A Rare Chance by Carla Neggers Read Free Book Online

rolled down her window and identified herself over an intercom, and the gate opened.
    â€œSort of your fortress mentality,” Lizzie said beside her.
    Gabriella eased her car down the road, flanked by drooping pines and white-trunked birches and poplars just leafing out. She could see glimpses of the water down the gently sloping bank to her right. Farther out on the point, the shore became steep and treacherous, but also dramatically beautiful with its huge rocks and spectacular views.
    â€œHe’s hired a new security man, an ex-cop,” Gabriella said. “It sounds like overkill to me, but I guess I shouldn’t talk since no one’s ever tried to kidnap me.”
    Lizzie scoffed as she took in the view out the passenger window. “You’ve been shot, Gabriella. You do recall that poacher in Tahiti?”
    She did. She also recalled that her father had exhibited more interest in protecting an endangered orchid than his daughter. He’d insisted she was in no serious danger and had reminded her she hated anyone hovering over her. It was true, but there were exceptions—namely when an angry poacher had a gun pointed at her.
    â€œIt was just a graze,” she told Lizzie. “I only needed a couple stitches. Anyway, people respond to fear in different ways. Joshua’s had his sense of personal security undermined. He can’t pretend he’s invulnerable anymore. Knowing him, he’d also take any threat against him as a potential threat against TJR Associates and respond accordingly.”
    â€œSo he’s not just being a weenie?”
    Gabriella shook her head.
    Lizzie grinned, settling back in her seat. “Good, because I think he’s kind of cute.”
    â€œCute? Joshua Reading?”
    â€œYeah, sure. Haven’t you noticed?”
    â€œNot really, no.” She decided not to mention that Joshua Reading had once asked her to dinner—not on business; she’d nipped that subtle advance in the bud. No romance on the job. It was one of her unbreakable rules. “Anyway, I don’t think like that. I treat people as individuals.”
    Lizzie snorted, laughing. “Listen to you! As if you’ve never noticed a man’s biceps before. When did Gabriella Scagliotti Starr become so repressed? You who used to criticize me for being uptight on matters of the heart. Joshua’s single. Haven’t you ever thought about dating him?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œI’ll bet he’s thought about dating you,” she said slyly.
    Gabriella glanced over at her. “Lizzie, if you’re going to cause trouble tonight, I’m turning around right now. I swear I am.”
    Lizzie gave a mischievous grin. “He has thought about dating you.”
    â€œLizzie.”
    â€œOh, you’re so honorable. You’d never even consider dating your boss, would you?”
    â€œFirst, I’m not interested. Second, yes, I believe there are too many pitfalls to dating a co-worker, never mind a boss. Third, I’ve been too busy this past year to bother much with men.”
    â€œYou haven’t had any dates?”
    â€œA few.”
    She left it at that. Her dates since her return to Boston had been perfunctory. Dinner, the theater, a good-night peck at the door. She’d yet to find a man who could reconcile, never mind understand, the two sides of her personality that had her hunting for orchids with her crazy father on the one hand and putting together business deals on the other. Joshua Reading, for certain, wasn’t a candidate. However much she might respect his natural ease with people, he’d never shown any indication of understanding either side of her personality.
    The road curved closer to the water, where the woods gave way to wild blueberry and rose bushes. The tide was coming in, rough and gray in the fading daylight.
    â€œQuite the place,” Lizzie murmured as the house came into view.
    â€œJoshua has a