Velvet Touch Read Free Page B

herself grow vaguely
uneasy beneath the intensity of his eyes. She turned brightly to Jeremy.
    "Which
cottage is yours?"
    "The one right across the way," he said quickly,
eager to get back into the conversation. "And if you're not doing anything
else this evening, I'll be glad to show you just how much at home Randolph is
in his line of work!"
    "What
do you mean?"
    "Jeremy's referring to the way we spend the evenings
up at the lodge," Holt interposed swiftly, seeing her confusion. "The
folks in the cottages are welcome to join us, of course."
    "There's an after-dinner brandy hour in front of the
fireplace and then dancing in the lounge," Jeremy explained. "You can
watch Randolph mingle with the guests. He's really quite good at it. Everyone
looks forward to the evenings around here. Want to come along? I'll be going up
around eight."
    Lacey stifled the sensation of being rushed. Of course she
wanted to go. It would be an excellent start to the summer. "Thanks, I'd
like that," she said with a smile.
    "I'll see you both later this evening, then,"
Holt said in a slightly formal tone of voice as he turned abruptly and made for
the door. "Call the office if you need anything, Lacey."
    Lacey watched him disappear down the path toward the
lodge, inwardly curious at her own reaction to the sight of his lean, catlike
stride. There was a certain male grace in his movement Strange, she had never
really thought about a man's way of walking before. Jeremy's voice called back
her wandering attention.
    "Need any help putting all this stuff away?" he
inquired, inspecting her collection of flamenco records.
    "No, thanks. I'll want to think about how to organize
it" She hesitated. "Will people be dressing up for this
evening?" she finally asked.
    "No, we keep things pretty casual around here.
Something like what you have on will be fine," he added, giving the sheer
yellow dress the same sort of glance it had received from Holt
    "That's a relief. I mean, I've always heard people out
here were fairly casual but when one's never been in Rome before it's hard to
second-guess. . . ."
    "A pair of jeans and a swimsuit will see you through
the summer," he said with a grin.
    "Those I've got! Are you going to be here all summer,
too?"
    "Yes." He gave her a somewhat sheepish, rather
hopeful glance. "I'm going to try and write a book."
    "That's great! What kind of book?" Lacey was an
old hand at encouraging such projects. A great portion of her career as a librarian
was spent in assisting people who were in the process of creating papers,
books, and articles. Librarians learned early that such people thrived on a
little demonstrated interest
    "It's one of those men's adventure novels. You know,
lots of intrigue, a bit of sex, and the old macho ingredients."
    "Your
first?" she hazarded perceptively.
    "Yeah." His mouth twisted wryly. "I'm trying
to get out of the insurance business."
    Lacey smiled in deepest sympathy. "I understand.
Believe me. It would appear we're both going to spend the summer looking for
new careers!"
    Jeremy's
eyes warmed happily. "You, too?"
    "Uh-huh. New career and a new life. I'm going to use
this inn as a base of operations for the summer. It seems like just the place
to plan a fresh start"
    Jeremy smiled broadly. "Something tells me we're going
to find a lot in common, Lacey Seldon."
    Lacey smiled back. A lot more in common than she would ever
find with a man like Holt Randolph, she decided privately. The sort of man who
was content to take over a family-owned business and make it his life, the sort
of man who had probably never wanted anything else except to run this inn; no,
she would have nothing very much in common with such a man.

 
     
     
    2
     
     
    The inn is the most
popular night spot on the island during
the summer," Jeremy told Lacey as they walked into the inviting lobby. A
fire blazed merrily on the hearth of the huge stone fireplace which dominated
one end of the room; several guests were lounging about