Match Made In Paradise by Barbara Dunlop (black female authors TXT) 📕

a nod and headed up the stairs.

“Going someplace?” Silas asked. He was frowning as he watched the driver disappear.

“The Waldorf.”

“Which one?”

“LA. Here.”

Now he looked confused. “Why? Fumigating or something?”

She recoiled at the thought. “No. Really?”

He shrugged. “Bugs happen.”

“Not here, they don’t.”

He scanned the room. “I suppose they wouldn’t dare breach an inner sanctum like this.”

“Plus, we have great cleaning staff and groundskeepers.”

“As one does. So, why are you going to a hotel?”

She wandered her way toward him, wanting to be near him. “I’m moving.”

His expression flattened. “To where?”

“The Waldorf, for starters.”

“You’re going to live in a five-star hotel?”

“Temporarily. I’m looking for a condo . . . or something. Smaller than this, anyway.”

“You’re selling.” Now he looked like he approved of the decision.

“I’m giving the house to Alastair’s kids.”

The statement obviously surprised him. “I thought they were your enemies.”

Before Mia could answer, Marnie strode through the hall into the great room.

She had an armload of wine bottles. “At least these ones won’t go to waste.” She stopped short when she saw Silas.

Mia stepped in with introductions. “Marnie, this is Silas Burke from Alaska. Silas, this is my lawyer, Marnie Anton.”

Marnie looked him up and down and a smile grew on her face. “This is the guy?”

“This is the guy,” Mia admitted, flicking a self-conscious glance Silas’s way. There was no denying Marnie knew they’d slept together.

But Silas didn’t miss a beat. “Great to meet you, Marnie.” He stepped up, hand extended.

She quickly set the five bottles on a side table and shook his hand. “Just raiding the wine cellar. With Mia’s permission, of course.”

“I didn’t think you were stealing it.” His good-humored tone strummed over Mia like a soothing balm.

She’d missed him so much. “You want to pick out a few to take back with you?” she asked him.

“Oh, you definitely do,” Marnie said. “Alastair was quite the collector.”

“Tempting,” Silas said. “But no thanks.”

The driver made his way down the stairs, three of the six bags in hand.

“Am I holding you up?” Silas asked.

Mia was suddenly afraid he would leave just as suddenly as he’d arrived. “No, not at all.”

Marnie retrieved her tote bag and began gathering up the wine, putting two of the bottles inside it. “I’ll review the real estate deal tomorrow and start drafting the other contract.” Her look to Mia was stern. “But my legal advice stands. We’ll talk more before you sign.”

“You need some help with those?” Silas asked Marnie, making a motion toward the wine bottles.

She gave him a grin. “I only took what I could carry. But you could get the door for me.” She hit a button on her car key fob and heard a double beep.

Silas went for the door and met the driver coming back in. The driver headed back up the stairs while Silas waited for Marnie.

“Thanks,” Mia said to Marnie, giving her a pat on the shoulder in lieu of an awkward hug around the bottles.

“Call me if you have questions, ideas, any second thoughts.”

“I won’t have second thoughts.” Seeing Silas here in the house made Mia even more convinced she’d made the right decision on all fronts. “But I’ll call.”

“Second thoughts?” Silas asked as he closed the door behind Marnie.

The driver’s muffled footsteps sounded on the staircase. “This is all of them?”

“That’s the lot,” she said.

He glanced at Silas. “I’ll be outside whenever you’re ready. Take your time.”

“I’ve got a car here,” Silas said to Mia. “I can drive you over.”

The driver stopped halfway out the door to wait for Mia’s decision.

“Sure,” she said, more than happy to prolong their visit, still hoping a hug and a kiss from him would be somewhere in the mix. She’d been dreaming of his arms night after night.

“I’ll leave the bags with the bellhop,” the driver said.

“Thank you.”

Silas was quick on the draw and tucked some money into the man’s pocket. “Appreciate that.”

*   *   *

Silas stopped his rental car in front of the lighted gardens of the Waldorf entrance. He didn’t know what he’d expected to find in LA, but it wasn’t Mia moving out of her mansion—a mansion that was about ten times bigger than he’d expected.

He’d known she had money, that Alastair’s company had been successful, but he hadn’t expected a palace sitting in the middle of a meticulously groomed park. No wonder she had a staff of seven. His vague plan to win her back seemed patently ridiculous right now.

“Have you had dinner?” she asked as the valet approached the driver’s side and Silas unrolled the window.

Silas shook his head.

“Then come in and have something. I’m hungry too.”

Silas looked down at his clothes. “I doubt they’ll serve me dressed like this.”

She seemed to consider the problem.

“Checking in, sir?” the valet asked.

“We can go up to the rooftop lounge,” she said to Silas. “It’s casual.”

“There’s casual, and then there’s casual.” Silas didn’t know why he was hesitating. The very last thing he wanted to do was drop Mia off at the front door and leave.

“Sir?” the valet asked.

“Yes,” Silas answered, opening his door to get out.

A bellhop opened the door on Mia’s side.

“Can we assist with the luggage?” the bellhop asked Silas over the roof of the car.

“We sent the bags ahead,” Mia answered the man.

“If you let the front desk know, they’ll get them to your room right away.”

The valet handed Silas a ticket.

“Check-in is this way.” The bellhop took the lead, gesturing them through a set of glass doors.

“Your name?” he asked Silas.

“Mia Westberg,” Silas answered.

The man smoothly turned his attention to Mia, obviously realizing his error. “I’ll let the front desk know you’ve arrived.”

Once the check-in clerk was given Mia’s name, a flurry of activity ensued. Another man in a suit jacket who looked to be a manager hustled around the end of the front desk to personally present her with a room key and assure her that her bags had already been taken upstairs. And when she mentioned they wanted to dine on the rooftop, an assistant hovering near the manager produced a cell phone and confirmed a