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i think 'annoying ' would probably be a better word for ms.[SEP]grable-monroe , he concluded . |
i want to do this story , because i think ms.[SEP]grable-monroe has acted irresponsibly . |
the way i see it , adam began , even though ms.[SEP]grable-monroe wrote her book for women who want to land themselves a rich husband , there 's no reason why a man ca n't use the book to land himself a rich wife . |
that 's how she met mr.[SEP]barnett , by crashing his first wife 's birthday party . |
she hesitated , then added thoughtfully , come to think of it , that 's how i met mr.[SEP]barnett , too . |
they had insisted that to divulge ms.[SEP]grable-monroe 's true identity would endanger her position in the social community she loved , not to mention open them up to defamation suits . |
more than that , though , he would have known about a socialite daughter making herself available the way ms.[SEP]grable-monroe claimed to have made herself available . |
although a solid twenty or thirty feet separated him from the table where ms.[SEP]grable-monroe took her seat , he had a clear line of vision from which to take her in . |
it occurred to adam suddenly that although the self-help section in which he stood might be of some use after all-just where did they shelve the voices-in-my-head books , anyway ?[SEP]anything on impotence was pretty much unnecessary at the moment . |
the backpack which-hey , what do you know ?[SEP]just so happened to be leaning haphazardly on a shelf right behind fran . |
well , it was interesting seeing you , mr.[SEP]darien , she said , stooping to pick up the cup of coffee that had spilled on the floor between them . |
he repeated , clearly surprised-and a bit scandalized ?[SEP]by her charge . |
so very quietly , she asked , who says i 'm not a complete convert to ms.[SEP]grable-monroe 's book ? |
you 've been converted to ms.[SEP]grable-monroe 's book ? |
i was just going to run next door to check on mrs.[SEP]hoofdorp 's cats . |
dorsey , of course , is ms.[SEP]macguinness , her mother continued . |
oh , uh ... hi , lindy ... um , ms.[SEP]aubrey ... uh , ma'am , lucas stammered . |
and the mr.[SEP]conaway thing was just too nauseating for words . |
he knew that referring to him as mr.[SEP]was required by her job , and really , coming from another woman , he might find the address kind of ... well , kind of arousing , actually , now that he thought more about it . |
then again , mr.[SEP]davenport had left drake 's a half-hour ago , and lucas had n't stopped talking . |
he looked as startled by her reaction as mr.[SEP]davenport had earlier that evening , and she felt as angry now at lucas as she had then at the other man . |
actually , he said more quietly , leaning in toward her , i 'd rather have you begging for my- mr.[SEP]conaway , she interrupted , irritated by such a blatant come-on . |
if he kept this up , he was going to be so focused on mack tonight that he would forget all about the people-who was it he had invited again ?[SEP]who were coming to his party . |
adam had been so wrapped up in his thoughts , or rather fantasies , or maybe plans-hey , a guy could dream , could n't he ?[SEP]for mack that he 'd completely forgotten that he would have a date for his party tonight . |
which was n't entirely unthinkable , because the last time he 'd had her at his place-wow , had it been almost two months ago ?[SEP]he had , well ... had her at his place . |
chapter 9 i t was after one a.m.[SEP]when mack finally finished breaking down the bar , and adam did n't think he 'd ever seen her looking more exhausted . |
instead of protesting-why on earth would she ?[SEP]dorsey lifted one hand to thread her fingers through adam 's silky hair , looping the other around his neck to hold him close . |
this part of chicago , during the day , would be bustling with people , but at nearly one a.m.[SEP]it was pretty much deserted . |
it wo n't wash.[SEP]you know exactly what i 'm talking about . |
but her voice was the very essence of politeness when she said , that , mr.[SEP]conaway , is none of your business . |
of course , she 'd had other things-another man ?[SEP]to do , he recalled uncomfortably . |
she tossed back her ebony curls and adjusted wire-rimmed glasses as she asked , ms.[SEP]grable-monroe , would you say a word or two about the cinderella complex ? |
