Whirlwind Read Free

her forehead with an impatient hand.
    Her earrings caught the morning light and glittered. From one ear dangled a golden angel with a glinting glass eye, but from the other ear swung a larger figure—that of a devil carved out of onyx. Oh, Liza was devilish, all right. But she seemed to be trying awfully hard to keep that bad-girl facade in place.
    So Cliff wasn’t surprised when she let his jacket slip off her shoulders and started to peel off her dress.
    He stopped her by grabbing one slender wrist just as she began to yank the dress. She looked up, feigning surprise.
    â€œTake it easy,” he said, determined not to let the vixen ruffle him. “If you die of exposure, it’ll be me who has to answer a bunch of questions.”
    Her gaze burned into him with the power of a hot laser. “I’d hate to trouble you.”
    â€œThen keep your clothes on.” He released her wrist and turned away. “Let’s see what’s wrong with the car.”
    A moment later she followed him around the convertible, quite composed and haughty. “You must be a pretty handy fellow to have around, if my grandfather hired you.”
    â€œI do what I can.” He kicked some branches away from the hood of the convertible and bent over the mess to check on damage.
    â€œDo you see him often? Granddad, I mean?”
    â€œNow and then.” Cliff examined the damage to the car’s grille and headlights.
    â€œDoes he come out here?” she asked, standing behind him on the gravel. Her voice sounded casual. Maybe too casual.
    Cliff glanced up at her. “Nope.”
    She quickly mastered her expression, endeavoring to look unconcerned. “Does he look well? I mean...is he healthy?”
    â€œWhat is this? Twenty questions? He’s your family, not mine.”
    She flushed. “I haven’t seen him for a while, that’s all.”
    â€œThree years, right?”
    Her pouty mouth popped open, then snapped shut quickly as she covered her surprise. Her glacial eyes narrowed. “Exactly how do you know so much about me, Forrester?”
    â€œI wish I could say that I get around a lot, but stories about the infamous Liza Baron are repeated all the time.” Cliff crouched by the front tire and pushed back the tree branches to get a better look under the car. “Even I’ve heard the one about how you spiked the punch at the homecoming dance. People still can’t figure out how you did it—and got crowned homecoming queen in the same hour.”
    She shrugged. “I hid the bottle in my underpants until the time was right.”
    â€œHmm,” said Cliff, guessing that she’d said that just to see his reaction. He chose to ignore the lie and said, “Thefender’s bent pretty badly. It’ll cut the tire if you try to move the car.”
    She leaned over his shoulder. “Can’t you yank the fender out a little? I’ve got a tire iron in the trunk, I think.”
    â€œIt’ll ruin the fender.”
    â€œDo it anyway,” she said blithely, bending over the closed door to tug the keys out of the ignition. Cliff couldn’t stop a glance down the amazing length of her bare legs, but she pretended to be unaware of his scrutiny. She straightened and led the way to the trunk with a taunting sashay, saying, “It’s good to know people still think of me now and then. My mother hasn’t poisoned everyone against me.”
    Suddenly on guard, Cliff said, “Why would your mother do that?”
    â€œWe’re estranged. That’s a polite word for hating each other.”
    â€œI know what it means.”
    â€œWe don’t communicate. Haven’t spoken for years.”
    â€œAnd you’re proud of that?”
    Liza snapped open the convertible’s trunk. “It’s a fact of life in our family. My mother despises me.”
    â€œAlyssa Baron couldn’t despise anybody.”
    Liza looked up from