Royal Seduction Read Free Page B

the woman’s smooth brow.
    â€œIs everything all right?” she asked.
    Her voice had an exotic, Mediterranean lilt that triggered a reaction stemming from the most primitive part of his brain. The skin on the back of his neck quivered, and the urge to ask her to repeat herself welled up in him fiercely. Not because he hadn’t heard her question. No, it wasn’t that at all.
    She blinked, thick, tawny lashes brushing against milky skin. “Dr. Lassen set me up with Sally Henderson, the nutritionist. Dr. Lassen said she’d try to stop by, too.”
    â€œSally’s out sick.” Riley moved to the oak table and set the file on it. “And Dr. Lassen was called to a meeting. It was unavoidable. Have a seat and we can go over this information.”
    As greetings went, his had probably been too abrupt and not nearly friendly enough, but he seemed to be fighting his way out of a strange fog at the moment.
    When she remained by the window on the far side of the room, Riley asked, “You are Catherine Houston?”
    â€œYes.” She tucked a strand of wavy hair behind her ear, but only advanced a step or two closer to the table.
    Her hesitation surprised him. Usually, women of her ilk were confident and assertive. He waited for her to finally reach him, and then he pulled out a chair for himself, hoping she’d follow suit. Opening the file Faye had given him, Riley found the booklet and thrust it toward her.
    â€œRead this over,” he instructed. “And I’ll answer any questions you have.”
    She turned the booklet over in her hand, looked at the front and back cover. Then she flipped through the pages. A quick, unexpected grin played at the corners of her mouth, and Riley felt his belly go taut once again.
    â€œI have to read this?” Her cute nose wrinkled.
    â€œThere is only one good—knowledge—and one evil—ignorance.”
    â€œSocrates.”
    â€œThat’s right,” Riley said. “He was a smart man.”
    â€œYes, but even Socrates would balk at swallowing all this in one sitting. Eighty-six pages?” she observed, glancing down at the last page. When she looked up at him, her eyes gleamed mischievously. “I don’t mind reading. I’m just surprised you’ve got that kind of time on your hands to sit there while I do.”
    If she’d felt at all uncertain before, she’d certainly made a rapid recovery.
    Good and truly put in his place, Riley said, “Yes, well…I didn’t realize… Maybe we should just touch on the high points.”
    She laughed, and he felt the enticing notes slowly tumble down each vertebra of his backbone. His spine archedslightly, and he rested his elbow on the top of the conference table, liking the unexpected calmness that washed over him.
    â€œThere in the introduction—” he indicated the booklet in front of her and she flipped to the appropriate page “—you’ll see that there are four basic nutrients: water, carbohydrates, proteins and fats. They’re referred to as the building blocks of a good diet.”
    Her head was bent, her attention directed at the printed words. Riley couldn’t help but notice how the sunlight streaming through the window glinted off her hair, igniting it like golden fire. She looked like an entrancing goddess.
    â€œGood nutrition,” he espoused verbatim from what he’d memorized since taking over as director, “is the foundation of good health.”
    He let his gaze rove over her profile, along her high cheekbone, down her pert nose and the curve of her jaw-line.
    â€œChoosing the healthiest forms of those four basic nutrients,” he continued, “and consuming them in the correct balance—” he took an instant to inhale the soft flowery scent of her “—will enable your body to function at its optimal level.”
    Catherine Houston roused something in him. Something deep.