At His Convenience Bundle by Penny Jordan, Maggie Cox, Kim Lawrence Read Free Book Online Page B

name and phone number and you can ring them and—’
    â€˜Credit me with some intelligence.’ Luke stopped her dryly. ‘Of course Jarvis will have set up an alibi for you!’
    â€˜No. You can ring them now. Look, I’ve got my mobile,’ Suzy insisted, putting her hand in her pocket to retrieve it.
    Instantly Luke’s hand clamped over her own. ‘I’ll take that, thank you,’ he announced, removing her hand from her pocket and then sliding his own into it to remove the phone.
    The sensation of his hand pressing against her hipbone made her whole body burn. Warily, Suzy held her breath, exhaling with relief when Luke removed his hand, along with her phone.
    But, to her shock, once he had transferred her mobile into his own possession he reached out and took hold of her hand as they approached the resort.
    To anyone else they would look like a couple enjoying the warmth of the Italian sunshine, Suzy recognised. But of course they were no such thing. Experimentally she tried to remove her hand, wincing as she felt the crushing pressure of Luke’s imprisoning response.
    â€˜Where is your hotel?’ Luke asked.
    He might be addressing her, but his gaze was measuring everything and everyone around them, Suzy saw as she glanced up at him. He was scanning the happy crowd of holidaymakers surrounding them.
    Even in casual holiday clothes there was still an aura of command and authority about him. Suzy could see the way women’s heads turned towards him, their glances lingering on him.
    Had they really been a couple…A quiver of emotion ran through her.
    â€˜Where’s your hotel?’ Luke repeated, shooting her a cold, impatient look.
    Suzy wondered wrathfully how she could allow herself to be vulnerable to a man like this. A man who could not recognise the truth when it and she were standing here beside him!
    â€˜It’s here,’ Suzy told him reluctantly, nodding in the direction of the drive which led up to the discreetly elegant boutique hotel where she was staying.
    â€˜You’re staying here?’
    She could see Luke frowning as though he was surprised.
    â€˜Where did you think I’d be staying?’ Suzy taunted as they walked through the entrance, their progress noted by the sharp-eyed doorman who seemed instinctively to know who was resident at the hotel without having to check. ‘Somewhere brash and flashy?’
    â€˜Well, that would certainly be more in keeping with your boss’s tastes,’ Luke agreed coolly.
    They had reached the hotel now. Originally a private villa, it had only recently been converted and extended into its present form. A cool tiled hallway led into the reception area and the clerk on duty smiled at Suzy in recognition, reaching for her room key before she had to ask.
    â€˜I’ll take that,’ Luke announced, ignoring the clerk’s uncertain look.
    â€˜Ms Roberts will be checking out as of now,’ he informed him. ‘Where’s your passport?’ he asked Suzy, turning to look at her.
    If the clerk had thought originally that she was taking Luke back to her room so that they could make love, and Suzy suspected he must have done, he obviously did not think so now. Suzy saw his manner towards Luke change from uncertainty to respect.
    But then there was quite definitely something about Luke that set him apart from other men, Suzy acknowledged grudgingly, angrily aware of his presence behind her as she walked to her room.
    Her room—the room originally to have been provided for her friends—was elegant and extremely luxurious, with French doors which led out onto a private balcony large enough for her to have had a tea party on, had she so wished.
    â€˜Expensive,’ was Luke’s cynical comment as he followed her inside, and then locked the door and leaned against it, pocketing the old-fashioned key. If there had been an ounce of truth in her story that she was unemployed she