Consumed by Fire by Anne Stuart Read Free Book Online

wanting to get in out of the weather. I’ve kept you . . .”
    “Why do you keep apologizing?” he said lazily, not moving from his relaxed position. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”
    Yet , she thought. If she didn’t get away from him she was going to make a complete and utter fool of herself. She couldn’t tell whether he was sending her mixed signals or if she was looking for signs that didn’t exist. Italian men flirted. European men flattered. James Bishop had lived here long enough that he would have picked up both habits.
    “Sorry,” she said, and then gave a little laugh, annoyed with herself. “It’s a bad habit of mine.”
    “Sorry, sorry, sorry,” he mimicked lightly. “Come to bed with me.”
    For a moment she thought she’d misheard him. “I beg your pardon?”
    “I said come to bed with me,” he said, still that lazy voice that signaled no strong interest at all. “I could teach you not to be sorry about anything.”
    The words hit her directly between her legs, an odd sensation. Words had never been that arousing in her life. Odd, because her few healthy relationships had been with fellow graduate students and academics, supposedly good with words.
    She stared at him in shock, but at least her mouth wasn’t agape in astonishment. That was about the only blessing. “You’re kidding,” she blurted, feeling utterly stupid.
    “Oh, I never kid about sex. You’re the most delicious creature I’ve seen or talked to in so long I can’t remember, and I’ve wanted to fuck you since I saw you in that church, which was very unholy of me.”
    “But I . . .” Whatever she was going to say was lost, as the gorgeous woman who’d been by James’s side that afternoon suddenly appeared, dropping down into one of the empty chairs as if she belonged there.
    “We’ve got a problem,” she said abruptly. And then, as if she suddenly realized she was intruding, she turned to Evangeline and gave her a dazzling smile. “Hello, there. I’m Claudia Facinelli, James’s associate. You’re the young woman we saw at the church earlier, aren’t you?”
    The woman had just the trace of an Italian accent, and her eyes were a bright metallic blue as she surveyed Evangeline. The glance was slow and assessing, but there was no identifiable judgment in it. It was just that she was so elegant in a lean, flat-chested, greyhound kind of way that Evangeline immediately felt plain and clumsy.
    “Claudia, you’re interrupting,” James said, sounding bored. “Whatever it is, it can certainly wait until tomorrow morning.” He made no effort to introduce her to his partner, and Evangeline wondered whether she should do it herself.
    “I don’t think so,” the woman named Claudia said. “Apparently our recent efforts came to someone’s attention, and repercussions are going to be very unpleasant unless we do something about it. Now .”
    James didn’t move, but Evangeline knew he’d tensed. “I’m sorry,” she said, and then could have kicked herself for another stupid apology. “I’ll let you two deal with business. Thank you for the lovely meal, James. I don’t expect I’ll see you again—I’m leaving early tomorrow morning for the north, probably long before you wake up. But I’ve had a lovely time, even though all I seemed to do was talk about myself. But maybe that was why I had such a good time,” she added, knowing she was babbling. She pushed away from the table and at that James immediately rose as well. The woman stayed where she was.
    “Claudia has a habit of exaggerating things,” he said, unruffled, ignoring the fact that Claudia was watching the two of them quite closely. As if there was anything to see, Evangeline thought morosely. She shouldn’t have had the second glass of wine at dinner, nor the liqueur before coffee. “I thought we might go for a walk before the storm hits . . .”
    “I told you this had to be dealt with now,” Claudia hissed. He didn’t even