Dangerous to Know by Merline Lovelace Read Free Book Online Page B

the huge, vaulted room.
    Glancing down at the woman beside him, Doc struggled to bring his soaring relief and astonishment under control. His senses were still reeling from the vivid image of Paige standing before him, her green eyes huge in her pale face, wearing only a narrow strip of gold, a pair of red shorts that displayed a good portion of her firm, rounded rear cheeks, and one ridiculously high shoe. He gripped her arm in a tight hold, as if to reassure himself that this wet, unfamiliar creature was actually Paige.
    They hadn’t taken two steps when a high, piping voice stopped them.
    â€œBut first my fifty francs, no? Me, I have business I must attend to.”
    Doc turned back, wrenching his attention away from his bedraggled, nearly naked fiancée to survey the boy. The youngster cocked his head and waited expectantly, his thumbs hooked in the waistband of his grubby shorts and a confident expression on his freckled face.
    Malnourished, Doc noted in a swift mental list. Undersized for his age, which was about eleven or twelve. A faint scar on his chin that probably hadn’t come from falling off a bike. Tough as shoe leather, if the cocky expression on his face was any indication.
    â€œFifty francs?” Doc asked. “For what?”
    â€œFor fishing mademoiselle out of the sea.”
    At Doc’s quick frown, the boy gave a little wave of one hand. “She wades ashore some distance from here, you understand, and I bring her to the hotel. Fifty francs is a small fee, no? For such a service?”
    Reaching into his pocket, David withdrew his wallet and pulled out a hundred-franc note. “Merci.”
    To his surprise, a white-faced, trembling Paige pushed his hand away before he could pass the bill to the youth.
    â€œNo.”
    Her voice wavered and almost broke on the single syllable.His protective instincts soaring, David moved to take her into his arms again.
    â€œNo!” she repeated, backing away.
    Sudden, swift fear curled in Doc’s belly. Although she appeared unhurt and had walked into the suite unassisted, something must have happened to make her shy away from him like that. Exerting immense control, he remained still. “What is it? What’s the matter?”
    â€œBefore I let you pay my debts for me, I think you’d better explain—” She swallowed and darted a quick look at Maggie’s bare legs and scantily clad body. “I think you’d better explain what you’re doing here, in this woman’s suite.”
    Cursing to himself, Doc realized that he’d made a tactical error. He, the precise, flawless engineer, who always thought problems through step by step before acting, who never made mistakes, had screwed up. Royally. He’d let his concern for Paige drive clear out of his mind the fact that she had no idea why he was here, in “Meredith Ames’s” suite.
    And he couldn’t tell her.
    He met Maggie’s eyes in swift, silent communication and gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head, determined not to involve Paige in this any more than she already was. Still, the agent in him had to draw whatever she knew out of her.
    â€œWe’ll talk about what I’m doing here later,” he said. “Right now, you need to tell me what happened.”
    â€œNo, I think we’d better talk about it now,” she insisted, squaring her shoulders under the gray wool suit coat.
    Despite himself, Doc felt heat spear through his belly as her small movement threatened to dislodge the thin strip of gold once more.
    Rigidly he controlled the urge to reach out and tuck the folds of his jacket across her front. He’d seen Paige in less than she now wore, he reminded himself. He’d caressed and kissed her soft flesh a number of times in the past year. Not as often as he’d wanted to, but he’d deliberately held himself back. He hadn’t wanted to overwhelm her, to frighten her with the passionhe