False Pretenses Read Free Page A

don’t plan on it. But you’re telling me you feel nothing when I do this?” He raised her chin, leaned down, and kissed her lips, a touch that was a far cry from what she’d attempted on the plane.
    When he raised his head, she thanked the heavens for her cocoa skin so he couldn’t see her flush. “It’s not bad or anything.”
    He winced.
    Score one for me.
    “Well, I guess I will have to try harder.” He came in for another kiss, but she wriggled out of his grasp and hurried away.
    “Which of these rooms is mine? I need to get cleaned up, and I would love to take a quick nap before dinnertime.”
    She expected him to protest, but he let her go and pointed her in the right direction. Alyssa found her bags already settled at the base of the bed and shut her door to go through one of them. For a good ten minutes, she sorted through her clothing while her mind raced with thoughts of Nathan Corde’s lips. They’d been warm and soft, and he tasted better than any lover she’d ever had. Wait, don’t even go there, girl. He is not now, and never will be, your lover. Period.
    How would things have gone if it were Trinity? She loved Curtis, but could she pretend to love Nathan, and would she have flinched at his kisses? Alyssa sat on the bed. Maybe this entire fiasco was just that, a ruse for Nathan to get a black woman in his bed. Then again, that was absurd. The man stood several inches over six feet and had a body most men would pay good money to have, not to mention he was rich. Women of all kinds would line up to share his bed.
    Still mulling it over, she climbed into the shower and washed off. After she’d lotioned her skin and folded into a thick robe provided by the hotel, she lay across the bed. Because she hadn’t been able to sleep the night before, tiredness weighed heavy on her, and soon she drifted off into dreamland.
    A hand stroking her hair woke her, and she swatted at it without opening her eyes. “Never touch a black woman’s hair without permission,” she muttered.
    “Is that true?” came the curious reply.
    Memory of where she was and who sat on the side of her bed came flooding back, and she popped up. “Nathan!”
    “I’m sorry. You didn’t answer my knock, so I came in. It’s after six, and I wanted to check to see if you were hungry. We can go out, or I can arrange for a chef to come in and cook for us. Your choice.” While he spoke, his gaze dropped from her face to her chest. Too late, she remembered she’d thrown the robe on after her shower and nothing else. The garment gaped open, exposing the beginning swell of her breasts. One move would uncover a nipple, and Nathan had noticed. Alyssa jerked the robe closed and jumped to her feet.
    “Yes, thanks for waking me. I’m starving. We can go out unless you want to stay in? I want to see the island at night.”
    “Your wish is my command.”
    When they stepped out of the hotel, a limo waited, and Nathan dismissed the driver from holding the door for her and did it himself. She thanked him and moved past, making every effort not to brush him as she folded into the dark interior.
    “Do you travel often by limo?”
    He smiled. “Not always. I have a couple of cars I tool around in now and then. The limo is convenient for getting work done without the hindrance of watching the road.”
    She nodded. “I balance the books on the train into work. It’s convenient.”
    When he gave a polite response, she wondered if he’d ever been on public transportation.
    The restaurant Nathan chose was a beautiful whitewashed building, which, as nice as it appeared outside, took Alyssa’s breath away inside. Purple, blue, and white lights illuminated walls covered in simplistic but skillful artwork. None of the paintings were in actual frames, but each looked to have been created directly on the wall, and they connected in a way that brought a sense of peace and warmth over her just gazing at them. A bar with neon blue lights beneath the