Night Fever by Diana Palmer Read Free Book Online Page A

living to add to them,” she said stiffly.
    â€œI see. You’re one of those girls. The kind mothers throw under the wheels of their sons’ cars.”
    â€œNobody will ever throw me under yours, I hope,” she said. “I wouldn’t have you on a half shell with cocktail sauce.”
    He lifted a dark eyebrow. “Why not?” he asked, lifting his chin to smile at her with pure sarcasm. “Has someone told you that I’m a half-breed?”
    She flushed. “I didn’t mean that. You’re a very cold man, Mr. Kilpatrick,” she said, and shivered at his nearness. He smelled of some exotic cologne and cigar smoke, and she could feel the heat from his body. He made her nervous and weak and uncertain, and it was dangerous to feel that way about the enemy.
    â€œI’m not cold. I’m careful.” He lifted the cigar to his mouth. “It pays to be careful these days. In every way.”
    â€œSo they say.”
    â€œIn which case, it might be wise if you stopped smearing honey over the mystery man who keeps you. You did say,” he reminded her, “that you were the kept woman of one of your employers?”
    â€œI didn’t mean it,” she protested. “You were looking at me as if I were totally hopeless. It just came out, that’s all.”
    â€œI should have mentioned it to Bob Malcolm yesterday,” he murmured.
    â€œYou wouldn’t!” she groaned.
    â€œOf course I would,” he returned easily. “Hasn’t anyone told you that I don’t have a heart? I’d prosecute my own mother, they say.”
    â€œI could believe that, after yesterday.”
    â€œYour brother is going to be a lost cause if you don’t get him in hand,” he told her. “I came down on him hard for that reason. He needs firm guidance. Most of all, he needs a man’s example. God help you if your father is his hero.”
    â€œI don’t know how Clay feels about Dad,” she said honestly. “He won’t talk to me anymore. He resents me. I wanted to talk to you because I wanted you to understand the situation at home. I thought it might help if you knew something about his background.”
    He nibbled the doughnut with strong white teeth and swallowed it down with coffee. “You thought it might soften me, in other words.” His dark eyes pinned hers. “I’m part Indian. There’s no softness in me. Prejudice beat it out a long time ago.”
    â€œYou’re a little bit Irish, too,” she said hesitantly. “And your people are well-to-do. Surely, that made it easier.”
    â€œDid it?” His smile was no smile at all. “I was unique, certainly. An oddity. The money made my path a little easier. It didn’t remove the obstacles, or my uncle, who tolerated me because he was sterile and I was the last of the Kilpatricks. God, he hated that. To top it all off, my father never married my mother.”
    â€œOh, you’re…” she stopped dead and flushed.
    â€œIllegitimate.” He nodded and gave her a cold, mocking smile. “That’s right.” He stared at her, waiting, daring her to say something. When she didn’t, he laughed mirthlessly. “No comment?”
    â€œI wouldn’t dare,” she replied.
    He finished his coffee. “We don’t get to pick and choose, and that’s a fact.” He reached out a lean, dark hand devoid of jewelry and gently touched her thin face. “Make sure your brother gets that counseling. I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions about him.”
    The unexpected apology from such a man as Kilpatrick brought tears into her eyes. She turned her face away, ashamed to show weakness to him, of all people. But his reaction was immediate and a little shocking.
    â€œLet’s get out of here,” he said curtly. He got her to her feet, purse and all, put the refuse in the appropriate container, and hustled her