Desire in the Sun Read Online Free PDF

made her feel as if she were, in truth, sickening for something—she was normally the most serene person in the world—she went back downstairs.

IV

    L ilah still felt absurdly nervous as she walked along the narrow back hall to the out-of-the-way room that her Uncle George used as his office. The door was shut. She hesitated for a moment, then she tapped softly and waited for an answer. When she didn’t hear anything, she opened the door and stepped inside. For a moment she feared that he wasn’t there. Disappointment struck her like a blow. Her eyes swept the candle-lit room with its cluttered bookcases and leather-topped desk. The remains of a meal were on the desk, but Jocelyn San Pietro was nowhere to be seen. Then she saw him as he got to his feet from a deep wing chair, and she felt a rush of relief.
    “I didn’t think it would be possible for a woman to look any lovelier than you did earlier. I see I was wrong.” He smiled slowly at her. Lilah returned his smile, feeling the magic spark the air between them again. She hadn’t imagined it, it wasn’t too good to be true. There was an attraction between them so strong that it drew her toward him like a magnetic force.
    “You’re very good with compliments, Mr. San Pietro. It almost makes me think that you’ve had a great deal of practice handing them out.” She held on to the knob of the open door to resist the urge to walk toward him. His smile broadened. He had shed his driving coat.

    The black swallowtail coat he wore clung to his broad shoulders and followed the line of his body down to his narrow waist. The knit breeches revealed slim hips, a flat belly, and long, muscular thighs. Lilah caught herself looking at him in a way she had no business doing. A blush stained her cheeks, and she jerked her eyes back up to his face again, hoping that her expression was not as self-conscious as it felt.
    “Can it be that you are accusing me of being a flirt, Miss Remy?” The easy banter was all on the surface. The real conversation was silent, and was conducted by their eyes.
    “I fear it may be so.” Her voice was faintly breathless, despite her best intentions.
    He shook his head and came toward her, his walk as lithe as an Indian’s. “I never flirt. I’m much too direct for that. If I see something I want, I do my best to get it.”
    He stopped when he was very close to her, and stood looking down into her face. Lilah felt her pulse quicken it the obvious implication: he had seen her, wanted her, and would try his best to get her. She looked up at him, up at that dark handsome face bent toward hers, and had to fight the urge to sway toward him. He was tall and strong and handsome, and she was shocked at the sudden longing she felt to have him take her in his arms.
    “We—should go join the others. My great-aunt will be wondering where I am.” That urge to be held by him unnerved her. She had never expected to feel such a thing with a man. Certainly she never had before. Ladies were supposed to be immune to that. Being alone with him was intoxicating, and being intoxicated with him could be dangerous.
    “Perhaps we should forgo joining the others.”
    “Oh, I can’t.”
    “Why not?”
    “It—it wouldn’t be proper. Besides …”

    “I have to be on a ship that leaves Washington harbor at dawn the day after tomorrow. I’d like to get to know you better, and if we’re surrounded by dozens of people I won’t be able to. I know that your relatives won’t like the idea of you being alone with a man you barely know, but I can assure you that you’ve no reason to fear me. Whatever else I may be, I’m a gentleman—or at least I promise to be with you.”.
    “I know that,” she answered, surprised because she did. Being afraid of him hadn’t even occurred to her. He was wildly attractive, with those predatory eyes and that gleaming smile, but she’d sensed from the first that he’d never hurt her. As he’d said, he was a gentleman—at