Fit for a King Read Online Free PDF Page B

the edge of a chair, glancing toward the hallway
when they emerged. The blonde's very blue eyes narrowed and there was real
hostility in them for an instant before she skillfully erased it.
    "I
didn't know King had a...a girlfriend," Bess said, deliberately
hesitating over the word. She smiled with sleek sophistication. "He
said you'd had a quarrel and went back to Florida. But you seem to have made
up."
    "Oh, in the most delicious
ways, too, haven't we, darling?" she
asked King with a fluttering of her long lashes.
    He
chuckled. "I guess so," he mused, but he didn't look at Bess.
    "Where in Florida do you live?" Bess continued.
    "In Miami, most of the
year," Elissa replied. She let go of
King's hand and smiled at the older woman. "I understand you're married to King's brother?"
    Bess
glanced down at the drink she'd poured her self. "Yes. I'm
Bobby's wife."
    "You're
cuuuuute!" Warchief burst out, circling his cage with
appropriate whistles and clicks.
    Bess stared
at the big parrot. "You flirt," she ac cused the bird, forcing a smile.
    Elissa
relaxed a little. Bess wasn't so bad; at least she liked parrots. "He likes
women," she explained,
    "but he's
really in love with King. When I take him home, he mourns."
    "Oh. He's yours?" Bess asked.
    "Yes.
He stays with King when I'm in the States, and I've only been
back since this morning."
    King glanced at her quickly. "Want a drink?"
    "Yes,
thank you," Elissa said. She read him very well. He was warning
her not to let too much slip. She smiled. "Do you have pets,
Bess?"
    The other woman shook her head.
"No pets. No kids." She sounded
oddly wistful. She laughed, a hol low,
haunting melody. "No nothing. It's just me and Bobby—when Bobby's ever home."
    "Hard
times, Bess," King reminded her. "If he doesn't keep on the ball, you'll have to
give up your diamonds."
    "It wasn't the diamonds I
married him for, but he won't believe
that," Bess replied. She looked up, her eyes searching King's face with what looked like pure longing. "Remember how it used to be, in the
old days? Bobby and I would go to
amusement parks and spend hours on
the rides. Sometimes you'd take an afternoon off and come with us, and we'd
stuff our selves with ice cream and
cotton candy...."
    "It
isn't wise to look back." He handed a vodka and tonic to Elissa.
    "It isn't wise to look
ahead, either," Bess replied miserably.
"All I do is sit in hotel rooms these

46
    Diana
Palmer
    Fit for a
King
    47

days...or sit at home alone." She
glared at her drink. "It's a miracle I'm
not an alcoholic."
    "Don't you have a job or
anything to keep you busy?" Elissa
asked without thinking. At Bess's ob vious
chagrin, she hastily added, "I'm sorry, that sounded like a criticism, but honestly it wasn't.
I just meant, if you had a project or
a hobby, it might be less of a strain
to be alone at times."
    "I don't know how
to do anything," Bess said sadly. "I married fresh out of high
school, so I never really learned how to do much...besides be a wife." The irony of Bess's situation
wasn't lost on Elissa. "We can all do
something," she said gently. "Paint or write or play an instrument or
do crafts...."
    "I
used to play the piano," Bess replied. She looked down at her hands. "I was
pretty good, too. But Bobby resented the
time I spent practicing." She laughed
bitterly. "How's that for a reversal?"
    "I've
always wished I could play," Elissa said en thusiastically,
glancing at King's set, solemn face and hoping to alleviate the tension Bess's
comments were feeding.
    "You
design clothes, don't you?" the other woman asked curiously, her eyes
faintly approving the jump suit. "Did you design that?"
    "Yes,
do you like it?" Elissa asked eagerly. "I haven't shown this one to my parents.
They'd be—" She stopped short, jamming
on verbal brakes as King
    glared at her. "They'd be
delighted," she concluded weakly.
    "Of
course they would. They're very proud of you," King said
quickly.
    "What
do your parents do?" Bess asked politely, raising her glass