Recipe for Desire Read Online Free PDF Page A

continue down this path of self-destruction. What’s going through your mind when you do these foolish things?”
    Marie sighed and rolled her eyes at him. “You’ve made your point and I’ve heard you, but the last thing we need is for some photographer to snap a picture of me getting out of a limo. Can you imagine what the papers will say and how that will change the way a judge will treat me. As you said, image is everything.”
    “Last night was when you should’ve called the car service or paraded around in a limo,” Richard said, then he handed Marie his car keys. “I will be coming for my car at five thirty; don’t make me have to track you down.”
    “Yes, Father,” she said, then grabbed her father’s keys and tore out of the office. Once she hit the fresh air, Marie almost felt civil again. All she needed was a spa treatment, a manicure, a pedicure, and something delicious to eat. As she hopped behind the wheel of her father’s car, Marie pulled out her cell phone and called Adriana.
    “Hello?”
    “Adriana, it’s me.”
    “Marie, oh, my goodness, you’re out of jail. Are you all right?” she asked. “I thought Hailey drove you last night. I know you didn’t put her life in danger along with yours ...”
    “I don’t need another lecture and I wasn’t driving. I need a shower, a good meal, and a hairdo. Last night was hell, and my father put me through some more hell just moments ago. But Hailey is all right. I wish you would’ve asked her if she had a driver’s license before handing her the keys to my car, which is totaled.”
    “Are you ready for more bad news?”
    “If I say no, can you make it disappear?” Marie groaned as she pulled up to the intersection.
    “We’ve been banned from Mez.”
    Marie muttered curse words under her breath as she listened to Adriana tell her that the management ended the party and told Adriana that they would no longer host events by M&A.
    “We also lost the location for two of our upcoming events and one of our CIAA parties. Marie, you messed up royally, and it’s costing me money.”
    “Listen,” Marie said. “We can make things right. Shit happens, all we have to do is wait for the next news director to get caught stealing from Harris Teeter, or another city council member to get accused of sexual harassment.”
    “And how am I supposed to pay my bills? Marie, I love you. But I don’t have a rich daddy willing to stick his neck out for me.”
    “Then what are you saying?”
    “You need to take a step back. Stop being in everybody’s face all the time.”
    Marie groaned as she pulled up to the Aveda Institute on South Boulevard. “You know what, if that’s how you feel, then fine. I have to go.” Marie tossed her phone in the backseat and pounded her hands against the steering wheel. Did Adriana think she could run M&A on her own? Whatever!
    Marie was the one with the contacts, who knew the right people, and who grabbed headlines. Well, most of the time that was a good thing, but did Adriana think she was going to be the new “it” girl?
    She slammed her car door and stormed inside the salon. “Oh, my goodness,” her stylist, Rodricko, exclaimed. “Look who they let out of the slammer. Girl, get in my seat right now. Did you smile in your mug shot like all the little starlets do?”
    Marie marched over to his seat, every eye in the place following her, but no one said a word. “You know I had to ban Greta from my place because I thought that garden tool was lying about your arrest. Imagine my surprise when I found out it was true. What happened, girl? Did Willie the Leech really leave you for Greta?”
    “They walked into my event together as if they hadn’t signed divorce papers a year ago.”
    “But, honey,” Rodricko said as he gently combed Marie’s tangled roots. “Are you hurt? You didn’t really love him, did you?”
    “No, but I’m not going to let him get away with playing me. Does he know who I am?”
    “A damned