Gentle Pirate by Jayne Castle Read Free Book Online Page A

with obscene phone calls, but that's the extent of problems I've heard about in this complex." Slowly she moved away from the door and tried to push past his bulk in the hall. Almost absently he reached out to stop her.
    "I'll call," he informed her firmly. "In the meantime, don't touch a thing, understand? I suppose we'd better make sure whoever did this is gone first. Stay right here and don't move. Scream the building down if you so much as see your own shadow. Clear?" Pausing to see if his words had sunk in, he smiled and left to make a quick foray through the small apartment.
    He smiled, Kirsten thought ludicrously. Maybe he's used to this sort of thing! She stayed put while he made the rounds and then returned to her side, striding quickly through the clutter.
    "Okay, honey, where's the phone?" He glanced at her inquiringly, one reddish-brown brow raised.
    "The phone, Mr. Kendrick, is in the bedroom," Kirsten said austerely, reacting immediately to his casually used term of endearment.
    "Back to the Mr. Kendrick, are we?" He grinned briefly and then disappeared into the hall leading to the bedroom.
    Kirsten picked her way toward the couch and sat down carefully on a torn cushion. She had just barely been able to pay for it, she remembered gloomily, thankful she'd had the foresight to buy some insurance the previous month.
    "The cops will be here shortly." Simon announced, coming back into the living room. Then he favored her with a quick grin. "I had a tough time telling the yellow phone apart from the yellow bedclothes around it!"
    "I like yellow," Kirsten replied calmly, refusing to defend her color preference. "Did they tear up the bedroom as much as the rest of the place?" she added with concern and marveling at her own outward calm.
    "No. The bedclothes were pulled off the bed, hence my difficulty in locating the phone, and the closet shelf was gone through, but that's about it. It looks like time may have been running out at that point…" He seemed to realize suddenly that she was sitting very stiffly on the couch and the hazel eyes narrowed slightly.
    "It is all right if I sit here, isn't it? I mean, I wouldn't want to spoil any clues," she asked brightly, having no intention of moving anyway. It was, after all, her apartment, and she needed the support at the moment!
    "Kirsten?" he said worriedly. "Are you all right? You're not about to go hysterical on me, are you?"
    "Heavens, no!" she assured him feelingly. "Wouldn't think of it. You might decide to use that old remedy of slapping my face or something equally unpleasant! Besides, can't you see I'm taking this all rather well?"
    He grinned again. She was amazed at what the look of pleasure did for that harsh face. "You're taking it beautifully, honey. Which doesn't surprise me in the least. I knew the second you walked through my door this afternoon that you had plenty of guts!"
    "Please," she winced. "How about calling it spirit? Guts sounds so… so…" She trailed off, unable to find the right description.
    "So crude?" he supplied, stepping over an overturned end table to join her on the couch. "Sorry. Sometimes my language doesn't always reflect the purity of my thoughts!" The abused furniture sagged under his weight.
    Kirsten swung her gaze around to assess the sober, serious expression that masked his features and then caught the gleam in the hazel eyes. She couldn't help it; her sense of humor surfaced and she laughed.
    "Tell me about the purity of the thoughts you must have had when you knocked on my door this evening!" she ordered.
    "I like those gray eyes of yours when you giggle," he observed, ignoring her question.
    "It's the contact lenses. They add a certain sparkle," she told him dryly.
    "Some other time I'll tell you more about your certain sparkle," he remarked. "At the moment I suppose we ought to be discussing this little incident." He nodded toward Kirsten's welcome-home surprise. "Is there anything I should know before the police