Lotus Blossom by Hayton Monteith Read Free Book Online Page B

five is not tiny,” Lotus said, after he seated her in the front seat, then went around to climb in under the wheel. “Only a giant would make that statement. How ever did you get so tall?” “I come from an old Boston family. Being tall is a prerequisite.”
    “You come from an old Boston family!” Lotus exclaimed incredulously . “I’m sure they’re delighted they have a gambler in the family.”
    Dash’s mouth lifted in hard amusement. “Oh, yes, they’re delighted.”
    “Are you joking about your family?” Lotus asked.
    He glanced at her for a second, then back to the road as they sped out of the city proper into the countryside. “No. I’m not joking. You’re right about one thing. Two of my sisters would definitely have consigned me to the devil long ago if I weren’t holding some of the purse strings in the family.” His grin widened. “My assorted cousins have degrees to their armpits, but not much common sense. It has been my dubious honor to bail them out from time to time.” His voice deepened into a broad Boston accent. “One does not give up one’s box at the opera because one is temporarily out of funds.”
    Lotus chuckled. “They don’t talk like that. Do they?”
    “They do. Now tell me about your family. Where are you from? Why did you come to Las Vegas?”
    He had asked the question in a friendly way, but all Lotus’s fears about what she had done, and what her family had gone through, rose like choking smoke in her mind. Did he suspect her? Was he masking his real feelings? And was he just stringing her along until he had her dead to rights? Would he call the police? Have her arrested?
    “Love, you’re pale again.” Dash reached for her hand, bringing it to his lips. “I want you to be happy, healthy. I want to take care of you.”
    His warm voice melted her paranoia and washed her fears away. He was Dash . . . and he was special. She leaned her head back and looked at him, then let her gaze wander.
    Lotus was about to ask him more about his family when she became aware that they were out in the desert. Being a Northeasterner, she had never been to a desert. She forgot what she was going to ask him as she stared at the rough, coarse beauty of Nevada.
    “Like it?”
    “Oh, yes,” Lotus whispered. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It must be wonderful to explore it.”
    “It is, but don’t you try it alone. Getting lost out here is anything but funny. Someday I’ll take you out into the desert camping.”
    Lotus’s heart wrenched. No, you won't, because I won’t ever see you again after today.
    “Darling? Whatever you’re thinking about can’t be pleasant. Look at me.” Dash had stopped the car in front of a three-car garage that looked as though it had been built into the side of the hill. “We’re here.”
    “So we are.” Lotus felt her smile wobble off her face. She turned in the seat to face him because he seemed to expect it as he leaned his left arm on the steering wheel and watched her. “I was just thinking about . . . about”—her mind went blank— “about nothing,” she finished, seeing the flash of disbelief on his face before his hard smile replaced it.
    “Out of the car, China Doll. I want to show you my home.”
    “Is it underground?” She stepped from the car, delighted to lean against him when he pulled her to his side.
    “It looks that way from here, and I do have this side recessed in the hill, but the other overlooks a shallow valley and dry creek bed. You can see for miles.”
    “Do you own much of the land around here.''
    “About seventy acres.”
    Lotus could feel her lips parting. “That’s quite a bit of land.”
    “Yes.” His answer was noncommittal. What are you hiding from me, my sweet? I can’t figure you out, but I’m not letting go of you. You intrigue the hell out of me and I want to know what makes you run, because you are running, my China doll, and running hard.
    “I’m not the only one who daydreams,”