The Courtship of Dani Read Free

for the sake of her opponents, that did not happen often.
    As Dani marched away from the sullen young man, threading her way aimlessly through the party crowd, her icy control was perilously close to snapping. She had had just about all she could take of Lewis Manders for one evening.
    Only Dani's strong sense of responsibility kept her from leaving the party. As head of the team of business consultants who would be revamping St. Clair's new company, she felt she should at least try to establish some sort of rapport with the man. With that in mind, Dani stationed herself by one of the doors that led onto the patio. I'll give it another half-hour, she told herself, snagging a glass of champagne off a passing waiter's tray as she watched the movements of the hard-faced blond man.
    But over the next half-hour Dani did not manage to get within ten feet of Jason St. Clair. Every time she started to approach him he either took to the dance floor, moved away or engaged someone in conversation. If she hadn't known better, she would think he was deliberately avoiding her.
    Finally giving it up as a lost cause, Dani sought out Frank and Eloise and bid them good night, at the same time adroitly managing to sidestep her boss's probing questions.
    A relieved sigh left Dani when she escaped out the front door and started down the long curving drive toward her car. Business wise and every other way, the evening had been a washout, and she was glad to put it behind her.
    Fumbling through her evening bag for her keys, Dani did not see the man waiting beside her car until she had almost reached it, and then she had to pull herself up short to keep from bumping into him.
    "Oh! For goodness' sake, Lewis! You scared me half to death," she snapped, for once startled into irritation. Regaining her composure, she gave him a coolly dismissive look. "What are you doing out here, anyway?"
    Lewis edged closer, a seductive smile playing around his mouth. "I couldn't let you go home without telling you good night properly," he said in a low sexy voice. "Now could I?"
    Dani frowned and started to step around him, but he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close. "Now see here, Lewis!" she gasped, pushing against his chest with both hands. "What do you think you're—"
    His mouth closed over hers, and her words became a muffled protest. Dani began to struggle in earnest, but his arms went around her, clamping her tightly against his chest while he continued the aggressive assault on her lips. The kiss was wet and sloppy, suffocating, his teeth nipping at her lips with barely restrained savagery, his tongue pushing demandingly at her tightly clenched teeth.
    Dani gagged. She strained with all her might against his hold, but he backed her up against the car and pressed his length against her to hold her still. She didn't even have room to use her knee. She was trying to find his instep with the heel of her shoe, when a snicker of female laughter made Lewis stiffen and pull away.
    "Oh, please, Manders, don't let us interrupt your fun." Jason St. Clair's deep, sneering voice floated to them out of the darkness. "By all means, you and your girlfriend carry on. We were just leaving."
    Pale and shaken, Dani leaned against the car and gasped for breath, unable to say a word, as Linda and Jason strolled by. Briefly Jason's eyes flicked over Dani, scorn and revulsion glittering in their dark depths. Then the couple was swallowed up by the darkness, and there was only the gritting sound of their receding footsteps and the labored rasp of Dani's breathing.
    For several seconds she stared after them in horror, her hand clamped over her mouth, but the sound of a car door slamming farther down the drive brought her out of her stupor. She rounded on Lewis, her blue eyes blazing.
    "You bastard!"
    Her first volley caught him by such surprise that he backed up a step. Dani advanced and jabbed him in the gut with the narrow end of her gold clutch. "You sorry, worthless