Calder Promise by Janet Dailey Read Free Book Online Page A

coming in with me, aren’t you? I may need your assistance with little things like doors and elevator buttons.”
    “Of course.” His smile was quick and warm, his eyes echoing the sparkle of amusement in her own. Turning to the doorman, he handed him the car keys and some folded bills, then swung back to Laura and escorted her up the hotel steps.
    “I hope you were generous with your tip.”
    “I was,” Sebastian assured her.
    “Good. The man was the absolute epitome of tact. For all the notice he took of my clothes, I could have been wearing a mink. I considered giving him a quick flash, but he didn’t seem to be interested.”
    Sebastian reached ahead of her and opened the door. “Perhaps he’s gay.”
    “A gay Italian.” Laura released a soft, incredulous laugh. “That sounds like an oxymoron.”
    “It does, rather.” He guided her to the elevators and pushed the button to summon one. Almost instantly a set of doors glided open with a faint whoosh.
    Laura entered the elevator car ahead of him and began the awkward task of searching through the folded clothes for her purse while still maintaining an adequate grip on the blanket. Giving up, she turned to Sebastian. “Find my evening bag, will you? It has my room key in it. And I certainly don’t want to wake up Tara.”
    “Do you share a room with your aunt?” In quick order, Sebastian located her beaded bag and extracted the computerized room key from it.
    “No. We have separate suites. And Tara isn’t actually my aunt,” Laura declared on a breezily offhand note. “I just call her that to avoid lengthy explanations. Technically we aren’t related at all.”
    “How’s that?” He eyed her curiously.
    “Tara was my father’s first wife. Several years after their divorce, he married my mother. That’s when Trey and I entered the picture.”
    “Trey is your brother,” Sebastian guessed.
    “My twin. He favors the Calder side of the family—tall and big-shouldered, with dark hair and dark eyes; hard, angular features. While I—”
    “Take after your great-great-grandmother,” he inserted.
    “Who may or may not also be Lady Elaine,” Laura finished.
    Sebastian smiled at that and returned to the original subject as the elevator doors opened on the designated floor. “So you are traveling with your father’s ex. That’s a bit unusual.”
    Laura laughed at the understatement. “Over the years it has raised more than a few eyebrows.” She exited the elevator and added over her shoulder, “Tara definitely isn’t popular with the rest of my family or anyone else on the ranch, for that matter. My grandfather is convinced she is a horrible influence on me. My mother has never actually said so, but I know she agrees. I think she long ago reconciled herself to the fact that I am my own person.”
    “That”—his mouth curved wryly—“is very obvious.” He inserted the room card into the slot, waited for the light, and opened the door, then stepped back to admit her.
    Laura sailed past him into the suite, paused long enough to deposit her bundle of clothes on the sofa’s damask-covered cushion, then walked straight to the steps that led to a private terrace without ever once glancing back at him.
    After an instant’s hesitation Sebastian returned the room card to her purse, entered the suite, and closed the door behind him. By the time he crossed the room, Laura had already disappeared onto the terrace. He left her evening bag with her clothes and followed her outside.
    She stood at the outer wall, gazing into the night, indifferent to the terrace’s spectacular view of the Spanish Steps and the sprawl of Via Conditti.
    He wandered over to the wall and briefly surveyed the view. A smattering of stars dusted the sky, their light dimmed by the city’s bright glow. The view of the city and its landmarks was a familiar one, though the same couldn’t be said about the woman beside him.
    Angling his head in her direction, he let his glance