Darling Enemy by Diana Palmer Read Free Book Online Page A

great many of David Sethwick’s creative designs for Velvet Moth were practically sheer and very sensuous. Working around designers and other models, she tended to forget that bodies were more than just mannequins to people outside the business. King had such a low opinion of Teddi, and all without foundation. She wondered how he’d react if he knew how innocent she truly was, how afraid she was of anything physical....
    “High fashion very often is...risqué,” she had to acknowledge, studying her well-kept nails where they rested on the typewriter keys. “And I work primarily for two designers of evening wear. It’s supposed to be sexy-looking.”
    “You damned sure wouldn’t go anywhere with me in some of those dresses,” he growled.
    The thought of it made chills go down her spine. It was heady to think of spending an evening with King, being escorted by him to some grand dance. She sighed unknowingly. It would never happen. Not as long as King felt the way he did about her profitable sideline. Which she ought to be pursuing even now, she reminded herself, if she was going to make enough to handle her school fees for the rest of the year. Velvet Moth would make sure she had work while she was in New York, and so would Lovewear—designers at both houses, fortunately, liked her style and her punctuality. And there was always the chance of one or two TV commercials.
    “You love it, don’t you?” he asked suddenly, perching himself on the edge of the desk to study her. He was far too close. She could feel the warmth of his big body, see the buttons straining at the open throat of his shirt as he shifted, smell the outdoorsy scent of him. Being this close made her feel trembly, just as it had this afternoon when he’d reached for her....
    “Love what?” she asked vaguely, looking up into his searching gray eyes.
    He didn’t answer for a minute, his gaze lingering on her wide, misty eyes, her full, parted lips, as if he found the sight of her at this range disconcerting. That was ridiculous, she told herself.
    “Modeling,” he said after a tense pause. “The glitter, the glamour, the night lights, the male adulation. You couldn’t give it up if you tried, despite all that rot about becoming a teacher.”
    Her eyes flashed. “You don’t really think I’m spending so much time in college just to improve my modeling technique?” she challenged.
    “I’ll admit you baffle me,” he said quietly. “Why teaching?”
    “Why not? It’s an honorable profession,” she said with deliberate nonchalance.
    “Where would you teach?” he persisted. “College?”
    “Grammar school,” she corrected, her eyes lighting up at the mental picture she had of guiding young hands toward new pursuits. “Kindergarten, if possible.”
    His face underwent a remarkable change. He took a deep breath. “You like children?”
    Her face beamed. “Oh, yes,” she told him genuinely. “Especially when they’re just old enough to reach out and begin to experience the world around them.”
    His chest rose and fell heavily as he stared down into her wide, dark eyes. His tanned hand moved, touching her cheek, and she trembled at the light touch. It was amazing, the sensations he caused when he touched her. She wasn’t nervous of King like this, although she still had deep fears of any man in an intimate way. It was highly unlikely, of course, that King would ever want to be intimate with her, but she couldn’t help being curious about her own responses. She liked the feel of his hard, warm mouth against hers, she even liked the intimacy of his tongue. But to feel his hard fingers against her bare skin...would she panic, as she had before when one of her dates tried to go further than kisses? Part of her was insatiably curious about King in that way.
    “You fascinate me,” he murmured absently. His thumb brushed across her full, soft lips, parting them while he held her eyes with his. “Half woman, half child...and so