âI didnât mean to spend the night,â Dex said
âI didnât mean to let you.â This was all too intimate, too familiar. In a minute, heâd suggest they shower together, or she would, and then theyâd drink coffee and share the paper. Sheâd kiss him goodbye and wish him a good day.
âIâd almost forgotten how good we are together,â he murmured.
The memories of the night before made Karen smile with pleasure mixed with mild embarrassment. Sheâd been like a sex-crazed maniac. âIâll never look at Chinese food the same way.â
He nuzzled her ear. âYou still taste like plum sauce. We should take a shower together.â
Yep, right on cue. As though they were still the happily married couple who had sex with their takeout and showered together in the morning.
If they were so good together, why werenât they still married?
Dear Reader,
Iâm a huge fan of old movies. I canât get enough of them, especially the romantic comedies. I clearly had The Philadelphia Story in mind when I wrote The Ex Factor and if I got stuck, Iâd think to myself, What would Cary Grant do? What would Katharine Hepburn do? And then Iâd know.
This book features some of the characters I wrote about in my previous Harlequin Blaze title My Fake Fiancée (July 2010), so if you want to read Chelsea and Davidâs story, thatâs where youâll want to go for that.
Thanks, as always, for coming along with me on these wonderful adventures. I always have fun writing them. Visit me on the Web at www.nancywarren.net.
Happy reading,
Nancy Warren
âSTACY REALLY WANTS the circus theme,â Patricia Grange said, a note of appeal in her voice. It was a tone Karen Petersham knew wellâthe desperate cry of a woman who has spoiled her baby girl for so long she doesnât know how to stop. As one of the top wedding planners in Philadelphia, Karen got her share of spoiled princesses and their bizarre wedding requests, but this was right up there.
âA circus themed wedding is certainly unusual,â Karen said smoothly. âYou donât get a lot of them.â
âItâs because of Cirque du Soleil,â Patricia explained, throwing her hands out in a gesture of helplessness.
âCirque du Soleil?â What on earth could a bunch of acrobatically theatrical circus performers have to do with a wedding?
The mother of the bride nodded. âHudson took Stacy to see the touring production of Kooza for their first date. They think it would be romantic to recreate the circus theme for their wedding.â
âWell, I guess we can be happy he didnât take her ice fishing for their first date.â
The woman smiled weakly. âI suppose so.â She straightened the perfectly straight hem on her Gucci skirt. âCirque is about both clowning and acrobatics, of course.â
âTwo excellent attributes of a successful marriage.â
âExactly.â The woman smiled at her gratefully. âAnd Cirque did perform at the Academy Awards one time. I remember seeing it on television.â
Only a Philadelphia society girl could equate her wedding with the Academy Awards. Already Karen suspected that this ceremony was going to be one of those nightmares. The mother of the bride had shown up for the appointment, but no bride. Always a bad sign. She was conscious of a wish to tell the woman to take her flying circus acrobats and find another wedding planner, but she didnât. As much as she despaired over some of the demands made of her and her company, If You Can Dream It, Karen also got the most juice out of the toughest assignments. Frankly, the challenges stopped her from succumbing to boredom.
Rich October sunshine streamed through the windows of the renovated brick warehouse sheâd bought in Old Town to house her growing business, bringing out the rich caramel in the floors sheâd had restored.
âLet me see what I can do. Iâll put together a proposal for you and we can meet again, shall we say in two weeks? Perhaps with the bride this time.â
When the mother left, Karen sat for a few minutes, typing her notes into her computer, then she got up and walked through the office.
âIâm going to see Chelsea,â she said to her assistant, Dee, on the way out. The young blonde British girl who was both support staff and her assistant wedding planner nodded, unsurprised, since Karen took the short walk to her caterer and good friendâs premises at least once a day. She trekked to Hammond & Co. to discuss jobs with Chelsea Hammond, her exclusive caterer, or simply to chat with the woman whoâd become a close friend. And if she walked the two blocks briskly enough, that was as good as fifteen minutes on the treadmill.