Paradise Wild by Johanna Lindsey Read Free Book Online Page B

the meal. Mr. Burk, however, she couldn’t ignore. She often found him staring curiously at her, and despite her first reaction to him, her own gaze was drawn to him again and again. She began to feel guilty about her earlier behavior. After all, she really had no excuse for being so rude to him. She could have misinterpreted that look he gave her. And the more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that she must have been mistaken. It could have been any number of things unrelated to her that caused the venom in his eyes for that one moment.
    After dinner the guests gathered in the parlor to be entertained by a well-known singer, with Lauren accompanying at the piano. A few of Samuel Barrows’ friends and Jared Burk were not present, however, having joined Samuel in his study. Corinne couldn’t help wondering what her father was up to.
    Later, after all the guests except Russell had departed, Corinne saw a chance to speak with her father again. She saw Russell to the door, endured his amorous embrace, then promised to meet him the next night at the club. The party preparations had kept her busy for most of the week and she was eager to try her luck again.
    Now with the hall quiet once again, Corinne crossed slowly to the closed door of her father’s study. The light coming from beneath the door showed her he was still there. She supposed she owed him an apology. She was sorry she missed seeing Mr. Burk again before he left, for she owed him an apology too. She felt like a small child again, with all the misbehaving she had done in one evening.
    Just as Corinne reached for the doorknob, the door opened and her father and Jared Burk emerged from the room. Corinne was quite surprised, but glad to see she had not missed Burk after all.
    “Still up, Cori?” Samuel observed. “Good, you can see Mr. Burk out.”
    “That is unnecessary,” Jared said.
    Corinne shrugged aside his objection as her father went back into his study. “Come along, Mr. Burk. I had hoped for a few minutes alone with you. I’ll just get your things from the cloak room.”
    She returned in a moment with a satin-lined evening cloak and a tall silk hat. “These must be yours,” she said, rubbing her fingers over the soft satin. “Very nice.”
    He smiled at her as he threw the heavy cloak overhis wide shoulders. “We are alone, Miss Barrows. What did you have in mind?”
    His tone of voice implied a great deal, but she let it pass and kept her temper.
    “I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am for my behavior earlier. There was no excuse for asking you questions that were none of my business.”
    “You did seem to attack me with a purpose in mind,” he recalled. “Perhaps if I knew why?”
    She laughed and blushed at the same time. “I suppose it did seem that way.”
    “And the reason?”
    “I’m afraid I took offense at the way you looked at me when I first joined you this evening—as if you wanted to throttle me. I don’t usually get that kind of reaction from men.”
    Jared frowned. “If I gave that impression, then it is I who must apologize to you. I had other things on my mind at the time.”
    “Yes, after I thought about it, I realized that must have been the reason.”
    “We’ve gotten off to a bad start, Miss Barrows,” Jared said as he walked slowly to the entrance door. “Perhaps we should start again. Tomorrow, over lunch? That is, if your Mr. Drayton won’t mind.”
    He said it in the way of a challenge, and Corinne couldn’t resist that. “Lunch would be nice. You can call for me around noon.”
    “At noon, then.”
    He paused for a moment and stared at her, and Corinne felt goose bumps spread over her arms. She quickly rubbed them.
    “Good evening, Miss Barrows.”
    She nodded. “Mr. Burk.”
    He was gone and she sighed in relief. Something aboutthat man disturbed her, but she didn’t know what. She shook off the feeling and went back to her father’s study. She found him still at his desk,