she had a family-albeit a dysfunctional one , but hey , who does n't , right ?[SEP]and a roof over her head and food on the table and steady work . |
actually , mr ... .[SEP]darien , he identified himself . |
tell me , mr.[SEP]darien , have you even read my book ? |
the point is- the point , mr.[SEP]darien , is that you have n't an inkling what my book says , therefore you ca n't possibly object to it . |
i have a question about something we have n't covered , ms.[SEP]grable-monroe , a woman called out from down front . |
oh , come now , ms.[SEP]grable-monroe , the woman taunted . |
and why did adam get the impression that mr.[SEP]harrison enright was keeping a hot little tootsie under wraps somewhere ? |
well , that , and mrs.[SEP]enright 's cry of not bloody likely ! |
do n't you know who mrs.[SEP]harrison enright is ? |
those people are nowhere near as polite as mrs.[SEP]enright and the guys at the harvard lampoon . |
and , dammit , she 'd gone to a lot of trouble to finagle a couple of invitations to mrs.[SEP]simon preston 's fundraiser for the chicago arts that was being held at a small halsted street art gallery . |
he 'd grinned with much pleasure , had confessed that he 'd also been invited , and had promptly used his cell phone to call mrs.[SEP]preston herself-aunt bitsy , to him , edie had been surprised to hear-and have edie mulholland and escort added to the guest list . |
but she was confident that the day would come when mr.[SEP]davenport did indeed ask for repayment in one form or another . |
and she forgot all about the fact that what he was implying was exactly what she had been thinking herself where repayment of mr.[SEP]davenport 's favor was concerned . |
no , it was f and r.[SEP]f and r ? |
the one where each and every one of lauren grable-monroe 's earlier proponents-led by none other than ms.[SEP]tiffany jennings herself-had proclaimed the author to be a writer of sensationalistic claptrap that pandered to the masses . |
i was always sending my barbie off to rio de janeiro and monaco and st.[SEP]moritz to meet movie stars and princes . |
one by one , he took in the dozen or so members of the board of directors of kimball technologies , inc.[SEP]the pride and joy of philadelphia 's business community . |
you 'll have it , mr.[SEP]friday , he said . |
far be it from me to miff you , mr.[SEP]friday , but you wo n't need to speak to mr. |
friday , but you wo n't need to speak to mr.[SEP]kimball does n't know the money is missing , and he 's not to know of your investigation . |
just as he 'd suspected , cohiba man inhaled a long breath , then stated , the board of directors of kimball technologies is hiring you , mr.[SEP]friday , not schuyler kimball . |
in fact , mr.[SEP]kimball is n't to be informed of your activities at all . |
but- suffice it to say , cohiba man cut him off , you are in no danger of mr.[SEP]kimball discovering your presence or your activities . |
unfortunately , the executive said , mr.[SEP]kimball keeps some of his records at his estate in bucks county . |
a worst-case scenario would have you infiltrating mr.[SEP]kimball 's private residence , but in all likelihood-if you 're as good as you claim-that will never come about , because you 'll find the source of the theft right away . |
uh , i think you guys are getting a little too- it 's just too bad we ca n't do anything about your physical makeup , mr.[SEP]friday , charlton heston man piped up , frowning as he considered leo from head to toe . |
oh , we 'll let you do your job , mr.[SEP]friday , cohiba man said . |
we never asked you to be that , mr.[SEP]friday , cohiba man said . |
she reminded herself that mr.[SEP]freiberger had identified himself over the telephone the day before as a bookkeeper , but still ... she had n't thought anybody wore that goodbye , mr. |
freiberger had identified himself over the telephone the day before as a bookkeeper , but still ... she had n't thought anybody wore that goodbye , mr.[SEP]chips tweed stuff anymore . |
but that was undoubtedly a bit more than mr.[SEP]freiberger wanted to know , was n't it ? |
when she glanced up at his face , it startled her to realize that beneath close-cropped , medium brown hair , and behind round , wire-framed glasses , mr.[SEP]freiberger had beautiful hazel eyes-not quite green , not quite blue , not quite gray . |
