Glitter Baby Read Online Free PDF

to that kind of informality. He looped his arm around her waist. “Good morning, my dear. I understand the two of you met by the pool.”
    The stranger’s eyes slid down the long suntanned legs extending beneath the terry wrap she’d tossed on over her bikini. “Not a tail after all.” He rose gracefully to his feet. “Alexi Savagar, mademoiselle.”
    “He’s being modest, my dear. Our visitor is actually Count Alexi Nikolai Vasily Savagarin. Did I get it right, old sport?”
    “My family left the title behind in St. Petersburg, mon ami , as you very well know.” Although Alexi sounded faintly reproachful, Belinda sensed he was pleased by Flynn’s use of his title. “We’re now hopelessly French.”
    “And bloody rich. Your family didn’t leave their rubles behind in Mother Russia, did they, old sport? Not by a long shot.” Flynn turned toward Belinda. “Alexi is in California buying a few old cars to ship back to Paris for his collection.”
    “What a peasant you are, mon ami. A 1927 Alfa Romeo is hardly just an ‘old car.’ Besides, I’m here on business.”
    “Alexi is adding to the family fortune by meddling in electronics. What’s that gadget you were telling me about? Has something to do with vacuum tubes?”
    “The transistor. It’s going to replace the vacuum tube.”
    “Transistor. That’s it. And if it’ll make money, you can bet Alexi’s sitting on a truckload of the little buggers. You’d think he’d be willing to lend me some of his profits so I could produce my next picture.” Although he was looking at her, Belinda had the feeling he was really talking to Alexi.
    Alexi regarded him with amusement. “I haven’t made my fortune by throwing good money after bad. Unless, of course, you’re willing to part with the Zaca. Now that would be quite a different story.”
    “You’ll get the Zaca over my dead body,” Flynn replied, an edge to his voice.
    “From the looks of things, mon ami , I may not have long to wait.”
    “Spare me your lectures. Belinda, fix us two more Bloodys.”
    “Of course.” She took their glasses and went into the kitchenette that opened off the living room. Neither man made an effort to lower his voice, and she could hear their conversation as she refilled their glasses from a fresh can of tomato juice. At first they talked about the transistors and Alexi’s business, but before long, the conversation became more personal.
    “Belinda is an improvement over the last one, mon ami ,” she heard Alexi say. “Those eyes are quite extraordinaire , A little old, though, isn’t she? Past sixteen.”
    “Casting stones, Alexi?” Flynn laughed. “Don’t get any ideas of your own about her. You’ll only be wasting your time. Belinda is my joy. Rather like a faithful dog, but housebroken and beautiful. She only gives adoration. No nagging, no lectures about my drinking. She puts up with my moods, and she’s surprisingly intelligent. If more women were like Belinda, there’d be more happy men.”
    “ Mon Dieu , you sound as if you’re ready for another trip to the altar. Are you sure you can afford it?”
    “She’s merely a diversion,” Flynn replied with a trace of belligerence. “And a damned pleasant one.”
    Belinda’s cheeks were flushed as she brought their drinks to them. She didn’t like what he’d said about the dog, but the other things he’d said about her were nice.
    “There you are, darling. I was just telling Alexi about you.”
    She sensed a subtle tension between the two men she hadn’t noticed before.
    “You’re a paragon, mademoiselle, if I am to believe the Baron here. Intelligent, adoring, beautiful—although my views of your beauty have been somewhat limited, so he may be lying.”
    Flynn took a careful sip from the drink she handed him. “I thought you met her at the pool.”
    “She was under water. And now, as you see…” He nodded dismissively toward the terry-cloth wrap.
    A long look passed between the men. Was