Chapter 61

'Not on your life!' he grinned, pulling on his lightweight bomber jacket. 'I'll bring Red to the party tomorrow, and then you can tell me what you think of her.'

'Red?' she questioned as she walked him to the door.

'She has glorious red hair right down to her--'

'Dan!'

He laughed softly, kissing her affectionately on the cheek. 'Well, she does. Her name is Carmella, by the way. And that's the only Italian thing about her. At least, I think it is,' he added wickedly.

'I'm sure you'll find out,' Jasmine mocked gently as he left, his grin the only answer he gave her.

Her humor faded as soon as Dan had gone, and a pensive frown darkened her brow. She hadn't expected Collins to return in exactly six months, but he was ten days overdue now, with no sign of his return.

The party, with their old friends and her new ones, had seemed a good idea at the time, a way, perhaps a gesture, of showing Collins that her old and new life belonged toget