The Sinister Touch by Jayne Ann Krentz Read Free Book Online

what I did tonight.” She was moving farther and farther out on the thinnest possible ice, but her own anger was in full sail. “You have no right to yell at me like this.”
    “No right? You come home at midnight with that naked artist in tow, and you tell me I don’t have any right to yell?”
    “He wasn’t naked.”
    “How long would it have taken him to get naked after you invited him into your apartment?”
    “I didn’t invite him in, not that it would have made any difference. Mason walked me home after his gallery showing tonight. He invited Carla and me to attend. Since I didn’t have anything else to do tonight and since he’s a very nice person, I decided to accept the invitation. I had a couple of glasses of free champagne and half-a-dozen salmon canapés. I resisted the impulse to buy one of his paintings. Primarily because I couldn’t afford one. That, Zac, is the sum total of my wild night on the town. Mason and I left the gallery about fifteen minutes ago, and I can produce witnesses if necessary. Is there anything else you’d like to know?” Summoning up a courage she wasn’t sure she actually felt, Guinevere walked right past Zac, flung herself down onto the black sofa, and glared across the room at the egg-yolk-yellow floor-to-ceiling bookcase. She refused to glance at Zac, who was watching her the way a predator watches its prey.
    “Yes, goddammit, there are a few other things I’d like to know. Were you planning on inviting him in for a nightcap? What’s his view of the evening’s entertainment? Is it as charmingly innocent as yours?”
    Guinevere swung her gaze from the bookcase to Zac’s glittering gray eyes. “Mason is falling rapidly for my sister. A typical male reaction around Carla. She’s about all he talked about on the way back here this evening. Now, if we’re going to discuss innocent evenings, why don’t we dissect yours? How long did the after-work session with Elizabeth Gallinger go? Did you find it necessary to conclude your business over dinner and a few drinks? Did you go to her place or yours after that?”
    Zac ran a hand through his dark hair, his expression turning frustrated. “My meeting with Elizabeth was all business.”
    “Really? No more chitchat about babies and biological clocks?” His eyes narrowed quickly, and Guinevere knew she’d struck gold. “Oh, I see. The subject did arise, then? Before or after you gave her your analysis of Gallinger’s security needs?”
    “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. I left Elizabeth several hours ago, went home, and started trying to call you. I thought you might be in the mood for a late dinner. When you failed to answer your phone for over two hours, I finally decided to come over here and make sure everything was all right.”
    Guinevere couldn’t stand the way he was starting to pace back and forth in front of her. The movement reminded her too much of a stalking cat waiting to pounce. Uneasily she kicked off her pumps and got to her feet. She walked past him, ignoring his glare, went into the kitchen, and turned on the light. The mini blinds were raised, and she could see that Mason hadn’t yet let himself into his apartment. The studio window was still dark. Guinevere reached for the teakettle. She didn’t feel like waiting for the new coffeepot to crank through its elegant ritual. Zac appeared in the kitchen doorway as she switched on the burner.
    For a long moment they looked at each other without saying a word. With a woman’s instinct Guinevere knew that some of Zac’s initial fury had cooled.
    “Everything was just fine, Zac. There was absolutely no need for you to be concerned. We don’t have to account to each other for every moment, do we? We’re having an affair. We’re not married. The simple truth is that Carla and I spent a pleasant evening at the gallery. Mason walked me home afterward. That’s all there was to it.” She kept her tone quiet and remote.
    He was