Celeste Bradley - [The Liar's Club 02] Read Online Free PDF Page A

turned his ankle when his high-heeled shoes failed to take purchase on the graveled pathway.
    Of course,
he’d
never be dressed so by choice.
    The white gravel path shone in the lamplight coming from the windows of the house, making it fairly easy to see. The brightness also made it easy to be seen.
    Damn. What the hell was he to do with the woman?
    She stirred on his shoulder. Having her head down was apparently bringing her back to life. With a muttered curse Dalton ducked down a darkened path, hauling his irritating burden away from the betraying light.
    The maze of hedges led him to a turn, then opened to display a gazebo of some sort ahead, barely outlined in the dimness.
    Perfect. He’d dump the woman, fix her blasted corset prison for her, then slip away before she came to. She hadn’t seen him, so she’d likely think she’d wandered off in her daze. If she bothered to think at all, which he doubted.
    Stepping up onto the marble floor of the garden structure, Dalton heaved Mrs. Simpson off his shoulder to half-sit her on a crescent-shaped bench.
    He supported her upper body with one arm wrappedbeneath her breasts, this time avoiding taking a handful of soft flesh into his hands. She lay limp against him, her breath shallow on his neck.
    She smelled good. Stupid she may be, slovenly she was not. Dalton had never understood the habit of some people layering costly clothing over unwashed bodies. Mrs. Simpson smelled sweetly clean. Even her hair smelled pleasant as it tickled his ear.
    Oh, that was those damn plumes. Restraining a growl, Dalton plucked them from her hair and tossed them to the ground. Then he turned his free hand to unfastening the tiny buttons that ran the length of her back.
    With skillful fingers he soon had them free, even in the dark. Then he tugged at the knot in her corset strings to no avail. Some idiot maid had tied them into a great snarl that he had no hope of undoing without plenty of light and time.
    He could leave her here and let someone know …
    With the shrug of one shoulder, he flipped her head from its roost and changed the angle of her body to look into her face. It was too dark to see well, but he was very much afraid that she was paler than ever, right down to the color of her lips. There was no time.
    There seemed no end to the stupidity of slaves to fashion. Dalton held her tightly with one arm while he tore the corset strings with one mighty yank. With a series of pops, the garment gave way.
    Even though she was unconscious, her body sensed its freedom and drew in a deep breath. When he was sure she was breathing normally, Dalton eased her flat on the bench.
    Standing, he arranged her as comfortably as possible, aware that she was likely to awaken at any moment and take umbrage at his liberties.
    She was somewhat pretty in the faint starlight, he had to admit. Without the overuse of cosmetics—not to mention the fervent glint in her eye and that annoying titter—she might even be attractive.
    Then again, almost any woman would look good lying sprawled wantonly on a bench with her bodice gaping, revealing that pair of perfectly intriguing—
    Her head rolled to one side, then back, and her eyelids quivered.
    Time to go. Dalton stepped back into the shadow of the hedge, then quickly made his way back around the turn, walking close to the maze wall to avoid the crunch of gravel under his feet. Then he paused in the darkness, unwilling to leave her untended until she was fully conscious.
    Clara drew one breath after another of cool blessed air deeply into her lungs. At first she was content simply to breathe with ease, so it was a moment before she realized that the only sound she heard was her own breathing against a backdrop of rustling greenery and the chirping of crickets.
    She was outside? She opened her eyes, looking about her in bewilderment. The gardens? She’d come so far in her search for air?
    Sitting up swiftly, she felt the bodice of her gown slide away and the