Hidden Riches

would have been welcome here. As you always were.”
    “I know.” They’d been through it all before. But because he wanted to erase the concern from her eyes, he grinned. “But I didn’t want to interfere with your sex life.”
    She didn’t miss a beat. “You’d hardly have done so from the east wing. However, I have always respected your independence.” And because she sensed some subtle lightening in him since the last time she’d made the offer, she let that part of the argument rest. “When do you intend to go back to your badge, and your work?”
    His hesitation was brief. “I have no intention of going back.”
    “You disappoint me, Jedidiah. And, I think, you disappoint yourself.” She rose, regally. “Fetch my wrap. It’s time we left.”
     
    Dora loved a party. One of her favorite ways to reward herself for a hard day was to primp, dress up and spend an evening in a crowd. It didn’t matter if she knew a single soul, as long as there were plenty of people, chilled champagne, music and interesting food.
    As it happened, she knew a great many people attending the Winter Ball. Some were friends, some were customers, some were patrons of her family’s theater. She was able to entertain herself by mingling, moving from group to group to exchange pecks on the cheek and fresh gossip. Though she’d taken a chance wearing the strapless white gown, the press of bodies heated the room and kept her comfortable.
    “Dora, darling, you look fabulous.” Ashley Draper, a social climber of the first order who had recently shed her second husband, swooped down on Dora in a cloud of Opium.
    Because Ashley fell slightly below the borders of friendship, Dora was amused by the quick air kiss. “You look radiant, Ashley.”
    “You’re a dear to say so, even though I know I’m a bit washed out. Right after the first of the year, I’m going to spend a week at the Green Door. The holidays are so fatiguing, aren’t they?”
    “God knows how we get through them.” Dora popped a stuffed olive into her mouth. “I thought you’d be in Aspen.”
    “Next week.” Ashley waved a fuchsia-tipped hand toward another couple. “What a ghastly dress,” she murmured through her smiling lips. “It makes her look like a stuffed eggplant.”
    Because it was a killingly accurate statement, Dora laughed and remembered why she tolerated Ashley. “Are you here stag?”
    “Lord no.” Ashley scanned the crowd. “My escort’s that amazing hunk of beefcake with the Samson locks.”
    Once again Ashley’s description was on the money. Dora picked him out quickly. “My, my.”
    “An artist,” Ashley purred. “I’ve decided to be a patron. Speaking of the men in our lives, I heard that Andrew broke off your business association.”
    “Did you?” It only amused Dora that Andrew, or more likely his mother, had twisted the facts. “Let’s just say I’m looking for someone a bit more substantial to stand between me and the IRS.”
    “And how is your little shop doing?”
    “Oh, we manage to sell a trinket now and again.”
    “Mmm, yes.” Finances didn’t interest Ashley, as long as the alimony check came on time. “We missed you the other night at the Bergermans’. Christmas Eve?”
    “I was . . . unexpectedly detained.”
    “I hope he was worth it,” Ashley purred, then grabbed Dora’s hand in a crushing grip. “Look, here.” She lowered her voice to confidential tones. “It’s the grand dame herself. She rarely puts in an appearance here.”
    “Who?” Curiosity piqued, Dora craned her neck. She lost the rest of Ashley’s hissed explanation the minute she saw Jed. “Surprise, surprise,” she murmured. “Excuse me, Ashley, I have to go see a man about a tux.”
    And he did look fabulous in it, she mused as she circled the ballroom to come up behind him. She waited until he’d procured two glasses of champagne.
    “I know,” she said at his shoulder. “You went back on the force, and now you’re undercover.” She caught his soft oath as he turned. “What is it, an international jewel thief? A ring of insidious pâté burglars?”
    “Conroy. Do you have to be everywhere?”
    “I have an invitation.” She tapped her beaded evening bag. “How about you, copper?”
    “Christ. It’s bad enough I have to be here at all without—”
    “Jedidiah!” Honoria’s authoritative voice halted any complaints. “Have you lost whatever slight degree of manners I managed to teach you? Introduce