Calder Promise Read Online Free PDF Page A

Tara to join her. She watched with impatience while Tara paused to rearrange the drape of her satin stole.
    Headlights caught Laura in their wide beams as a low-slung convertible halted behind their hired car, the sound of its motor reducing to a powerful purr. Laura glanced at the red Porsche, welcoming the distraction of its arrival. An instant later she had her first clear look at the driver’s face when he agilely levered himself out of the car. A deep, heady satisfaction quivered through her at the sight of Sebastian Dunshill.

Chapter Two
    W ithout bothering to open the door, Sebastian vaulted from the sports car and approached them with a long-striding walk. All that edgy frustration that had darkened Laura’s mood vanished under the warm regard of his hazel eyes.
    “Mr. Dunshill, this is a surprise,” Tara greeted him, then tilted her head at a curious angle. “Are you staying at the Hassler, too?”
    “Not at all. I came to give you this.” He held out a folded slip of paper to them. “When Bianca told me you had left, I realized I had failed to let you know how to contact me when you come to England.”
    “We would have tracked you down somehow,” Laura assured him, a knowing smile dimpling the corners of her mouth as she took the paper from him and slipped it into her evening bag. “But this makes it easier. You see, Tara and I just decided to fly to London at the end of the week.”
    “You have? Wonderful,” Sebastian replied with an easy show of pleasure. “Give me a call after you arrive, and we’ll settle on a time to view the portrait.”
    “We’ll do that,” Laura promised. “We’re both curious to see it.”
    “Indeed we are,” Tara agreed, but at the moment her interest was on something else. “You must have known the contessa for a long time to be on a first-name basis with her.”
    “I’ve known her most of my life,” Sebastian replied. “She and my mother are third cousins.” Without giving Tara a chance to question him further about his connection to the countess, he changed the subject. “You two aren’t calling it an evening already, are you? Rome is just coming alive at this hour.”
    “If that’s an invitation to show me some of the nightlife, I accept,” Laura declared with unabashed boldness and threw a brief look at Tara. “You don’t mind, do you, Tara? I’ve been a dignified lady all evening. Now I’m ready to let my hair down and do something improper.”
    “Not too improper, I hope,” Tara admonished lightly. “You two go and have fun. I’ll see you in the morning.”
    Laura turned expectantly to Sebastian, an alluring sparkle in her brown eyes. “Well? Was it an invitation or not?”
    “It was.” An answering light danced in his own eyes. “If I seem at a slight loss for words, you must forgive me. I thought it would require a great deal more persuasion.”
    She laughed. “You thought wrong.”
    “To my everlasting delight,” he said and ushered her to his car. After Laura was comfortably settled in the front passenger seat, Sebastian made his way around the hood and slid behind the wheel. Hands on the steering wheel, he asked, “Which nightspots would you prefer—something secluded and romantic, or loud and crowded?”
    “Let’s start with loud and crowded,” Laura stated.
    “Loud and crowded it is.” The powerful engine roared to life.
    As the Porsche accelerated away from the hotel, Laura threw Tara a parting wave and reached up to pull the pins that secured her long blond hair in its confining style. Sebastian darted her a sideways glance when she tossed her head to shake her hair loose.
    “You were serious about letting your hair down, weren’t you?” An amused smile tugged at a corner of his mouth.
    “I’m a firm believer that when you ride in a convertible, you have to let your hair down so the wind can blow through it. It’s part of the experience.” Laura turned her face into the motion-generated breeze. “A little