A Bad Enemy Read Online Free PDF Page B

impatiently.
    'I'd forgotten.' She gave herself a mental shake. 'Not that it matters. I can go to a hotel.'
    'Like hell you can,' he said grimly. 'The Petersons are expecting you, and your old room has been prepared. What am I to tell them if you don't turn up? That your aversion to me is so great you can't face spending a night or two under the same roof?'
    'You're the one with the instant solutions to everyone's problems,' she shot at him. 'You think of something.'
    'I already have,' he returned. 'You're coming to the Priory with me, if it means I have to kick your charming backside every step of the way to the car.'
    Lisle was going to say, 'You wouldn't dare,' but the words shrivelled in her throat as she realised there was very little if anything that Jake Allard wouldn't dare.
    'Very wise,' he approved sardonically, reading her sudden silence with perfect accuracy. 'What a tragedy you weren't the man of the family. You have an infinitely better nose for danger than Gerard has. Now come on. Mrs Peterson promised she'd have supper waiting for us whatever time we got there.'
    'Oh, I'm sure she's had her orders,' Lisle said scornfully. 'But don't you think you're being a little premature—coming on like the master of all you survey? You're not in the driving seat yet.'
    'Perhaps not,' he said silkily. 'But when I am, my copper-haired vixen, you're going to be the first one to know.'
    Lisle tossed her head angrily, and giving him a look in which frustrated rebellion and sheer venom were mixed about equally, went ahead of him into the darkness. 
    The Priory was only a few miles' drive away, and as the car drew up on the gravelled sweep in front of the house, Lisle could see the massive double doors already opening to reveal Mrs Peterson's anxious figure in the stream of light from the hall.
    'Oh, Miss Lisle!' Mrs Peterson's arms clasped her to her ample bosom. 'What a homecoming for you, my dear! But he'll get over it, don't you fret. He'll see us all out, I shouldn't wonder.'
    Lisle smiled faintly as she kissed the plump cheek. 'Sister says he's a bonny fighter, Petey.'
    'Hasn't he always been?' Mrs Peterson smiled at Jake. 'Good evening, sir, and thank you for bringing her. I've laid supper in the small dining room—it's cosier for two. I'll go and see to the soup while Peterson takes Miss Lisle's case up to her room.'
    Lisle had been about to intervene, and say she couldn't eat a thing and would prefer to go straight to her room, but at the mention of soup, hunger betrayed her. She knew Petey's soups of old, made from bone and marrow stock and thick with fresh vegetables. Even Jake's presence across the table couldn't take the edge off such delights, she thought, realising how empty she was. No wonder, really. All she'd consumed since a light lunch had been a gin and tonic, a few canapés, and a cup of coffee at the hospital.
    She washed and tidied her hair in the downstairs cloakroom, but left her face innocent of make-up. The last thing she wanted was Jake Allard to think she was employing any deliberate arts to attract him.
    When she went into the drawing room, he was standing in front of the log fire, whisky and soda in hand. He said, 'May I get you something?'
    'The perfect host,' she said on a jeering note. 'No, thanks.' Alcohol might help her to relax, she thought, but it was more important to keep all her wits about her.
    He said, 'You have a very beautiful home.'
    'Indeed I have,' she agreed. 'I'm surprised you haven't persuaded Grandfather to sell it to you, along with everything else.'
    Jake looked amused. 'I still might.'
    'No, you won't,' she said with satisfaction. 'The Priory comes to me in Grandfather's will. Gerard gets his collection of pictures, the London flat and half the money. He showed us both when he drew the will up a few years ago.'
    His brows rose in mocking acknowledgment. 'Very businesslike. And how reassuring to know exactly where you stand.'
    'Indeed it is.' Lisle drew a deep breath. 'And