Drop Dead Beautiful by Jackie Collins Read Free Book Online

gardeners at work. One was an older man, his lined face grizzled from the sun. The other was a much younger man, with a muscled body and brooding features. Irma stared at him, observing his dark, bushy eyebrows, thick lips, and muscular arms. He reminded her of her first boyfriend way back in Omaha when she was a mere fourteen. Andy Francis, a very possessive boy who’d slugged other boys simply for looking at her. Well , she thought with a slight smile, I was the prettiest girl in school .
    Memories of Andy brought back feelings of her first sexual stirrings. Andy’s hard little kisses, his fifteen-year-old tongue stuck firmly in her mouth thrusting and twisting. Andy’s eager hands exploring under her sweater, unfastening her bra and clumsily fondling her breasts. Andy’s frustration when she refused to allow him to go any further.
    Irma found that she couldn’t stop staring at the younger of the two gardeners. He was new, she’d only seen him a couple of times before.
    Suddenly he glanced up and met her gaze. His eyes were full of suspicion, but he didn’t look away, and neither did she.
    It was a moment that set her thinking. Was this destined to be the man she had an affair with? This lowly Mexican gardener who probably stank of sweat and wine and would handle her roughly, because in his eyes he surely must see her as a beautiful blond lonely American princess.
    She experienced a shiver of excitement, followed by a moist feeling between her legs.
    Oh God, it had been so long since Anthony had touched her. Right now she was suffused with desire.
    She couldn’t take her eyes off the man, his rippling muscles, his stoic face. Yes, she had to have him. And why shouldn’t she? Anthony thought he was so clever with hissecretive ways, but she knew about his mistresses—the Italian whore he kept in a penthouse in New York, and the so-called model in Miami. Besides, he’d taken her children from her, and that wasn’t right.
    She also knew plenty about his business dealings. The drug shipments, the many meetings, his associates in Colombia and Bolivia whom she’d met.
    Damn Anthony. He was forcing her to go elsewhere for the sexual satisfaction she craved.
    The old gardener turned and began a slow trudge toward the greenhouse. The young gardener stayed where he was.
    Irma couldn’t stop watching him. After a few moments she acted on impulse and beckoned him over. He headed in her direction, a wary expression on his face.
    What am I doing? she thought. This is crazy . But her heart was beating so fast she couldn’t stop herself.
    When the gardener arrived in front of her, she lost all sense of reason and found herself incapable of looking him in the eye.
    “ Señora?” he questioned. His smell wafted in the air, healthy sweat mixed with garlic.
    “Uh … you’re new here, aren’t you?” she managed, fanning herself with a magazine. “What’s your name?”
    “ Perdone, señora ,” he mumbled, rubbing his thigh with a large work-worn hand. “ No hablar Engleesh.”
    “You don’t?” she said, startled. Then she thought, Why would he? He’s only a gardener, probably dropped out of school early.
    She studied his lips. They fascinated her, they were so thick and tempting. Then there was the faint stubble on his chin, so manly. And his forearms, strong and muscled.
    “Name,” she repeated, fanning herself more vigorously. “ Nombre?”
    “Luis,” he muttered in a low voice.
    “ Gracias , Luis,” she said, dismissing him with a flick of her hand.
    He turned and walked away, giving her ample time to study his tight ass in faded jeans.
    Abruptly she stood up and headed for the house. If she couldn’t have Luis, perhaps she would settle for the handheld neck massager she’d recently purchased. The small piece of machinery certainly wasn’t Luis, but the results were always a ten.
    Emmanuelle was a girl who liked to party, but Anthony Bonar soon convinced her that the best parties consisted of two people