Moth to the Flame by Sara Craven Read Free Book Online Page B

true that girls wore less
    than she had on now every day on the beaches of the Mediterranean
    and the Adriatic, and if she herself had been sunbathing in a bikini
    she could probably have borne his scrutiny. But this was not a
    beach, it was a bedroom, and she'd never been in this kind of
    situation half-clothed with a man before. It might be utterly
    ridiculous in this day and age, but it was true. In some ways she
    was as old-fashioned as Mim herself.
    She said with as much ice as she could manage, 'I prefer to keep my
    private and my professional lives strictly apart, if you don't mind,
    signore. Perhaps you'd be good enough to return to the salotto and
    wait for me there.'
    He stared at her for a moment, frowning a little as if she had
    bewildered him, then he gave a low laugh and turned away.
    Well, hurry then,' he tossed at her. 'You surely don't take this long
    to change at Di Lorenzo?'
    Her hands were shaking so much she could hardly adjust the zip of
    the dress, but at last she was ready. She bit her lip as she saw for
    the first time just how revealing the bodice really was, but she told
    herself that it was too late to change again, and anyway it was
    exactly the sort of dress that Jan would have worn. She snatched up
    the black velvet purse she had found wrapped in tissue on one of
    the wardrobe shelves and went towards the door.
    Santino Vallone was sitting on one of the sofas glancing through a
    magazine as she came along the gallery, and for a moment she was
    afraid. Suppose it was one of the magazines that used Jan for their
    fashion spreads? From what she knew of her sister, she would be
    quite narcissistic enough to have them lying round the apartment.
    She hesitated slightly as she reached the top of the steps, wondering
    whether he would jump to his feet, his face grim and accusing, and
    what she would be able to salvage from the wreck if he did, but he
    merely laid the magazine aside and got to his feet. He stood looking
    at her for a long moment, and there was an odd expression deep in
    the tawny eyes. Then he strolled forward, pausing to break off one
    of the deep crimson roses as he came.
    He walked slowly up the steps, his eyes effortlessly holding hers.
    She found herself thinking desperately that it was as if she had been
    mesmerised. She could not look away, and she felt that betraying
    blush rising again. He reached her side and before she could guess
    his intention, he leaned forward and slipped the rose into the
    revealing vee of the deeply slashed lace bodice, between the
    shadowy cleft of her breasts, and for one heart-stopping moment
    she felt his fingers brush against her flesh.
    Then he stood back critically to view his handiwork, a faint smile
    lifting the corners of his mouth.
    'An enchanting contrast in textures,' he remarked with a coolness
    she was not capable of emulating. 'The velvet of the rose against the
    silk of your skin. You are worth waiting for, Janina mia?
    And while she was still breathlessly taking in what he had said,
    including his last enigmatic remark, he put his hand under her arm,
    and led her to the door.

CHAPTER THREE
    He was an expert driver, but then naturally he would be, Juliet
    thought crossly as the low-slung sports car purred its way almost
    noiselessly through the evening traffic.
    She wanted to ask where they were going, but felt it was better to
    pretend that she knew, and she tried not to look too eagerly around
    her as they drove through part of the city she had never seen before.
    Jan, she was sure, would take her surroundings very much for
    granted.
    Her companion seemed silent as they drove and she was thankful
    for it. All sorts of snags which she had not previously taken into
    consideration were now beginning to occur to her—the major one
    being that she would probably be expected to be quite conversant
    with any number of intimate details about Mario and his immediate
    family, not to mention his friends. What on earth was she going to
    say if