Fit for a King. Diana Palmer

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СКАЧАТЬ been hellishly busy, so for the past few weeks Bess has turned to me—out of boredom, I’m sure. At first I suspected she wanted to use me to get Bobby to notice her again—you know, make him a little jealous. But it’s getting complicated now.” He shrugged, smiling faintly. “She’s always been special to me, and I’m only human, if you get my meaning. But I don’t want anyone to get hurt. That’s where you come in.”

      “I’m going to run interference, I gather?” she murmured.

      “That’s it,” he agreed pleasantly. “By the way, you’ve been in the States for the past few months because we had a quarrel. But now we’ve patched it up, and we’re quite serious about each other.”

      “I’m beginning to see the light,” she mused, grinning. “So we’re lovers, is that it?”

      He chuckled. “Can’t keep our hands off each other,” he agreed. “Mad to be together.”

      “What fun.” She smiled. “Now explain my missionary parents to her and how you so easily led me into a life of sin.”

      He groaned. “Don’t, for heaven’s sake, even mention your parents to her. Well, not what they do for a living, at least.”

      She sighed. “I hope she doesn’t pin me down and start asking embarrassing questions.”

      “I’ll try not to leave you alone with her. You’ve got to save me,” he murmured dryly, although there seemed to be something serious behind the gibe. “Bobby and I are getting along better than we ever have. I can’t come between him and the one thing in life he really values.”

      She sighed. “Okay. I’ll play along. But I have to go back to the States in about three weeks, so you’d better get her convinced fast.”

      “They’ll be going back any day now, I hope,” he said. “Otherwise I don’t know if I can stand it much longer. It’s a good thing I saw your lights on before Bobby got me to pick up Bess at their villa. I barely had time to pressure you into cooperating before I had to leave.”

      “Lucky you,” she agreed with a grin. “I hadn’t planned to come back for two more weeks.”

      He groaned. “I’d have been in over my head by then, for sure.”

      She glanced up at him. “Well, don’t you worry. I’ll save you.” She frowned, moving away from the disturbing touch of his hands. “Let’s see now, what did I do with that red cape—you know, the one with the big S on it?”

      “Never mind the Superwoman cape,” he said. “Just hold my hand.”

      “The one with the Rolex and the diamond ring?” She pursed her lips. “Careful I don’t steal them. I’m not rich yet, you know.”

      He laughed. “You will be,” he said. Then he glanced toward the door. “Get dressed, will you? I’ll wait for you.”

      Heavens, he had it bad, Elissa thought, if he was afraid to face the other woman without reinforcements.

      “Chin up,” she said lightly. “I know karate. If she makes one move—just one move—to undress you, I’ll defend your honor with my very life.”

      He chuckled. Once, he’d thought his new neighbor was a complete eccentric. He still did, actually, but she could be quite a gem at times, too. And right now she was saving his neck. “You’re a nice girl,” he said playfully.

      She winced. “A nice girl? Thanks awfully. I like you, too.”

      She turned, picked up her clothes from the chair and headed toward the bathroom.

      “You can’t dress in front of me?” he asked unexpectedly, watching her from his relaxed position against the door.

      She glanced up at him. “No,” she confessed with a somewhat wobbly laugh. “I’m not quite as liberated as I might seem. I—I’ve never undressed in front of a man in my life, except for my family physician.”

      The confession seemed to shock him. “Never?” he asked.

      “Never,” she emphasized, knowing exactly what she was revealing to him.

      He scowled. Because of her physical aloofness, he’d somehow taken it for granted that she’d been hurt in love somehow. To think of her as a virgin was vaguely disturbing.

      “Why?” he asked with charasteristic bluntness. “Did something happen to you?”

      “My father’s a minister, remember? And he and my mother were missionaries to Brazil when I was growing up. Try being Ms. Liberation in that kind of atmosphere. I dare you.”

      He was learning more about her in minutes than he’d learned in two years. He studied her intently, his gaze taking in what he could see of her body in that very revealing gown. Her breasts were full and firm-looking, her minuscule waist flared into nicely rounded hips, and she had long, nicely shaped legs. Her face was lovely. And that teasing, provocative air of hers, he realized, was pretty false at times. Remembering that he’d seen her actually back away when men came too close physically, he regarded her thoughtfully.

      “No wonder,” he mumbled.

      “No wonder what?” she echoed.

      “Well, I’d always thought of you as sophisticated,” he mused, thinking of her occasional flirtatiousness. “You certainly don’t act like a virgin. And yet—”

      “How does a virgin act, for heaven’s sake?” she broke in. “Stand on the edge of a volcano and jump in?”

      Despite the seriousness of his current predicament, King found himself laughing, and it dawned on him that he laughed more with Elissa than he ever had in his life. But then, his path hadn’t been an easy one. Part Indian, he’d grown up fighting two worlds. Most people didn’t even know that he and Bobby had different fathers. Bobby’s was a Texas oilman who’d left his business equally to both boys. King’s father was a full-blooded Apache whose ill-fated attempt to fit into his wife’s social set had been a disaster. A marriage of rich and poor might make good novels, but it was hard work in real life. Eventually, King’s father had walked out the door in the middle of one too many cocktail parties and vanished. King had never seen him again. His mother had remarried, and when Bobby came along, there seemed to be little affection left for the elder son. He learned to fight his own battles, because he got no coddling. He’d spent his whole life fighting. He guessed that in many ways he was still fighting.

      “You almost never laugh,” Elissa pointed out, holding her jump suit against her breasts.

      “Oh, now and again I do. With you.” He smiled. “Go get dressed, walking sacrifice. I’ll wait out here.”

      She studied him quietly, curious about the worn expression on his face. More than Bess was troubling him, she sensed. She wondered briefly if being the product of two worlds ever bothered him. She knew about his Indian ancestry; in her typical outspoken fashion she’d once asked him why he was so dark. He’d given her the answer abruptly and changed the subject, clearly unwilling to discuss it. She sighed. What an enigma. She smiled back at him and went into the bathroom to change.

      She put on one of her own creations, a slinky black jump suit with a red bodice and single strappy СКАЧАТЬ