The Lady Vanishes Read Online Free Page B

seat next to him. He held up a novel. “It’s fine. This was the plan for tonight, anyway.”
    “Thanks—see you in a bit.” Milton shut the door and hurried inside the restaurant, his coat flaring out from his sides, red scarf swinging.
    The hostess, a lovely girl named Alexis with reddish blond hair and a sweet smile, greeted him by name. “Good evening, Mr. Shaw, your table is this way.”
    “Thanks, Alexis.” He removed his coat as he followed behind her into the dining room, which was crowded, as usual. The modern furnishings were decorated in shades of gray and white, with accents of green and yellow. A large waterfall fell in a flat sheet of liquid, separating the bar area from the rest of the dining room.
    Milton preferred a corner booth near the kitchen, and since he came to the restaurant often, he rarely had to sit anywhere else.
    “Your guest is waiting, but we’ve made sure she had her choice of wine and appetizers.”
    “Great.” He sighed. I’m an ass .
    Michelle was indeed sitting at the booth waiting for him in a deep blue evening dress, her blond hair down around her shoulders. She started to stand when she spotted him, but he waved her back into her seat.
    “Sit, please. I’m the one who’s kept you waiting.”
    “I’ll take your coat, sir,” Alexis told him, and he handed it over.
    “Thank you,” he said. He handed her a twenty and took a seat in the booth opposite Michelle.
    “This place is so amazing,” she gushed, her cheeks a little flushed. He thought maybe she’d had a few glasses of wine. Well, he couldn’t blame her.
    “It is,” he agreed and resolved that he would make polite chitchat if it killed him. “So, Michelle, tell me about your work.”
    He managed to listen and ask appropriate questions for about ten minutes before his attention began to wander. Absently, he drew up plans in his head for a new trick involving a waterfall: Could he make it seem like it had stopped?
    He was thinking about the details when he saw a beautiful woman in a forest-green dress walking behind the hostess. A shorter man with a receding hairline followed behind her. He could only see her profile and her awesome body, which was slender and curved in all the right places. Her dark hair fell loose around her shoulders. Her walk was straight ahead, no-nonsense, just shy of being a march. He’d seen that walk before. Just a few hours ago, as a matter of fact.
    “Will you excuse me for a moment?” he asked Michelle, hoping she thought he had to go to the bathroom.
    “Of course.” She sat back, a patient smile straining her lips.
    “Thanks.” Milton set his napkin aside and dodged waiters coming out of the kitchen as he crossed the busy restaurant. Dr. Burke—it had to be her. That walk was distinctive. Sure enough, when he turned a corner, there she was, seated next to the short, nondescript man, her beautiful face glowing in the dim lighting of the chandeliers, her perfect mouth painted a deep red. God. He wanted to snatch her up, push her into a dark corner, and fuck her. She was just fucking delicious.
    She looked up and saw him—she could hardly miss him, he was standing in the middle of the walkway staring at her. She blinked and glanced behind her, probably to see if he was staring at someone else, but when she turned back, a small frown had gathered between her eyes. She didn’t recognize him.
    Realizing that he was being an idiot, he waved an apology, as if he had made a mistake, and headed for the bathroom. He might as well have some excuse for getting out of his seat, and his dick was so hard that he needed a moment or two of recovery time, anyway.
    When he left the bathroom a few minutes later, he eyed the hallway warily as if he half expected her to jump out at him—not that he would mind if she did. He would participate with enthusiasm. The coast was clear, more or less, though he couldn’t help but glance at her table on the way back to his seat. She caught him again,