September Morning by Diana Palmer Read Free Book Online Page B

asked.
    “I'm a cousin,” she explained. “Maude and the family took me in when my parents died, and brought me up.”
    “Apparently not too successfully,” Blake said darkly, his eyes promising retribution as they seared a path down her body, lingering on the plunging neckline.
    “If you don't stop picking on me, Blake,” she said sweetly, accepting a glass of sherry from Phillip, “I'll hit you with my teddy bear.”
    Vivian Leeds didn't look amused, although her lips managed a thin smile. “How old are you, Miss Kilpatrick?” she asked listlessly.
    “Much younger than you, Miss Leeds, I'm sure,” Kathryn replied with an equally false smile.
    Phillip choked on his drink. “Uh, how was your trip, Viv?” he asked the blonde, quickly.
    “Very nice, thanks,” she replied, her eyes cutting a hole in Kathryn. “Lovely dress,” she said. “What there is of it.”
    “This old rag?” Kathryn said haughtily, her eyes speaking volumes as they studied the rose silk gown the blonde was wearing. “It's warm, at least,” she added. “I don't really care for these new fashions—some of them look more like nighties than dresses,” she said pointedly.
    Miss Leeds's face colored expressively, her blue eyes lighting like firecrackers.
    “Let's eat,” Maude said suddenly.
    “Lead the way, Mother,” Blake said. Amusement was vying with anger in his dark eyes, and just for an instant, amusement won. But then his dark gaze slid sideways to Kathryn, and the smile faded. His eyes curved over the creamy, exposed skin at her neckline, and she felt as if he had touched her. Her lips parted under a rush of breath, and he looked up suddenly and caught that expression on her young face. Something flared in his dark eyes, like a minor volcanic upheaval, and Kathryn knew that she was going to be in the middle of a war before the night was over. But she managed to return Blake's glare with bravado, and even smiled. If she was going to be the main course on his menu, she might as well enjoy the appetizer first.
    Phillip dropped back beside her as they made their way into the dining room. “Feeling suicidal?” he asked under his breath. “He's blazing, and that sweet little smile didn't help.”
    “Revolutionaries can't afford to worry about tomorrow,” she replied saucily. “Besides, Blake can't eat me.”
    “Can't he?” he asked, casting a wary glance toward his brother, who was glaring at them over Vivian's bright head.
    “Phillip, you aren't really afraid of him, are you?” she teased. “After all, you're brothers.”
    “So,” he reminded her, “were Cain and Abel.”
    “Don't worry, I'll protect you.”
    “Please don't,” he asked mournfully. “Why did you have to tell him that I bought you that dress?”
    “But, you did sign for it,” she said innocently.
    “I know, but buying it wasn't my idea.”
    “Be reasonable, Phil,” she said soothingly. “If I'd told him it was my idea, he'd have gone straight for my throat.”
    He gave her a measuring look. “And having him go for mine was a better idea?”
    She smiled. “From my point of view, it was,” she laughed. “Oh, Phil, I am sorry, really I am. I'll tell him the truth.”
    “If you get the chance,” he muttered under his breath, nodding toward his brother.
    Blake seated Vivian and then turned to hold out a chair for Kathryn. She approached it with the same aplomb as a condemned terrorist headed for the gallows.
    “Nice party,” she murmured under her breath as she sat down.
    “And it's only beginning,” he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. “Make one more snide remark to Vivian, and I'll grind you into the carpet, Kathryn Mary.”
    She spared him a cool glance. “She started it,” she said under her breath.
    “Jealous?” he taunted softly.
    Her eyes jerked up to his, blazing green fire. “Of her?” she asked haughtily. “I'm not fifteen anymore,” she said.
    “Before the night's over, you're going to wish you were,”