"Oh," she said doubtfully. "Well, there's no harm in telling you, I suppose. I run a restaurant. La Mer on Dos Pueblos Port Pier."
Ross leaned back in the chair. His face relaxed and very slowly his lips formed the silent word. Bingo!
"Hello?"
"Yes," he said hurriedly, straightening again. "Just a moment, Miss Ames." His mind worked furiously, one idea after another flying through. What an incredible co incidence. He ought to pinch himself, see if he were ac tually dreaming. What an opportunity! Now if only he could grasp it....
"It seems you're in luck. I've just re alized one of our best men is available after all."
"Oh, wonderful."
If Ross had been a more compassionate man, he might have felt a twinge of guilt for the relief in her voice. But no. Unfortunately, he was feeling like a man who'd just won the lottery and he didn't have much room for compassion at the moment. Maybe later.
"How soon can you get him over here?"
Ross glanced back at the clock. "Three this afternoon."
"Perfect. Aunt Doris isn't actually arriving for several days, but I want to get our stories straight and get things set up before she gets here." Her voice now brimmed with excitement. "What's his name?"
"His name?" Ross thought fast. He'd never actually had any face-to-face dealings with the lady, but others had on his behalf. She might recognize the name, if not from business, then from the general local notoriety of the rest of his family.
"Ross...Ross Bennington." He supplied himself with his mother's maiden name.
"Great name." She sounded eager to get to work. "What does he look like?"
"Oh..." Ross stared into the mirror again, suddenly feeling an uncharacteristic flicker of embarrassment. "Average, I guess," he said gruffly. "Six-four. Dark hair. Blue eyes. Intelligent eyes," he added quickly.
Charity Ames was nothing if not enthusiastic. "I love him already!"
He blinked, struck by a hint of unease. "What exactly did you have in mind for Mr. Bennington to do?" he asked suspiciously.
"I told you. I need a husband for about four or five days. That's all. He'll have to stay here with me, of course, to make it look good. And when Aunt Doris goes back to New York-"
"A quickie divorce."
She laughed. "Something like that."
Ross nodded in satisfaction. The setup was perfect. A couple of days to soften her up, a few more to convince her.
"Let me have your address," he said quickly. "And we'll send your hired husband right over."
He stared at the telephone for a long moment after they'd hung up. It couldn't be this easy. After all those months of trying to pin Charity Ames down, of trying to get a private meeting to present his offer, of getting the brush-off at every turn, he'd suddenly been given a free ticket right into her living room. There had to be a catch.