Tall, Dark & Hungry by Lynsay Sands Read Free Book Online Page B

memory, swing by Keyes's apartment to collect him some clothes, pick up some food for Chris and Terri, then stick the editor in a room for the night, leaving himself free to entertain Kate's cousin. He was smiling over this idea when he realized his cousin would be back by then, and no doubt do his level best to charm the pants right off Terri. Literally. His smile died as he acknowledged that his life had become a sort of hell.
    "Bastien?"
    "Hmm?" His gloomy thoughts vanished as he turned to Terri. She had returned to the room, handed the editor a cup of what presumably was water, and now moved to Bastien's side. He smiled. She was a lovely woman—a lovely, thoughtful woman who had taken a good chunk of her vacation to fly 2,320 miles to help her cousin and best friend out with wedding preparations, only to find herself dumped at his door like some stray puppy while her cousin and Lucern wandered the earth attending romance writer conventions, making love in hotels, and no doubt kissing every two steps of the way, like the brainless lovesick duo they were.
    "While I was in the kitchen getting Chris the glass of water, I had a quick look around and I noticed you have no food."
    "Oh?" Bastien asked vaguely, thinking that perhaps describing her as being "dumped on him like a stray puppy" was unkind. There was nothing doglike about this woman. She was more a cat-type—sleek and graceful.
    "No food at all," she added significantly.
    "I see." Bastien's eyes dropped down her figure. All those curves weren't really very sleek or catlike, which is why he supposed he hadn't made the association at first. But she had those large green eyes like a cat. Which were rather similar to Kate's, he noticed now. They must be a family trait, he decided, his gaze briefly drifting back up to her eyes before returning to her figure. She really had a gorgeous body, and her University of Leeds T-shirt and tight white jeans showed it to advantage. She definitely wasn't a puppy.
    "Or dishes even," Terri continued. "There was one cup that I presume Mrs Houlihan used for her tea, a teapot, some tea bags, but that was it. In the whole kitchen, that was it. Hello? Bastien? Can you hear me?"
    Bastien blinked as the sudden concern and touch of impatience in Terri's tone made it through his distracted state. It took him a minute to grasp what she'd been trying to tell him as he'd ogled her body, but after a moment the key words popped to the fore of his mind. "No food. Or dishes. Right. We'll go shopping tomorrow. In the meantime…" He turned to survey the room, his gaze skating over the still wincing and shifting editor, his amused cousin, and the room at large. It stopped at the bar. "There are glasses in the bar," he announced, feeling rather triumphant. "And I'll… er…" What was it humans did when they were hungry but didn't want to cook? Oh, yes! They—
    "Order in?" Vincent suggested.
    "I knew that," Bastien snapped. Family could be so bloody annoying at times. Sighing, he turned back to Terri and forced a smile, completely ignoring her bewildered expression. "We'll order in tonight and go shopping tomorrow."
    "Uh-huh." She nodded slowly, then tilted her head. "Have you lived here long?"
    "About twenty years in this building, but over a hundred in the city," Bastien answered. Then he blinked and corrected himself: "My family has had the penthouse that long, I mean. None of us really lives here at all. I just use it when I'm in New York conducting business. Other family members drop in from time to time when they're in town," he added, with a glance at his cousin.
    "I see." Terri smiled slightly, then shook her head and dug into her back pocket. She pulled out a wad of American bills. "Well, I can contribute to the takeout. What are we ordering?"
    "Whatever you like, but there's no need to contribute. You're my guest."
    "But—"
    "No buts. You're my guest," he said firmly. He turned away to bring an end to the discussion, and his gaze landed grimly