something about a problem with last year 's tax return , mr.[SEP]freiberger had explained , but honestly . |
come in , mr.[SEP]freiberger , she told the bookkeeper , sweeping a hand toward the expansive marble foyer . |
um , that 's okay , mr.[SEP]freiberger , she said . |
it 's pretty quiet around here when mr.[SEP]kimball 's not in residence . |
she was about to say something more , when finally mr.[SEP]freiberger asked in a flat voice , um , why was that ? |
for some reason , there seemed to be a strange tension emanating from mr.[SEP]freiberger , a tension whose origin lily could n't quite pinpoint . |
i know you drove here from philadelphia , mr.[SEP]freiberger and work for kimball technologies . |
she began to walk again , but this time strode side by side with mr.[SEP]freiberger , instead of two paces ahead of him . |
they entered the living quarters of ashling , but since they were still in mid-conversation-and since mr.[SEP]freiberger was still looking so almost handsome-lily slowed their pace even more as they approached schuyler 's office . |
as lily opened it and turned to gesture mr.[SEP]freiberger in ahead of her , she marveled again at the incongruencies in the man . |
of course , schuyler 's personal files were all in here , as well , but there was little chance mr.[SEP]freiberger would be accessing those . |
if not cramping mr.[SEP]kimball 's style , then certainly organizing it . |
there are a lot of women in mr.[SEP]kimball 's life , she said in as matter-of-fact a tone as leo had ever heard , surprising him . |
naturally , she continued easily as she circled to the front of the desk , clearly oblivious to his salacious intentions for her , i do travel with mr.[SEP]kimball from time to time . |
if he did n't find anything here , then he was , as the students at st.[SEP]francis in the fields parochial school used to say , s.o.l . |
her room , and mrs.[SEP]puddleduck 's room , too . |
of course , mrs.[SEP]puddleduck 's name was n't really mrs. |
and who knew what kinds of things lurked in mrs.[SEP]puddleduck 's background , after all ? |
( and there had also been that business about mrs.[SEP]puddleduck thinking that clarence thomas had told the truth . |
i 'm afraid mrs.[SEP]puddleduck has been the victim of a little prank . |
her question directed mr.[SEP]freiberger 's attention to the bed , and his expression of stark horror was immediately replaced by one of vague repugnance . |
turning to the bookkeeper , she added , mr.[SEP]freiberger , if you could look in the bathroom there behind you , i think you 'll find some ammonia capsules in the medicine cabinet . |
or a career in serial killing , mr.[SEP]freiberger added in a flat voice . |
lily was about to speak again , but before she could comment , mrs.[SEP]puddleduck began to rouse herself . |
even though she knew it would probably be pointless to try to make amends , lily offered , in light of today 's , urn , incident , i 'm sure we could talk mr.[SEP]kimball into giving you a little bonus for your troubles . |
let me talk to mr.[SEP]kimball to see what kind of permanent future arrangements we can make , she said . |
nevertheless , if mr.[SEP]kimball wants me to continue working with her , he 's going to have to make it worth my while . |
i 'll do my best , lily told her , but you know how mr.[SEP]kimball feels about bonuses . |
at least she had managed to keep mrs.[SEP]puddleduck from joining the ranks of chloe sandusky 's former nannies-a place in dire need of a twelve-step recovery program if ever there was one . |
she shook her head once to clear it , but unfortunately , the image of mr.[SEP]freiberger , um , doing that ... to her ... came bouncing right back to the forefront of her brain again . |
to the best of my knowledge , mr.[SEP]kimball and chloe have never donned spandex and fled from a secret underground entrance to ashling in a re-engineered pontiac to rid gotham city of its unsavory elements . |
you know , lily went on , the part about mr.[SEP]rochester 's ward being the offspring of a french opera girl ? |
so chloe is mr.[SEP]kimball 's illegitimate daughter by a stripper from indiana ? |
she glanced up at that , only to find that mr.[SEP]freiberger was glaring at her . |
but there was no reason to tell mr.[SEP]freiberger about all that . |