeting with Swan. After finding out that she had a business of
interior design, Slater’s secretary called for a consultation.
Within twenty-four hours, Swan came through the office door and was
entering his space on his turf.
    Anticipating her arrival, Slater willed his
body not to react. Safeguarding his thoughts, he stood, as society
would dictate when Swan emerged through his office door. Without so
much as a flicker of an eyelash in recognition, he put on a poker
face. Soberly, he took the hand offered to him that to his relief
was denuded of any wedding ring. It was soft and well-manicured as
he knew it would be.
    Swan wore peek-a-boo red shoes with scarlet
toenails that matched her delicate red fingertips. She was dressed
in a professional navy pinstripe suit appropriate for a