Downtown Girl (Lipstick Red #1) Read Free Page A

knew where she'd be staying!
    ###
    Racing up the steps to her hotel room, she tried to convince herself that it was to stay fit, but she knew it was to release the tension from meeting a sexy stranger.  She had to tell someone, and Amber was the only person she could talk to.  She frowned to herself, realizing that in six months of working in London, she’d not made any close friends.  Annabel was a friend, yes, but not a friend you could spill your innermost secrets to.
    ‘Met sexiest man alive when I slugged him with my handbag!  Honestly, he’d rate a hundred and ten on a hundred point scale…’
    ‘You slugged him! What did you do then?  Tie him up and have your wicked way?  I didn’t know you were into all that…’
    ‘Calm down, it was an accident!  He was a hottie though!’
    ‘HOW HOT?’
    ‘Hot enough to blister your skin with a touch!’
    ‘What are you telling me for?  Why aren’t you shagging him, or shagging yourself with a great stonking dildo?’
    ‘I’ve no idea who he is, and that’s your scene, not mine!’
    ‘Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it girl.  You don’t know what you’re missing…Gotta go, we can’t all swoon over the hottest man in England!’
    On a whim, Taylor decided to use the hotel dining room.  She’d usually eat in her room, but tonight she was secretly hoping he’d come and find her.  If he did, she’d make an exception to her self-imposed celibacy.  No harm in a bit of fun now and then , she thought.  Quickly fixing her hair and slapping on some make-up, she ran to reserve a table with a good view of the front door.  She raised her eyes each time the door opened, but each time she was unreasonably disappointed. 
    ‘You're being stupid Taylor,' she muttered to herself under her breath, finishing her meal and retiring to her room with a glass of wine for company. 
    ###
    In the shadows, a figure had watched as she ate, tapping the side of his glass with his index finger, deep in thought as he sipped through a straw, avoiding touching the glass with his swollen lip.
    ###
    The next morning, Taylor grumpily pulled out her clothes, to press her suit before the meeting.  What had she expected?  As if anyone would bother showing up for her.  It’s not as if English men were throwing themselves at her feet.  When she’d finished, she tossed the blood spattered jeans and t-shirt in her case, noticing that a few specks had seeped through her t-shirt to her bra.  She'd forgotten to take a spare, and had no time to buy new lingerie, even if she could afford it.  Good quality clothes were so expensive compared to America.  She'd have to do without, but her jacket would cover up her lack of a boob hammock.
    Her white shirt with a thin gray pinstripe had fashionably wide lapels.  It was one of her favorites.  She wore her shirt open at the neck, in a nod to the warm weather and scooped her hair up into a top knot, with tendrils hanging down at the side and framing her long curly lashes.   
    You'll have to do , she thought, picking up her case and walking to the door.  When she was almost at the Burton building, she remembered that she’d left Kevin’s questions on her dresser.  Damn.  Walking back as fast as her high heeled shoes would take her, she grabbed the sheaf of notes before slipping out again, now already ten minutes late for her meeting.
    Shit , she thought.  Kevin would be furious.  He'd specifically said that David Burton would blow her off if she was late.  She ran breathless into the building, not taking much in. 
    'Taylor Griffiths for David Burton,’ she panted, breathless from rushing, to the relaxed and friendly receptionist.  The receptionist tilted her head in surprise.
    'You're in luck; he's cancelled his appointments for today.  All apart from you.'
    'Is that unusual?' she asked, intrigued.  Perhaps he was more interested in the case than she imagined he would be.
    'Very,' the naturally attractive blonde said,