All Night Long

the picture of expensive, tasteful elegance.
    Irene had seen Vicki in action earlier in the evening and knew that John Danner’s wife could be incredibly charming. But at the moment, Vicki was not in charm mode. She wanted answers and she intended t et them.
    “Are you involved in Luke’s new business venture?” Vicki asked with a thin smile.
    Irene blanked. “Business venture?”
    “The ridiculous little motel he bought in Dunsley.”
    “Oh, the lodge.” Irene took a sip of her sauvignon blanc while she considered her answer. “Hard t hink of that as a viable business venture, to tell you the truth. At least not with Luke at the helm. Bu o answer your question, no, I’m not involved. I’m happy with my job at the
Beacon
.
    The doughnut re better.”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “Forget it.”
    “How did you meet Luke?” Vicki asked.
    “You could say I paid for the introduction.”
    Vicki frowned.
    “I meant I’m a paying guest at the lodge,” Irene said hastily.
    “This is just a casual relationship, then?”
    Irene thought about the kaleidoscopic series of events that had taken place since she first encountered Luke, culminating in the most intense sexual experience of her entire life.

    “Not any longer,” she said, feeling decidedly more cheerful and relaxed. The wine was working, she thought.
    Vicki’s smile held no hint of warmth. “When did you find out that Luke’s father owns half of the Elena Creek Vineyards?”
    “Jason mentioned it when he visited Luke in Dunsley the other day.”
    “And the next thing we know, Luke is bringing you to a private family gathering.
    Interesting.”
    Irene looked through the windows at the large, well-heeled crowd milling around the winery’s resplendent main reception room. “Gee, I wouldn’t consider that an event with a guest list of a few hundred people qualified as a private family gathering. But I suppose it’s all relative, isn’t it?”
    Vicki looked baffled. “What?”
    Irene cleared her throat. “That was supposed to be a clever little play on words.
    Family gathering? Relative? Get it?”
    Vicki glanced past Irene’s right shoulder. “Here comes Katy You two met earlier, I believe.”
    “Yes.” Irene braced herself and turned to smile at the lovely woman gliding toward them across the terrace.
    Blond, blue-eyed and dainty, Katy Foote was one of those delicate, ethereal-looking women who made men want to strap on shining armor and go out to slay a few dragons. But within five seconds of meeting her, Irene had decided that she liked her, anyway.
    Katy wore a gown of pale azure silk that screamed high-end designer. In a very subtle way, of course.
    It dawned on Irene that, dressed in the severely cut little black number that she had managed to find on the marked-down rack in a mall department store that afternoon, she probably looked like the Wicked Witch of Glaston Cove standing next to a dignified queen and a lovely fairy-tale princess.
    There’s a reason why clothes end up on sale, she reminded herself. It’s because no one else wante hem. But she had not been able to justify digging into her hard-earned savings to buy a fabulously expensive gown for the evening, knowing that she would probably never wear the dress again.

    “Hello, Katy,” Vicki said. “I was just talking to Irene about how she came to meet Luke. She told m hat she’s staying at his lodge in Dunsley”
    “Yes, I know.” Katy laughed. “I have to admit, I can’t imagine Luke as an innkeeper.” She gave Iren n amused look. “Does he issue long lists of rules to his guests?”
    At that moment, Irene spotted Luke coming toward her. He was accompanied by his father, Jason and Hackett.
    “Let’s just say that checkout times are strictly enforced at Sunrise on the Lake Lodge,” she said.
    She turned to watch the men approach. She had met Hackett and John earlier when she and Luke arrived. She had also had a chance to greet Jason. But this was the first time she had seen all four of the Danner men grouped closely together. Each was impressive in his own right, but taken en masse and dressed in hand-tailored tuxes they were enough to make any woman sit up and take notice.
    All three of John Danner’s sons had their father’s bird-of-prey eyes, but aside from that feature, ther as little resemblance. It was obvious that Hackett and Jason owed their good-looking, aristocratic features to Vicki.
    The men came to a halt. Irene noticed that Hackett looked