Catch of The Day: Destiny Romance Read Online Free PDF Page B

protect her little lamb. Alex shook his head as a local plumber, known for being somewhat of a Casanova, circled closer.
    Frustratingly, Alex felt a sense of duty. On a professional level, he couldn’t let Winnie tarnish her reputation her first week in town; it would hurt the magazine, a source of employment for him. Clamping his teeth around a sigh, he strode through the crowd, snatching up her elbow once he reached her side. The plumber, thankfully, stayed back.
    ‘I think it’s time you went home,’ Alex whispered in Winnie’s ear.
    Her eyes slowly opened. Grey-coloured make-up seemed to have smeared unattractively around her lids. ‘Yes, I think you’re right.’ She clumsily groped around in her handbag. ‘Just have to —’
hiccup
‘— find my keys first.’
    ‘You’re in no state to drive,’ Alex said firmly, not losing his grip on her elbow. ‘I’ll take you.’
    Neat lines indented her bronzed forehead. ‘Everyone’s been so generous, but I didn’t drink that much.’ A giggle turned into a snort. ‘Then again, I didn’t eat either. I don’t do schnitzel.’
    ‘Charming,’ Alex murmured.
    Shaking his hand away, she swivelled her hips again. ‘Ooh, I love this one! Suzanne Vega’s “Luka”. Mum used to play it all the time. Ah, dancing is so freeing. Did you know I once danced with Snoop Dogg at a Sydney party? Well, Snoop Lion, as he’s now called . . .’
    ‘Impressive,’ Alex said tightly. ‘Now tell me where you live.’ At least one of them had stopped at a few beverages and swapped to soft drink.
    Somehow, despite her addled state, Winnie was able to recite the address. Minutes later, he was at her doorstep, having managed to extract her sleepy, perfumed body from his Falcon. Now standing unaided – for the moment – she fumbled with a key at the door of a nondescript unit. Unfortunately, it kept slipping from the lock.
    She gave the security screen a frustrated kick. ‘Buggered thing won’t work.’
    A light flicked on and there was an unlocking sound from the other side of the door, surprising Alex. A silver-haired man emerged, wearing jocks and not much else. He looked like a leprechaun. Glancing between Alex and Winnie, he cocked his head to the left and barked in a voice as coarse as rusty nails, ‘She lives next door.’
    ‘Right. Sorry to be a nuisance, sir.’ Alex propelled Winnie by the shoulders in the other direction as the old man slammed the sliding door on its track.
    Finally outside the right unit, Winnie scuffed the toe of her boot on the doormat, sadly shaking her head. ‘My first day on the job and I’ve made a mess of things already. I don’t belong here. I don’t.’
    He put a finger to her lips, trying to ignore the stirring it started up down below. ‘Quiet. People are trying to sleep.’
    She took a step towards the door and almost lost her balance in her vertigo-inducing boots. He gripped her elbow again to steady her.
    Leaning in, she spoke in a stage whisper. ‘Want to know why I’m
really
here?’
    He was a little afraid to hear the truth now, but she pressed on regardless. ‘I kissed the boss at the Chrissy party. The
married
boss. Yup —’
hiccup
‘— now I’ve been banished to Woop-Woop, so I don’t create a disturbance mooning over him. And I’m stuck with an editorial director and photographer who hate me – and a stray cat I don’t want.’
    Alex’s jaw clenched. Her words may have been slurred, but the message was clear. She kissed the married boss at the Christmas party. So he’d been right about Winnie all along. She
was
one of those social-climbing, do-anything-to-get-what-they-want parasites he so despised. He’d been in the company of many such types before. One in particular had pulverised his heart like a meat tenderiser —
    Woah. The air was sucked out of his lungs as Winnie laid a smacker on his lips. Her hands were on his shoulders and her warm breath melded with his. She tasted of lychees and