Gentle Pirate by Jayne Castle Read Free Book Online

on the door behind her.
    Coming as it did after her discovery, and seldom having callers at this hour of the night, Kirsten felt she couldn't be blamed for jumping a good two inches. Her heart thumped into high gear and breathing became difficult. She wished very badly that she kept dogs-large dogs-instead of tropical fish. The knock sounded again and, feeling like an idiot, she asked who it was. "It's Simon, Kirsten. I want to talk to you." It was the final straw. The wolf was now at her door and her sanctuary had just been shown to be very insecure!
     
CHAPTER THREE
     
    Kirsten opened the door a fraction and peered out. In the pale light of a street lamp he stood tall and solid on her doorstep. His right hand was curled into a fist, but the look on his face wasn't hostile.
    "What do you want?" she whispered.
    "For God's sake don't look at me like that," Simon muttered. "I came by to return this." The right hand uncurled, revealing a small golden circlet.
    "My earring! I didn't know I'd lost one…" Automatically she raised one hand to her right ear, where she was suddenly conscious of a tiny, missing weight. It was a measure of her dazed condition, Kirsten thought, that she could actually pay attention to the fact that she'd lost an earring. "Thanks for returning it," she added hurriedly, reaching one hand through the narrow crack in the door to retrieve her property.
    Instantly Simon's hand withdrew to the safety of a coat pocket.
    "Can I come in for a few minutes? I only want to talk to you," he asked softly, hazel eyes pinning her nervous gray ones.
    "I… I can't talk now! The house is a mess and I…" Good lord! Since when had she become the master of the understatement? "I have things to do…" Like call the police!
    "Just for a moment, Kirsten, please!"
    The wolf begging at her door now? What a night this was evolving into!
    "What the hell is wrong? Has something happened?" Simon demanded suddenly, all note of pleading gone instantly from his voice. "Let me in, Kirsten! It's obvious you've got trouble and I can help."
    Without further ado, Simon's right hand settled on the door and pushed inward. There was no way Kirsten could fight that strength. Helplessly, she stepped aside and let him into the small, tiled hall.
    "What's the matter? Williamson didn't give you any trouble, did he? It looked to me like you got rid of him pretty easily…" His words broke off as he caught sight of the shattered room beyond. He swore swiftly and concisely and then he didn't waste any more time swearing. He turned so abruptly that Kirsten instinctively stepped backward, only to be brought up short by the door against her back.
    "You just walked in to find this?" he demanded, gesturing vaguely with his right hand toward the living room.
    "I realize I'm not the world's best housekeeper, but I do have slightly higher standards than this mess indicates," she managed pertly.
    "You haven't had time to call the police yet, have you? No, you couldn't have. I came as soon as Williamson left." He finished his own question. "Have you touched anything, Kirsten?" he demanded, turning once more to survey the chaos. For some reason she noticed that the steel hook was out of sight in his coat pocket and had been since she'd opened the door. Kirsten knew he wasn't overly self-conscious about it normally. He wasn't the type to worry about what others thought. Had he hidden it because he thought it might bother her?
    "Did you hear me, Kirsten? Have you touched anything yet?" He still wasn't looking at her and she realized he was now all business regardless of what he might have had on his mind when he knocked on her door.
    "No. nothing. I haven't had a chance to do anything," she answered swiftly. "I was about to call the cops when you knocked. I can't even begin to imagine who would do something like this," she went on, drawing strength as she talked. Talking about it made it all seem so much more normal, somehow. "One of my neighbors has had trouble