Cherry Adair - T-flac 03 Read Free

"Where is Ramon?"
    "Still in San Cristobal, waiting for a few more business associates." For a second his gaze dropped.
    "Christ, I can't believe you're parading around outside half-naked like this. That dental floss you're almost wearing would get you arrested even in Palm Beach."
    She felt the heat of his stare on her breasts, but raised yeah-so-what ? eyebrows.
    "Those guards are already having a hard time keeping their eyes where they belong. Yeah, honey. You should blush. Why don't you cover yourself and put the poor bastards out of their misery?"
    It was none of his damn business, but the soldiers were so terrified of Montero they'd never noticed anything lower than her nose. Thank God.
    "Don't be a prude. They're here to protect me." She looked at him under her lashes, a small smile barely curving her mouth. Her little students would never recognize their Miss Lanie's feral smile. Delanie knew how it appeared, she'd practiced the vapid-avaricious-dumb-blonde act in the mirror several times a day to remind herself of just why she was here. And just what was at stake if she failed.
    "How many notches have you carved on your lipstick case since I last… saw you?"
    His not so subtle slur threw her for a moment, but she rallied quickly. "Goodness," she said, wide-eyed.
    "I've completely lost count." One notch had been more than enough for this girl. She wasn't stupid, she was acting. And from his reaction doing a fairly good job of it, too.
    "I just look for men who'll give me what I want, when I want it." The huskiness in her voice was from strain. Not suppressed tears. She hadn't cried in years and didn't intend to start now. "And Ramon treats me very well."
    "What the hell do you see in him?" Heat emanated from his body and she could smell the faint, familiar tang of his aftershave and the muskiness of clean sweat as he crowded her from three feet away.
    Delanie looked him dead in the eye. Defiantly. "He has something I want."
    My sister first.
    Revenge as dessert.
    The barely polite mask dropped from his face, leaving more than a hint at his awesome fury. "Wealth Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    and power."
    "Oh, much more than that." She wanted to cheer. Kyle didn't know Montero was gay. She wasn't sure how, but she'd find a way to use that to her advantage.
    She touched the quarter-inch-wide herringbone necklace around her throat with her fingertips. She couldn't find the clasp to take it off, and the thing always irritated the hell out of her. It was more uncomfortable outside in the heat.
    Green eyes made another leisurely survey of her body. She dropped her hand. It took every ounce of fortitude to stand still for his scrutiny. He reached past her to snag a towel off the inside skeleton of the umbrella, then draped it around her neck, holding the edges between her breasts. His hands felt cool and steady against the hard flutter of her heart.
    Delanie resisted the overwhelming urge to beg his help in locating her sister. But for all she knew, he was part of Montero's plan. No. She dared not. Besides, when had she ever asked for, or received, help resolving her family's problems? Never.
    She took a step back from temptation. "What's the matter, Doc? Don't trust yourself?" She shrugged and the towel landed at her feet. She bent to stuff a bottle of oil and a paperback romance novel into a black canvas tote and slung the straps over her bare shoulder.
    The bag banged against her hip. It was never out of her sight for a second. It contained everything she thought she and Lauren might need when they left.
    Delanie slipped on her high-heeled, gold sandals. Eye-level with Kyle's chin, she managed a credible
    "hostess" smile. "Let's go inside, cool off in the air-conditioning, and have something cold to drink."
    She had to touch him. To show them both that his nearness no longer had any affect on her. She tucked her hand through his arm.
    His forearm felt as unyielding as his