Fever by V. K. Powell Read Free Book Online Page A

could probably gnaw through the elaborately hand-carved wooden door without difficulty. But she had no idea what Zak would prefer in a more conciliatory frame of mind. Sara finally settled on surf and turf with salad.
    While she waited for room service, Sara dialed Rikki’s cell. The background noise was so loud when she answered that Sara couldn’t hear her at all. “Rikki? Rikki, are you there?”
    “Yeah, baby. I’m here. What’s up?”
    “I can barely hear you. It sounds like a party. Where are you?” There was a long pause.
    “I’m at Lois’s house. She had a few people over. Wait a second while I step outside.” The noise lessened a bit.
    “I’m surprised Lois hasn’t run you out. It’s after one in the morning there.” Sara thought her driver was more responsible. She’d never known her to entertain so late on a work night.
    “It probably won’t be long. Has that gorgeous bodyguard hit on you yet?”
    Surprise and something else quivered through Sara as she considered the question. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
    “Then she’s not as smart as I thought. Hey, baby, can I call you back in a while? Things are starting to break up.”
    “Yeah, I’m about to have dinner but I’ll be free after that.”
    “Okay, love ya.”
    Sara started to answer but the line went dead. “Love ya, too.” She understood that Rikki didn’t like to be alone, but why couldn’t she occupy her time with family or volunteer or just read a book? Why did everything have to be a party? But that just wasn’t Rikki, and Sara had accepted that fact, more or less. She moved to the balcony and let the ocean breeze take her memory back.
    The last time she was here was with her mother a year ago to review recommendations for the location of the school. Instead of making site visits, her mother insisted on using a group of developers and advisers familiar with the interior of the country. The hands-off approach should have been Sara’s first indication of a problem. But her mother assured Sara that everything was fine. During their stay, her energy was low, her conversations more introspective, and her attention to Sara too motherly. Why hadn’t she recognized that her mother was ill, dying of cancer? With classic Ambrosini stubbornness, she chose to fight the illness alone and without extraordinary measures. She simply wanted to live her life to the fullest until the end.
    That was the type of determination that drove Sara every day. The desire to honor her parents by living a full and happy life colored everything she touched. It made her impatient with excuses and negativity, hungry for the passion and excitement of life, and generous with her time and money. She wondered about her relationship with Rikki and how it figured into her life plan. She was certainly not Sara’s usual type, a bit too femme and way too flighty. Their super-sexual but substantively void arrangement wasn’t what she’d envisioned either. But Sara’s type hadn’t worked out and she’d purposely deviated, hoping for another outcome. She walked back into the room, telling herself that her decreasing satisfaction with Rikki had nothing to do with her increasing fascination with Zak Chambers.
    A triple tap announced the arrival of her dinner companion. Sara opened the door and felt her mouth drop open. Zak stood in the soft light of the Arabic lanterns that lined the walkway wearing a pair of faded jean shorts and a turquoise tank top that made her skin seem more lustrous and her eyes sparkle with reflected color. She had been attractive in her stark black outfits, but Sara was not prepared for the unassuming beauty that stood before her. “You’re gorgeous.” The look in Zak’s eyes confirmed that she’d spoken her last thought. “It’s my curse for being an extrovert. Whatever comes up comes out.”
    Zak smiled. “May I?” She motioned toward the room.
    Sara realized she’d been standing in the doorway staring shamelessly for several