The Price of Fame by Anne Oliver Read Free Book Online

come.
    But his side of the bed was empty now, the sheets barely warm to the touch. She felt a vague disappointment that he’d not woken her earlier, then stretched. Aah … She’d expended more energy than she’d realised, she thought as her eyes slid open on a clear dawn sky, steadily lightening with gold and aqua. She should include sex in her exercise regime.
    ‘Rise and shine.’ Nic appeared freshly shaved and dressed. ‘The ash cloud’s shifted. Flights resume in an hour or so. We need to get moving.’
    ‘What time is it?’ she murmured,
without
moving. She was way too naked beneath the sheet, and her underwear—she had no idea where it was.
    ‘Six-thirty.’
    She groaned into the pillow.
    He had a way too cheery wide-awake voice. Obviously he was raring to get to Hawaii and begin his surfing vacation, that basic sexual drive they’d talked about last night satisfied for now.
    And he’d satisfied her too but it was finished.
    In one way she mourned the fact, in another, she was so, so relieved. Because last night Charlotte Dumont’s body had been invaded by a nymphomaniac. In fact, now she was almost too embarrassed to look him in the eye, and a warm blush suffused her entire body.
    She tried her best to ignore it. ‘Is that coffee I smell?
Real
coffee?’
    ‘Cappuccino or latte?’ Still managing to look crisp in yesterday’s clothes, he lifted a couple of paper cups with lids from the desk. ‘I didn’t know what you liked so I bought one of each.’
    ‘I’d love the latte, please. You’ve been out already?’
    ‘Organisation, babe.’ He moved to the bed, held out a cup and a small plastic shopping bag from one of the terminal’s tourist shops. ‘You might need these too.’
    Propping herself up on one elbow, she peeked inside. She glimpsed a pair of lolly-pink panties with a map of Australia imprinted on the front. Oh, dear. And the reason she was going to be wearing tacky nylon souvenir undies for the rest of the day spun through her mind like hot-pink candy floss. ‘Um. Thanks.’
    ‘It’s for my own peace of mind as much as yours. I’d go nuts with the mental image of you buck naked under that skirt all day and not being able to take advantage.’
    The candy-floss colour bled into her cheeks. She sat up, winding the sheet up around her torso as she did so.
    ‘Oh … well, then …’
    Head on one side, he studied her a moment. ‘There’s something intriguing about a woman reclining naked in bed wearing only pearls. You’ve got me wondering: why pearls?’
    ‘They were my mother’s. And I’m not reclining. Now.’ Sentimental secrets were not up for sharing. Setting the cup on the night stand, she scrunched the sheet higher. ‘Um …’
    He must have known what she couldn’t ask because he picked her bra up from the bottom of the bed and tossed it to her. The glint in his eyes dissipated as he studied her. ‘Everything okay?’
    ‘Yes. Fine. Why wouldn’t it be?’
    ‘You look—’
    ‘I’m going to take a shower,’ she said, all casual and carefree. But she didn’t move. Her fingers couldn’t seem to let go of the sheet. She’d not given a thought to the morning after the night before. Whatever would he be thinking of her?
    And why did it matter? In less than an hour they’d say goodbye and that would be it. She just had to get through this awkward time, then she could relax and enjoy her holiday.
    ‘Better make it snappy.’ Checking his watch, he rose, picked up his bag and headed towards the door. ‘See you in the lobby in fifteen minutes.’
    She was grateful for his sensitivity to her unspoken need for privacy despite the fact that he’d seen, touched and tasted nearly every naked inch of her, but the blush still hadn’t cooled when she found him downstairs amongst the swirl of people. Her hand dived into her bag for her sunglasses.
    He swung his pack onto one shoulder, setting a cracking pace across the sky bridge with a trail of other passengers and