Luring a Lady by Nora Roberts Read Free Book Online

neighborhood in Brooklyn. They had no idea he might have preferred a beer with friends or coffee at his mother’s kitchen table.
    He sipped champagne, admired the house with its cool white walls and towering windows, and complimented Margerite on her art collection.
    And all the while he chatted, sipped and smiled, he watched Sydney.
    Odd, he thought. He would have said that the sprawling elegance of the Long Island enclave was the perfect setting for her. Her looks, her demeanor, reminded him of glistening shaved ice in a rare porcelain bowl. Yet she didn’t quite fit. Oh, she smiled and worked the room as skillfully as her mother. Her simple black dress was as exclusive as any of the more colorful choices in the room. Her sapphires winked as brilliantly as any of the diamonds or emeralds.
    But…it was her eyes, Mikhail realized. There wasn’t laughter in them, but impatience. It was as though she were thinking—let’s get this done and over with so I can get on to something important.
    It made him smile. Remembering that he’d have the long drive back to Manhattan to tease her made the smile widen. It fadedabruptly as he watched a tall blond man with football shoulders tucked into a silk dinner jacket kiss Sydney on the mouth.
    Sydney smiled into a pair of light blue eyes under golden brows. “Hello, Channing.”
    â€œHello, yourself.” He offered a fresh glass of wine. “Where did Margerite find the wild horses?”
    â€œI’m sorry?”
    â€œTo drag you out of that office.” His smile dispensed charm like penny candy. Sydney couldn’t help but respond.
    â€œIt wasn’t quite that drastic. I have been busy.”
    â€œSo you’ve told me.” He approved of her in the sleek black dress in much the same way he would have approved of a tasteful accessory for his home. “You missed a wonderful play the other night. It looks like Sondheim’s got another hit on his hands.” Never doubting her acquiescence, he took her arm to lead her into dinner. “Tell me, darling, when are you going to stop playing the career woman and take a break? I’m going up to the Hamptons for the weekend, and I’d love your company.”
    Dutifully she forced her clamped teeth apart. There was no use resenting the fact he thought she was playing. Everyone did. “I’m afraid I can’t get away just now.” She took her seat beside him at the long glass table in the airy dining room. The drapes were thrown wide so that the garden seemed to spill inside with the pastel hues of early roses, late tulips and nodding columbine.
    She wished the dinner had been alfresco so she could have sat among the blossoms and scented the sea air.
    â€œI hope you don’t mind a little advice.”
    Sydney nearly dropped her head into her hand. The chatter around them was convivial, glasses were clinking, and the first course ofstuffed mushrooms was being served. She felt she’d just been clamped into a cell. “Of course not, Channing.”
    â€œYou can run a business or let the business run you.”
    â€œHmm.” He had a habit of stating his advice in clichés. Sydney reminded herself she should be used to it.
    â€œTake it from someone with more experience in these matters.”
    She fixed a smile on her face and let her mind wander.
    â€œI hate to see you crushed under the heel of responsibility,” he went on. “And after all, we know you’re a novice in the dog-eat-dog world of real estate.” Gold cuff links, monogrammed, winked as he laid a hand on hers. His eyes were sincere, his mouth quirked in that I’m-only-looking-out-for-you smile. “Naturally, your initial enthusiasm will push you to take on more than is good for you. I’m sure you agree.”
    Her mind flicked back. “Actually, Channing, I enjoy the work.”
    â€œFor the moment,” he said, his voice so patronizing she nearly