Penthouse Suite by Sandra Chastain Read Free Book Online

heaven’s sake, Dorothea.”
    “If I’d wanted a uniformed companion, I’d have hired a police officer. You’re perfect. Every man at the party will want to make love to you.” Dorothea Jarrett clapped her hands in glee. “Particularly my nephew. I feel just like Henry Higgins.”
    “I hate to ask, but what makes you think that your nephew will be remotely interested in me? I’m certainly no Eliza Doolittle.”
    “Oh, but you are. You’re like me, Kate. You’re a real flesh-and-blood woman, not some cardboard character with ice water in her veins.”
    “Ice water?” Max Sorrenson flashed immediately into Kate’s mind. Too bad the bossman couldn’t step onto the elevator and see her as she looked tonight.
Get real, Kate
, she told herself. Max Sorrenson probably wouldn’t have recognized her anyway.
    “Let’s hit the road, Kate, my girl. We’re going to cause a bigger fire than Mrs. O’Leary’s cow. If I don’t miss my guess, there’ll be a hot time in the old town tonight.”
    Eliza Doolittle, Mrs. O’Leary’s cow, and a reclusive nephew about to be shook up. Five minutes with Dorothea Jarrett, and Kate’s head was whirling. There was a nagging thought that she was missing something important in what Dorothea had just said.
    Kate pushed the wheelchair into the elevator and took a good look at her companion’s outfit, privately agreeing that the purple gown with the feather boa might cause a riot.
    Mrs. Jarrett caught her expression and winked. “I know. It looks like something Mae West might have worn, doesn’t it? Why do they think that old ladies and hookers wear only purple? Personally, I’d rather have red sequins or pink satin. I saw a wonderful black satin bodysuit with an overblouse. They’re ordering it for me in cerise.”
    The elevator started up. “Sorry, Mrs. Jarrett, I forgot to hit the button. Where are we going?”
    “Call me Dorothea, and we’re there.”
    The door was opening.
    “But this is the penthouse. Max Sorrenson, the hotel owner, lives here.”
    “He certainly does.”
    “But … your nephew might not mind, but what will Mr. Sorrenson think about you bringing me along?”
    “But, Kate, I thought you knew,” Dorothea said with a wicked glint in her eyes. “Max Sorrenson
is
my nephew.”

Three
    Any hopes Kate might have had of hovering innocently in the background were dashed when they left the elevator and Max’s dark eyes locked onto her like laser beams. The force of his gaze was a frightening assault on her senses, and she held onto Mrs. Jarrett’s wheelchair, using it as a shield before her.
    “Hello, my love,” Max Sorrenson’s words were for Mrs. Jarrett, but his attention was on Kate until he was directly before them.
    After a pregnant moment of silence he dropped his glance affectionately to his aunt, freeing Kate from the numbing inertia that had engulfed her.
    He was leaning over, holding his aunt’s hands tenderly as she chattered an answer to a question that Kate hadn’t heard. Kate had known that accompanying Mrs. Jarrett would be a bad idea. She just hadn’t known how bad.
    Why wasn’t he saying something? Was it possible that he didn’t recognize her? He’d only seenher in coveralls, looking like something the cat dragged in. Tonight her appearance was very different. Tonight she was different. Dorothea had seen to that. But she was still a hotel employee masquerading as a guest.
    Kate wanted desperately to step back into the waiting elevator and head down to a level where her breath would be even once more. The feeling was so compelling that she made an involuntary backward motion, the faint suggestion of movement invoking a quick retort from Mrs. Jarrett.
    “Forward, Kate. We’re attacking, not retreating.”
    “Attacking? What is this, dear aunt, some
grand adventure
you’re planning? If so, I insist on being allowed to take part.”
    Grand adventure?
He knew. He remembered what she’d said about her life’s goal. There was