Dark Secret by Marina Anderson Read Free Book Online Page B

happened he gave no sign of it. He merely ran his hands over the arch of her foot in one final tender caress and then took her foot off his thigh.
    ‘Better?’ he asked politely.
    Harriet, her face flushed and her pupils dilated, managed to nod and mutter a strangled, ‘Yes, much better thank you.’
    ‘Then you’d better put your tights back on, unless you prefer to be without them? It’s a shame to cover your legs. I like long, bare, tanned legs – very sexy indeed.’
    Still in a daze, Harriet muttered something about tanning easily and stumbled to her seat at the table. Lewis sat opposite her and broke off a piece of French bread then passed her Parma ham and cheese.
    Her hands still trembling slightly, Harriet began to eat. When Lewis poured her a glass of wine without asking she didn’t comment, although normally she never drank at lunch-time because it made her too sleepy to work in the afternoon. Today she felt she needed it.
    ‘How are you enjoying working here?’ he enquired casually.
    ‘Very much; it’s certainly not boring.’
    ‘No, I imagine not. But what about your social life? You haven’t had a day off yet. When were you planning on taking some time for yourself?’
    ‘I thought I’d probably go and spend the weekend at my flat if I’m not needed,’ said Harriet. ‘Rowena said you were entertaining on Saturday night, so I thought I’d be better out of the way and in any case I’ve promised to meet a friend soon.’
    ‘A male friend?’ asked Lewis, his eyes smiling at her in what was very definitely an intimate manner.
    Harriet shook her head. ‘No, a girlfriend.’
    ‘Tell me, what was your last lover like?’ he asked politely.
    The wine she was drinking went down the wrong way, and Harriet was shaken by a coughing fit. He was obviously trying to shock her, she thought to herself as she began to recover. Well, he wasn’t going to succeed. He might be handsome and sensual but she wasn’t prepared to let him make a fool of her.
    ‘Adequate,’ she said levelly when she could speak again.
    ‘Adequate!’ What a very good description. I can almost picture him from that one word. And the one before him?’
    ‘Inadequate. I’m afraid there’s only one before that, and he was even worse so this conversation isn’t going to be very interesting,’ said Harriet.
    ‘At least they’ve got progressively better,’ he laughed.
    ‘Perhaps it’s just that I’ve improved,’ said Harriet, astonished at her own boldness.
    ‘There’s always that possibility, of course, but the right partner can make a very big difference.’
    Considering that he’d just brought her to a climax by massaging her feet, this was scarcely news to Harriet. She couldn’t help thinking about the number of times she’d laboured for what seemed an eternity in order to achieve any kind of satisfaction with James.
    ‘I’d like to make love to you,’ he said softly.
    ‘I’m sure you say that to every woman you meet,’ responded a startled Harriet.
    ‘No, I don’t. In fact, I’m very fussy.’
    ‘Then I’m flattered.’
    He reached across the table and gripped her byboth wrists. ‘You want me too, don’t you?’
    The way her flesh was responding now, let alone earlier, it would have been stupid to say no, thought Harriet, but she still had enough control of herself to remember why she was in this house in the first place.
    ‘Even if I do, you’re married to Rowena,’ she reminded him.
    He let his fingers stroke the exquisitely soft flesh of her inner wrists. ‘We have a very open marriage. Believe me, Rowena wouldn’t mind in the least.’
    ‘Perhaps I mind.’
    He moved one hand to stroke the side of her face. ‘That would be rather a waste, don’t you think?’
    Harriet swallowed hard. The wine had dulled her brain, and his insistent touching of her, although only on her wrists and face, was proving irresistible. ‘Please, don’t do this,’ she said quietly. ‘I like my work. It will make