The Baron by Sally Goldenbaum Read Free Book Online

luck.” The words hung falsely in the air, but she tried to follow them up with a dazzling smile. The thought of that empty cottage and the unbridled desire racing crazily through her body was more than she could handleright now. Casual tumbles weren’t her style at all, but Nick—the Baron—was exerting a power over her she knew she couldn’t fight.
    Nick’s head was angled to one side, and he looked at her carefully. The weekend was definitely turning into more of a mystery than was promised on the invitation, he decided. He slipped an arm around her waist and started toward the path. His voice was a husky whisper. “Whatever you say, Contessa, but we have hours to go before we slip off into the real world.…”
    The half hour before cocktails was a “rest period,” as Sylvia had called it, a time for people to think through their clues, ready their bags for departure, and freshen up before the buffet dinner.
    Halley spent it pacing the length of the patio. The few clues they had gathered—some cotton yarn found beside the path and a piece of black nylon stocking caught on a bush—went unheeded as thoughts of Nick filled her head.
    They had wandered through the rest of the afternoon as acutely aware of each other as if they had stayed on in the deserted cottage. Nick touched Halley constantly, and she marveled at the power of those touches. A palm placed flat on her lower back, a curved finger along her cheek, his hip brushing against hers—each was enough to send waves of warmth rushing through her until she felt no part of her was left untouched.
    No, the identity of the murderer wasn’t the real mystery here. The
real
mystery was how in the world she was going to get through the final hours intact.
    “And what do you want to keep intact, Finnegan?” she asked herself with a grimace.
    “Everything! My fine, sterling reputation as awoman who is wise and cautious in the ways of love.”
    “Which is why you never have any fun!” chided a voice in her head that sounded curiously like Rosie’s.
    “Fun,
schmun!
I’ve had a
grand
time.” Yes, of course she had, and there was no need to worry. She took a deep breath and walked back into the suite. “No need to worry,” she repeated aloud, trying to reassure herself. “It will all be fine. The Baron and the Contessa will chitchat through one more meal, then go off into their own separate,
real
worlds. And no one but her guardian angel will ever know how fiercely she was tempted to taste the delights of a one-night stand.”
    With renewed strength she tossed her few belongings into the small suitcase, zipped up the clothes bag Rosie had loaned her, and touched up her makeup.
    Cocktails, dinner, and a polite good-bye. She could handle that much. Yes, surely she could.

Three
    When Halley wandered back to the main house for cocktails an hour later, the patio and terrace were transformed into a mystery fantasyland. Low lights outlined the area and cast flickering shadows across the bricks, while in the background, soft music drifted along with the breeze. Flower arrangements dotted with tiny magnifying glasses and Sherlock Holmes hats were set on low tables, and in the center of the patio a long, lovely buffet table was draped in linen, readied for a feast.
    Halley looked around. A dozen or so people milled around, chatting and drinking cocktails, but her Baron was not among them. Strange, she thought, how she knew he wasn’t there even before she checked. It was all becoming too predictable, too instinctive. Too wonderful.
    “Contessa, won’t you join us?” An attractive blond woman wearing a sexy black dress beckoned to her. She was playing the part of a niece of the wealthy, deceased man, and her dress, Halley presumed, was her “mourning” attire.
    Halley joined the group, accepted a cocktail from a maid, and was soon deep into a speculative discussionon the identity of the villain. Slips of paper and pencils were passed around on silver trays, and