Dirk Pitt 1 - Pacific Vortex Read Online Free PDF

surprised to feel his heart accelerate. She was the first woman to ignite his emotions on a first meeting since a basset hound-eyed blond in the fifth grade who bit him on the arm during recess.
    Adrian was the first to break the silence. “I'm sorry, honey, but as they say in the old family mining claim, you're trespassing.”
    Adrian seemed to enjoy the situation. To her, the intruder was no more than a nuisance. She turned, offering her back to the girl, and began sipping her drink again.
    The great gray eyes never strayed from Adrian. “Your rudeness, Miss Hunter, is only surpassed by your reputation as a tramp.”
    Adrian was too cool to give up an inch. She sat immobile, staring straight ahead at the girl's reflection in the mirror behind the bar. “Fifty dollars?” she said loudly so all within thirty feet could hear. “Considering your amateur standing and less than mediocre talents, you're vastly overpriced.”
    Several customers sitting in the immediate neighborhood of the bar were listening intently to the caustic exchange. The women were frowning, but the men were grinning, secretly envying the speechless male who was trapped in the no-man's-land of the sex battle. Pitt was adequately awed. It was a new experience to have two lovely females trading barbs over his possession. His ego basked in the sheer exhilaration of the moment.
    “May I speak with you in private, Miss Hunter?” asked the mysterious girl in the green dress.
    Adrian nodded. “Why not?” She turned and slid smoothly off the bar stool, following the stranger through the open doors that led to the hotel's private beach. Pitt stared in rapt fascination at both pairs of rounded hips as they rotated in a fluidlike motion that was, or so Pitt imagined, suggestive of two beach-balls    caught    in   the    same    swirling    whirlpool.
    Pitt sighed and leaned limply against the bar, feeling like a spider eyeing two flies circling his net, and wishing they'd entangle somewhere else. Then he caught the open stares of his audience; he grinned and bowed, acknowledging their steadfast attention before he turned back to the bar.
    There's been enough surprises for one day, he ruefully admitted to himself. Where will it all end? Heeding the call for more courage, he signaled the bartender and ordered another Cutty on the rocks— a double tins time.
    Fifteen minutes later, Gray Eyes returned and stood silently behind him. Pitt was so deeply lost in thought that it took him several seconds before he sensed her presence and looked up to be met by her reflection in the mirror.
    Her lips moved in what could have been the beginning of a smile. “To the victor goes the spoils?” It was a question asked hesitantly.
    The bruise beneath her right eye had begun the transformation from red to purple, and a small cut on her lower lip unleashed a few drops of blood that trickled down her chin, failing with precise accuracy down the cleavage between her breasts. Pitt still thought she was the most desirable woman he'd ever seen.
    “And the loser?” he asked.
    “Shell be in need of heavy makeup for a few days, but I think shell survive to fight another day.”
    He pulled his handkerchief from a pocket, wrapped it around an ice cube fished from his glass, and touched it lightly to her lip. “Here, keep this pressed against the cut It'll contain the swelling.”
    She forced a wan smile and nodded a thank you.
    His meddling audience was back, this time with a concerted leer that bordered on infamy. Quickly, he paid off the bartender, taking the girl by the arm and dragging her from the lounge to the beach outside. Pitt scanned the shoreline but there was no sign of Adrian.
    “Mind telling me what happened?”
    She had to remove the ice cube to speak. “Isn't it obvious? Miss Hunter wouldn't listen to reason.”
    Pitt looked at her, half uncertainly, half specu-latively. Why elect me, he thought. Why fight over a man she'd never met? And the