Sins of Omission by Fern Michaels Read Free Book Online

little enjoyment?”
    â€œI don’t like it,” Daniel muttered, his face flaming.
    â€œYes, you do. Don’t ever lie about things like that. It feels good, let it feel good. They aren’t taking anything away from you. Come on now, get dressed and let’s find our hostess.”
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    Dinner was a wonderful experience visually, and exquisitely gratifying to their taste buds. The dining table had to be at least eighteen feet long according to Reuben’s calculations. Six candelabras gleamed in the reflected surface of the polished mahogany. High ceilings, tapestried walls, crystal, china, and a fine silver service complemented the sumptuous meal. Reuben’s attention wandered constantly from his meal to the room, then to Madame Mickey. In this soft lighting her features gave off a warm radiance, and her eyelashes appeared to be soft shadows outlining her sparkling eyes. The gown she had chosen to wear was a simple black sheath that swung to the floor, skimming her hips and rising to a deep scoop revealing her generous bosom and the unexpectedly graceful arch of her throat.
    Reuben sighed with contentment at the meal’s end. Noticing Daniel’s discomfort, Madame Mickey took charge. “Come, my darlings, we will have coffee in the drawing room and then it is bed for both of you. Tomorrow, if you like, I will show you around.” The slim black ribbon at Mickey’s throat held a modest gem. A diamond, Reuben guessed, and probably quite valuable.
    There had been pictures in magazines of rooms like this, and once or twice he’d gone to the nickelodeon and seen lavish movie sets on the silver screen. Unlike the heavy Victorian furniture he was used to in the States, Mickey’s furniture seemed to Reuben the essence of lightness and space. The richness came not from bulk, but from style and fabric. This room was decorated in faded gold and pale blue, so different from the red and Oriental patterns back home. Flowered chair cushions, long, luxurious curtains in that same faded gold, all conveyed a feeling of age and permanence and comfort. Security. That’s what this represented, he decided. Nothing seemed new or was deliberately ostentatious. These furnishings gave the impression that they’d been collected over hundreds of years. Tomorrow, when he wasn’t so tired, he’d come into this room and dig his bare toes into the lush carpeting.
    A log snapped in the fireplace, shooting sparks upward, Mickey smiled, reflections of the flames dancing in her eyes. “This, Reuben, is my favorite part of the day. More so now that I have two charming companions with whom to share it.”
    Reuben’s stomach churned. The evening was almost over. The languid, inviting expression in Mickey’s eyes was doing strange things to him. Suddenly he realized she’d mentioned bed for both of them, but she hadn’t specified where they were to sleep.
    â€œNow isn’t this better than the hospital at Soissons? Ah, how forgetful of me. Cigarettes. I have American cigarettes. Lucky Strike, I believe. Please, help yourself. Americans like and expect a cigarette after dinner, isn’t that so?”
    â€œAllow me,” Reuben said gallantly as he struck a match to the heel of his shoe.
    â€œThere is an easier way to do that, chéri. See, on this little table beside the cigarette box is a tinderbox. Strike it on the side. Gentlemen do not use their shoes in polite company.”
    Reuben’s neck grew warm, and Daniel sniggered. He had blundered—a gaffe, Mickey would have called it. “Sorry,” he mumbled. He turned to light Daniel’s cigarette only to hear Mickey admonish him a second time.
    â€œNever three on a match, chéri. What is the warning in the battlefield about lighting a match? Ah, yes…it gives just enough time an enemy needs to put you within his sights and shoot. Ah, I see by your faces that you believe women do not know