Unleashed: Volume 3 (Unleashed #3) by Callie Harper Read Free Book Online

I whispered again, using the giant menu to partially
hide my lips.
    “I think it’s
mostly frisée,” Declan agreed. “And gin and tonics.”
    Next to me, I couldn’t
stop glancing at a woman with perfectly clear, smooth skin, her
blonde hair in a bun without a strand out of place. Both her skin and
her hair were pulled up and back, tight. On a Tuesday morning in June
she wore a midnight black wool Chanel suit, nylons and pumps. She
might both weigh and be 95. I tried not to gawk, but I’d never seen
anything like her.
    “I think you’re
safe,” Declan whispered over to me, seeing my fascination. “She
only drinks virgin’s blood. And we know you’re not that.”
    I would have balled up
my napkin and thrown it at him, but I guessed this was the kind of
place that didn’t cotton to that kind of juvenile behavior. I
scrunched up my nose at him instead.
    Looking around, I had
to admit that I felt a moment of doubt. I definitely hadn’t gotten
the color memo. “I should have bought more black clothes,” I
murmured.
    Declan dismissed my
worry with a big hand. “Just be yourself.”
    I laughed, easy for him
to say, Mr. Big now with his real estate empire. I was still just a
rancher from Montana.
    “I’m serious,”
Declan continued. “Here’s the secret: never let them make you
feel less-than. You’re not. In fact, they want what you have.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Open air. Free
range. There’s nothing like the feel up on a Montana ranch.”
    “I didn’t know you
still felt that way.”
    “Of course I do. It’s
in my bones. I’ve just figured out how to sell it.”
    Our moment, smiling at
each other, recognizing our common ground, was interrupted by a long,
blood-red manicured fingernail trailing along Declan’s shoulder.
    “Declan!” A woman
slunk up to his side. The way she said his name made it sound
intimate, just the two of them. She bent down and air-kissed him on
each cheek. My mouth popped open in surprise. And, OK, jealousy.
    “Courtney.” Declan
acknowledged her, cool as always.
    “I’m so glad to see
you here. It’s been forever. I’ve been so bored.” She
emphasized random words when she spoke, so dramatic. Who was she to
him?
    “I’d like you to
meet Kara Brooks.” Declan gestured to me. “She’s visiting from
Montana.”
    “Montana!” Her
heavily-tweezed eyebrows shot up and she looked at me like I had a
contagious disease.
    “Hi, there.” I
waved feebly, instantly transported back to the seventh grade
lunchroom, tray in my hand, unsure where to sit.
    “Listen, we have to
talk about Saturday.” She turned her attention back on Declan.
“It’s a disaster. The caterer quit last week. I’ve been
scrambling.”
    I narrowed my eyes.
That woman wouldn’t know scrambling if it came up and hit her over
the head with a baseball bat. She was wearing some sort of strapless
one-piece black silk thing, fitted at the top and floating into
wide-legged pants at the bottom, plus elaborately strapped, heeled
sandals. I’d be willing to bet she’d never done a scrap of hard
work in her whole life.
    “I have to run, but
I’ll be in touch.” She brought her hand up again to Declan’s
shoulder while she said it. She definitely meant touch.
    I grew quiet, focused
on my salad. What were those red things in it anyway, sort-of chewy
and nutty?
    “Goji berries,”
Declan whispered to me.
    I still gave him a
quick smile, but really I was thinking what was up with that lady?
Was that the type of woman Declan spent time with now? She’d be
right at home in his private plane. They certainly seemed to know
each other well. Maybe all this connection I felt with Declan was in
my head, the sad concoctions of a lonely woman who desperately needed
a reason for this agreement to be OK, to mean more than it did—a
raunchy, debauched week. Paid to do his bidding.
    “Let’s get out of
here.” Declan rose, napkin down on the table, hand outstretched to
me.
    “Happy to.” I
brought my hand