The Reluctant Lark by Iris Johansen Read Free Book Online Page A

Caribbean that you might enjoy. We’ll go there in March, if you like.”
    Sheena’s fists knotted, and she mentally counted to ten. Challon’s casual assumption of their future together was positively maddening. “I don’t want to go anywhere with you but back to New York,” she said between clenched teeth. “Why can’t you see that you just can’t do this to me?”
    “You’d better come closer to the fire,” he said. He stood up and took off his sheepskin coat and threw it on the couch. “The temperature is dropping rapidly, and they’re expecting snow tonight. I’ve turned up the thermostat, but it will take a while for it to get really warm in here.”
    He was ignoring her protests as if she had never uttered them, she noticed angrily. “I’m quite comfortablehere,” she said haughtily, pulling her cloak closer about her.
    A flicker of golden fire lit Challon’s eyes. “If you don’t get over here, I’m coming to get you.” His tone was softly menacing. “And we’ve already seen how any physical confrontation between us ends, haven’t we?”
    Sheena felt the embarrassed color rise to her cheeks, and she bit her lower lip uncertainly, debating whether she should defy him.
    “Sheena!” The word had the crack of a whiplash, and she found herself hurriedly moving forward.
    The blaze of the fire was undoubtedly comforting, but the gleam of satisfaction in Challon’s eyes ruined any pleasure she might have felt in the additional warmth. “You needn’t think that I’ll let you order me about,” she said crossly. “I just decided that I was a bit chilly after all.”
    “I see,” Challon said gravely, that maddening twinkle back in his eyes. “How fortunate for me that you changed your mind.”
    She threw him a dark scowl and pointedly turned her back on him, stretching her hands out to the fire.
    There was still a thread of amusement in his voice as he said, “Stay here and keep warm, and I’ll see if I can rustle us up something to eat. The kitchen should be well stocked, I had a man fly out a few days ago with supplies.”
    “You needn’t bother,” Sheena said coolly. “I’m not hungry.”
    There was an obvious impatience in Challon’s tone. “You’ve got to be hungry. I happen to know that you never eat before a performance. That probably means that you haven’t had a bite since lunch yesterday, and it’s now almost four in the morning.”
    Was there nothing that the man didn’t know about her? Well, it would give her great pleasure to see that the arrogant Mr. Challon failed in this aim, at least. She turned to face him. “Nevertheless, I’m not hungry,”she said firmly, receiving distinct satisfaction from the scowl that clouded his face.
    “I don’t give a damn if you’re hungry or not,” he growled, his frowning gaze running over her slim, fragile figure. “You’re going to eat anyway. A strong wind would blow you away, and I won’t have you getting sick.”
    “I’m sure that would be very awkward for you,” Sheena bit out. “Then you might have a murder charge against you as well as one for kidnapping. Well, to hell with you, Rand Challon! You can’t force me to eat.”
    Challon’s lion eyes were blazing with a matching anger. “You stubborn little idiot. You’d probably starve yourself to death just to get a little of your own back against me. Do you envy your brother his foolish martyr’s death so much that you want to imitate him?”
    Sheena backed away, her eyes stricken. She felt as if he had physically struck her, so cruel was that last verbal blow.
    There was a flicker of remorse in Challon’s face as he took an impulsive step toward her. “Sheena—” he started gently.
    “No!” she cried. “No!”
    Then she was running blindly toward the front door. She heard him call her name stridently as she tore out on the redwood sundeck and down the stairs. She didn’t even feel the frigid cold now, though she was vaguely conscious of the sharp wind