Red Carpet Christmas
(2005)(The fifth book in the Club Undercover series)
A novel by Patricia Rosemoor
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No one knows club owner Gideon Maddox’s real identity until the woman he’d once loved walks into the Red Carpet Christmas fundraiser at Club Undercover. He hasn't seen recent widow Simone Burke for nearly two decades—since he testified to put her father in prison for killing his own father. The star-crossed lovers never forgave each other, but suddenly Simone needs his help—and Team Undercover—to prove she is innocent of a yuletide murder. Clearing Simone could reignite the past and a forbidden passion that still burns between her and Gideon, but she can’t let him discover the secret she’d kept hidden all these years.
Excerpt:
Gideon was stunned.
The sounds and movement of the club receded as he came face-to-face with the woman he’d thought was out of his life forever.
He couldn’t stop staring at Simone. She’d matured into an exquisite beauty. Her dark hair hung in long waves over her dark green gown—the same startling green as her eyes.
Taking the final step down toward him, Simone held on to the railing as if to steady herself. She was taller than Gideon remembered, maybe five feet eight or nine, and her curves had matured—full breasts, trim waist, round hips.
It really was his Simone. He’d known her as Simone DeNali, not Simone Burke.
“Mrs. Burke,” he said, trying to keep his voice pleasantly neutral as he glanced at her left hand, which had a white-knuckled grip on the railing.
No wedding ring…
So she’d removed it.
“Is there something I should know?” Cass asked, looking from him to Simone.
“I imagine if there were, you would already know it,” he said casually.
Cass sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you it doesn’t work that way?”
Simone blinked and seemed confused. “What doesn’t work what way?”
“Cass’s—”
“Intuition,” the hostess finished for him, then rushed on to add, “Simone is the public relations person for the Chicago Philanthropic Club.”
“Doing a fine job as far as I can see.” He didn’t take his gaze off Simone.
“How would you know what kind of a job I’m doing, considering we just met?” Simone asked.
Her familiar low, throaty voice made the skin along his forearms prickle with goose bumps. That voice had always turned him on. Now here she was challenging him, Gideon realized, trying to get him to say something to admit they knew each other.
Or was she?
“It was lovely meeting you, Gideon,” Simone said, suddenly seeming distracted. “Congratulations on the success of Club Undercover.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes when she said, “If you’ll excuse me, I need to circulate.”
She floated off into the crowd without so much as a glance back his way.
“What was that all about?” Cass asked.
“If you don’t have anything to keep you busy, I’m sure I could find something.”
“Uh, right, I get the hint. But if you want to talk about her…”
Gideon didn’t answer and Cass didn’t wait around for another invitation to leave. The second she moved off, Gideon tried to find Simone in the crowd, but she seemed to have disappeared.
Again…
She could destroy everything he’d worked for. She could destroy him.
All she had to do was tell her brother, Mob boss Michael DeNali, that he’d returned to Chicago. Michael had sworn to kill him before he’d disappeared several lifetimes ago.
But he wasn’t running anymore, not ever again.
Genre: Romantic Suspense
No one knows club owner Gideon Maddox’s real identity until the woman he’d once loved walks into the Red Carpet Christmas fundraiser at Club Undercover. He hasn't seen recent widow Simone Burke for nearly two decades—since he testified to put her father in prison for killing his own father. The star-crossed lovers never forgave each other, but suddenly Simone needs his help—and Team Undercover—to prove she is innocent of a yuletide murder. Clearing Simone could reignite the past and a forbidden passion that still burns between her and Gideon, but she can’t let him discover the secret she’d kept hidden all these years.
Excerpt:
Gideon was stunned.
The sounds and movement of the club receded as he came face-to-face with the woman he’d thought was out of his life forever.
He couldn’t stop staring at Simone. She’d matured into an exquisite beauty. Her dark hair hung in long waves over her dark green gown—the same startling green as her eyes.
Taking the final step down toward him, Simone held on to the railing as if to steady herself. She was taller than Gideon remembered, maybe five feet eight or nine, and her curves had matured—full breasts, trim waist, round hips.
It really was his Simone. He’d known her as Simone DeNali, not Simone Burke.
“Mrs. Burke,” he said, trying to keep his voice pleasantly neutral as he glanced at her left hand, which had a white-knuckled grip on the railing.
No wedding ring…
So she’d removed it.
“Is there something I should know?” Cass asked, looking from him to Simone.
“I imagine if there were, you would already know it,” he said casually.
Cass sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you it doesn’t work that way?”
Simone blinked and seemed confused. “What doesn’t work what way?”
“Cass’s—”
“Intuition,” the hostess finished for him, then rushed on to add, “Simone is the public relations person for the Chicago Philanthropic Club.”
“Doing a fine job as far as I can see.” He didn’t take his gaze off Simone.
“How would you know what kind of a job I’m doing, considering we just met?” Simone asked.
Her familiar low, throaty voice made the skin along his forearms prickle with goose bumps. That voice had always turned him on. Now here she was challenging him, Gideon realized, trying to get him to say something to admit they knew each other.
Or was she?
“It was lovely meeting you, Gideon,” Simone said, suddenly seeming distracted. “Congratulations on the success of Club Undercover.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes when she said, “If you’ll excuse me, I need to circulate.”
She floated off into the crowd without so much as a glance back his way.
“What was that all about?” Cass asked.
“If you don’t have anything to keep you busy, I’m sure I could find something.”
“Uh, right, I get the hint. But if you want to talk about her…”
Gideon didn’t answer and Cass didn’t wait around for another invitation to leave. The second she moved off, Gideon tried to find Simone in the crowd, but she seemed to have disappeared.
Again…
She could destroy everything he’d worked for. She could destroy him.
All she had to do was tell her brother, Mob boss Michael DeNali, that he’d returned to Chicago. Michael had sworn to kill him before he’d disappeared several lifetimes ago.
But he wasn’t running anymore, not ever again.
Genre: Romantic Suspense
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