Right Of Possession Read Free

He glanced down into Reva's angrily upturned face. "Come along, honey. If you're still hungry we'll pick something up on the way home. I'm quite capable of keeping you fed, if you remember."
    Reva, whose normally healthy appetite had totally deserted her, frowned furiously up into Josh's hard expectant face. His eyes met hers in casual promise and she knew with clear resignation that he had no qualms at all about making a scene if that's what it would take to make her leave with him. Perhaps the best solution was to do exactly that and get the inevitable confrontation over. It was undoubtedly going to take some doing convincing him that she certainly had no intention of picking up where she'd left off four months ago. Those three days were a totally abnormal time in her life and she did not honestly feel she could be held responsible for her behavior. She would have to make Josh Corbett understand
    that. She turned apologetically to Brace, who plainly found the situation incomprehensible.
    "I'm sorry, Bruce, but I'm afraid this is going to be a little awkward. Mr. Corbett seems to think our short acquaintance of four months ago entitles him to impose on me now." She didn't look at Josh as she said the deliberately rude words but she felt the fingers on her wrist tighten ever so slightly. Well, what did he expect? Why should she be any kinder to him than he was being to her by embarrassing her in front of Bruce?
    "There's no need for you to leave if you'd rather not, Reva," Bruce said with unexpected authority.
    She smiled at him, a genuinely appreciative smile that conveyed her thanks. "I know, Bruce, but I think it would be better if I handled the matter quietly. Mr. Corbett will soon be on his way, believe me. Forgive me for cutting the evening short. It was most delightful while it lasted. . . ." She let the sentence trail off delicately, the full implication of how Josh Corbett was ruining the evening settling nicely.
    "Vicious little thing, isn't she?" Josh observed mildly, one dark brow lifting in acknowledgment of the cut.
    "Miss Waring is never vicious!" Bruce informed him coldly.
    "Except when she's provoked, and when the provocation is sufficient you'd better hope you're not facing her when she's got a knife in her hand!"
    "Josh Corbett!" Reva flared, unable to completely repress the mental image he was forcing alive in her head. With it came remembered terror, fury, and desperation. For a ghastly instant she was again facing a young revolutionary guerrilla, his dark eyes wild with war lust. The carving knife she'd found in an abandoned kitchen had been her only defense. But in the end she'd not had to use
    it. Josh Corbett had appeared out of nowhere, a rifle slung over one shoulder and an automatic in his hand. It had been the automatic which had spoken. . . . Grimly she forced herself back to the present.
    "Let's go, Reva," Josh said calmly, "I've been waiting too long already." He tugged once again at her wrist.
    "I'll summon the manager," Bruce announced with great decisiveness. He flung down his napkin and got to his feet, glaring at the taller man.
    "No, Bruce, I can handle this," Reva interposed quickly, rising to her feet also in response to the light pressure Josh was applying. The important thing was to prevent a scene which would humiliate Bruce and herself. And that meant leaving with Josh. "Mr. Corbett means no harm," she sighed, her eyes on Bruce's incensed features. "He's just not accustomed to the ways of normal, civilized society," she added meaningfully. "I'd better have a long talk with him and it would be less uncomfortable for all of us if I did it in private. Forgive me?" she smiled with rueful appeal as Josh made to move off with herself in tow. He was no longer interested in Bruce, who was obviously not going to make any move to stop him.
    "I'll phone you in the morning," Bruce stated emphatically. "You're sure you'll be all right?" Clearly he wanted a way out of the situation, too.
    "Quite