Entranced Read Free Page B

clearly, so violently, that Sebastian heard the words echo in his own mind.
    Ridiculous, she told herself, regaining control. It was a dream.
    That was all. Some silly dream she was mixing up with reality. It was just that he had the most beautiful eyes. The most uncomfortably beautiful eyes.
    He studied her for a moment more, and, though curious, he didn’t look beyond her face. She was, even in the harsh sunlight, quite attractive. Perhaps it was the defiance he saw so clearly in her steady green eyes, or the lift of her chin, with its faint and oddly sexy cleft. Attractive, yes, he decided, even if she did wear her hair inches shorter than his own. Even if it did look as though she hacked at it herself with a pair of kitchen shears.
    He turned away from her and offered Rose a smile.
    “Please, come in,” he said, and gave her his hand. He left Mel to follow.
    She did, and he might have been amused to see the way she swaggered up those steps and into the high-ceilinged great room, with its skylights and open balcony. She frowned a bit, wishing she didn’t find it so appealing, those warm, honey-toned walls that made the light so soft and sexy. There was a low, wide couch, long as a river, done in a lustrous royal-blue. He led Rose to it, over a lake-size rug of bleeding pastels, while Mel checked out his living quarters.
    It was neat as a pin without appearing viciously organized. Modern sculptures of marble, wood and bronze were interspersed with what were surely valuable antiques. Everything was large scale, with the result that, despite its size, the room was cozy.
    Here and there, set with apparent casualness on those polished antiques, were clusters of crystals—some large enough to strain a man’s back lifting them, others tiny enough to fit in a child’s palm. Mel found herself charmed by them, the way they winked and gleamed, shaped like ancient cities, slender wands, smooth globes or rough mountains.
    She found Sebastian watching her with a kind of patient amusement, and she shrugged. “Some digs.”
    His lips curved, joining the humor in his eyes. “Thanks. Have a seat.”
    The couch might be as long as a river, but she chose a chair across the island of an ornately carved coffee table.
    His eyes stayed on Mel another moment, and then he turned to Rose. “Can I get you some coffee, Mrs. Merrick? Something cold?”
    “No. No, please don’t bother.” The kindness was worse, somehow, undermining her desperate control. “I know this is an imposition, Mr. Donovan. I’ve read about you. And my neighbor, Mrs. Ott, she said how you were so helpful to the police last year when that boy went missing. The runaway.”
    “Joe Cougar.” Sebastian sat beside her. “Yes, he thought he’d give San Francisco a try, and drive his parents crazy. I suppose youth enjoys risks.”
    “But he was fifteen.” Rose’s voice broke and pressing her lips together, she shored it up again. “I—I don’t mean his parents wouldn’t have been frightened, but he was fifteen. My David’s only a baby. He was in his playpen.” She sent Sebastian a look of desperate pleading. “I only left him for a minute when the phone rang. And he was right by the door, sleeping. It wasn’t as if he was out on the street, or left in a car. He was right by the open door, and I was only gone a minute.”
    “Rose.” Though her personal preference was to keep her distance from Sebastian, Mel got up to sit beside her friend. “It’s not your fault. Everyone understands that.”
    “I left him,” Rose said flatly. “I left my baby, and now he’s gone.”
    “Mrs. Merrick. Rose. Were you a bad mother?” Sebastian asked the question casually, and saw the horror bloom in Rose’s eyes. And the fury light in Mel’s.
    “No. No. I love David. I only wanted to do my best for him. I only—”
    “Then don’t do this.” He took her hand, and his touch was so gentle, so comforting, that the threatening tears retreated a little. “You’re