Step Into My Parlor Read Free Page B

different this morning." Tilting her head to one side, she drew her brows together and studied him with her large brown eyes. "I know. You've shaved your beard."
    His hand went to his jaw. "It's Saturday."
    "Saturday?"
    He grinned. "I shave every Saturday, whether I need it or not."
    She laughed. He'd never heard her laugh. It was a throaty, sexy sound that shimmied up his backbone. If he didn't beat a fast exit, her effect on him would have him reconsidering his cardinal rule.
    "Thanks for the breakfast. And thank you for taking me in last night. I don't know what I would have done without your help."
    "No problem, sugar. It's part of Texas hospitality." He took the tray. "Your clothes got pretty messed up in the parking lot. I took them to the cleaners this morning and told them it was a rush job. I ’ ll check to see if they're ready."
    "Now I have something else to thank you for. As soon as I'm dressed, I’ll call my friend Vicki. Since it's Saturday, she's sure to be home. I ’ ll ask her to pick me up, and I’ll be out of your way."
    "You're not in my way, darlin'." His gaze slid over the length of her. The red satin sheets hugged her body like a lover, outlining every dip and curve. His fingers curled around the handles of the tray. "There's an extra toothbrush in the medicine cabinet. And I put your briefcase at the foot of the bed."
    Anne slumped back against the pillows with a sigh of relief. 'Thank you." And thank heaven, she thought as she heard the door close.
    Her briefcase was the most important thing she owned. She'd been so distracted that she had forgotten it held her hope of survival. As long as she had it and was able to stay out of Preston's reach, she had a chance. The files in the case were the key to unmasking his corrupt plans. That and Vicki's assistance.
    She climbed out of bed and went into the small bathroom to shower. As she unwound her long hair, she glimpsed herself in the mirror of the medicine cabinet and touched the bandage on her forehead. Spider must have put it there.
    For someone who looked so menacing. Spider Webb was really a very gentle man. And rather attractive without the beard. Handsome in a rough kind of way. Incredibly . . . sensual. There was an elemental virility about him that affected her at a deep, visceral level. The feeling made her uneasy. Very uneasy.
    He was not like any men she'd ever met. Not that her experience with men was all that vast. She'd been a late bloomer, more interested in horses than boys as a teenager. The Swiss boarding school where she'd met Vicki had been very strict and gave her little opportunity to learn much about the opposite sex.
    Maybe that was why she'd fallen so hard for Dwayne Palmer in college. And why she'd been so hurt to discover that he was more Interested in the Foxworth-Jennings millions than in her. After that devastating experience, she'd shielded her heart carefully.
    While she hadn't become a social recluse or embittered with males in general, her subsequent relationships had been infrequent and with men of similar background. In fact, for the past few years, between her new business and caring for her mother, she hadn't had much time for a social life.
    Elizabeth Ames, Anne's mother and Preston's stepmother, had always been a fragile, dependent type. Shortly after Anne had finished graduate school and had started her art gallery in Washington, D.C., her mother's delicate health had begun to deteriorate. Although Preston had lived in the household and managed Elizabeth's financial affairs for several years, Anne didn't want to trust the supervision of her mother's care to Preston or the servants, so she had moved back home to the Virginia suburb and had commuted to the gallery.
    Almost every spare moment had been spent at her mother's bedside, reading to her, handling correspondence, or simply talking with the gentle woman. Although the past three years had been exhausting, Anne hadn't considered her task a sacrifice. She had