Contract Bridegroom. Sandra Field

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СКАЧАТЬ Out of pride? Or out of anger that she should even matter, this woman unknown to him?

      A woman who was partly responsible for saving his life.

      He hated being beholden to a female.

      The woman he was watching so intently squared her shoulders and opened the door, stepping right into the early morning sun. Her smile fading, she blinked a little.

      Her hair caught fire, gleaming in the light. Her eyes, Jethro saw, were a very dark brown, soft and warm as velvet. Her winged brows, her high cheekbones, the seductive curve of her lower lip were all part of her beauty. The rest of it was more elusive and more complex, he thought, depending on the play of expression in her face, the vividness of her emotions.

      He moved forward into the sun himself and said formally, “Are you Celia Scott? I’m Jethro Lathem.”

      Because the sun was right in Celia’s eyes, the man’s body loomed larger than life, a dark silhouette that was obscurely threatening. She raised her hand to shield her vision and took refuge in an equal formality. “Yes, I’m Celia Scott. How do you do, Mr. Lathem?”

      “Jethro, please,” he said unsmilingly. “Why don’t you join me for breakfast? I noticed a restaurant on the way out here.”

      Again Celia had the sense of an order framed as a request. She moved further from the door, taking a moment to assess him.

      Dynamite, she thought blankly. Pure dynamite.

      Six-foot-two or thereabouts. Brown hair. Although a boring word like brown didn’t in any way do justice to thick, dark curls that had the polish of mahogany. Startlingly blue eyes, the deep, steel-blue of a sky at dusk, set in a face with the weathered tan of someone who spent a lot of time outdoors. A formidable jaw, now marred with a purpling bruise. As for his body…well, she wasn’t going to go there right now. Much too early in the morning.

      She said pleasantly, hoping she hadn’t been gaping at him like a groupie, “No, I can’t do that. I’m on duty again tonight, so I have to go home and get some sleep or else I’m dead in the water.” Her smile flickered and was gone. “Sorry, bad choice of words.”

      “Dinner before work, then. You have to eat, surely?”

      She bit her lip. “Can’t we say anything that needs saying right here?”

      “I’d rather not.”

      “Then perhaps we don’t have anything to say.”

      “We’re talking dinner at the Seaview Grill—not the Ritz.”

      “Don’t patronize me!”

      “I wasn’t aware of doing so.”

      He’d look very much at home at the Ritz, thought Celia. “So what happens if I say no? That I’ve got a date with my fiancé who’s six-foot-five?”

      “The man you came downstairs with—is he your fiancé?”

      “I don’t think you came all the way from St. John’s to Collings Cove to inquire about my love life, Mr. Lathem.”

      “I came here to thank you for saving my life,” Jethro said curtly.

      “You don’t look very grateful.”

      He said tautly, “Do you have a fiancé? Six-foot-five or five-foot-eight or anywhere in between?”

      “I do not. Not that it’s any of your business.”

      “What about a husband? Or a lover?”

      Celia’s jaw dropped. “What on earth—look, it’s nearly seven-thirty, I’ve been awake all night and I’ve had enough of this. I’m glad you and your friend Dave are alive and well, I’m sorry your boat sank and goodbye.”

      His lips thinned. Unwillingly, she added, “Your yacht—you loved her, didn’t you?” Like a woman, isn’t that what Dave had said? Women must flock round this man like gulls round a lobster boat.

      “I don’t really think that’s any of your business.”

      “Then less and less do I see why you’d have the slightest interest in taking me out for dinner,” she said crossly and turned away from him.

      He took her by the elbow, the tensile strength of his fingers making her suddenly wary. “I’ll pick you up at five.”

      “You don’t know where I live.”

      “I could always follow you home.”

      She said sweetly, “Are you aware that right this minute we’re under surveillance? Cameras cover this entire parking lot. All I’d have to do is struggle a little, and someone would be out here. Pronto.”

      “All the more reason for you to behave, Miss Scott,” he said, mockery gleaming in his eyes.

      “Behave—huh! Do what you want me to do, that’s what you mean.”

      “Precisely.”

      It was, Celia knew, the moment of choice. All she had to do was look into the camera over the door and signal for help, and this charade would be over. But she’d never been one to play it safe; her recklessness was one of the reasons behind her father’s request. “I’ll meet you at the Seaview Grill sharp at five,” she said. “I’ll have to leave there no later than twenty to seven. And if you follow me home, the deal’s off.”

      “In that case,” Jethro said with dangerous softness, “I wouldn’t think of following you.” He ran his eyes down her body. “Sleep well, Celia Scott.”

      A blush flamed her cheeks. But he didn’t see it, because he’d already pivoted and was walking toward his vehicle. Standing as if she were glued to the spot, Celia watched him reverse and drive away from her, just as if she didn’t exist.

      What had possessed her to agree to have dinner with him? She wasn’t just reckless, she was plain crazy.

      CHAPTER TWO

      THE alarm woke Celia at four-fifteen that afternoon. After a quick shower, she dressed in a denim skirt and leather boots, with a green silk blouse. No baggy sweaters. No frayed jeans. And plenty of blusher and mascara, she decided, making her face up with care.

      Rather pleased with the result, she checked her watch and got up with an exclamation of dismay. She didn’t want to start off this dinner date with an apology for being late. Not a good strategy.

      At one minute to five she parked beside Jethro Lathem’s green Nissan at the Seaview Grill and ran up the wooden steps. Jethro had nabbed the best table. Surprise, surprise, she thought ironically, and gave him a cool smile as he got to his feet.

      He pulled out her chair and briefly she felt the brush of his hand on her shoulder as she sat down. The contact shivered through her, and it was this that decided Celia to go on the offensive. As he sat down across from her, she said, “So…are you all set to thank me very nicely for alerting Search and Rescue?”

      He’d СКАЧАТЬ