Lotus Blossom Read Online Free PDF Page A

bike.”
    “Not anymore.” He pulled a lightweight cotton pullover from a closet. Then before she could blink, he had dropped his trousers and hung them on a hanger on a portable valet near the closet. He grinned at her. “You’re blushing again, love. Haven’t you ever seen a man undress?”
    “Don’t be ridiculous. I have two brothers.”
    He would have bet the casino that she hadn’t seen any men undress in front of her. What brought an innocent young woman to Las Vegas to work? The thought caught in his brain like a burr until he shook it loose. He would think about that some other time. The best news, he thought, was that if she ever did sleep with that fiance of hers, it wasn’t more than once or twice; otherwise, she wouldn’t have looked so uncomfortable when he changed his trousers and shirt in front of her. “It’s not as though I’ve stripped down to the buff, Lotus, is it?”
    “Not as if you’ve stripped to the buff,” she echoed him, feeling her stiff lips lift in a smile. God, he was beautiful. Even if she never saw another man peeled down, she would know that she had seen the best there was in physiques when she looked at the man in front of her. She blinked, trying to clear the picture of him from her head. ‘Ready?”
    “Ready.” He slipped on the cotton pullover, hooked a blazer over his shoulder, and led her out of the room. When she would have turned left, he urged her right. “This is the way to where the car is parked.”
    “But my bike is this way,” Lotus explained.
    “Not to worry.” Dash backtracked to his office, unlocked the door, and went over to the phone on the desk. He punched out a few numbers, then barked instructions into the instrument. “There,” he said after he hung up. “The bike will be locked up until tomorrow.”
    “But, don’t do that,” Lotus sputtered. “That’s my transportation in the morning.”
    “I’ll pick you up,” Dash said soothingly. “Not to worry.” He was leading her to the parking lot as they spoke.
    “And do you want to get up at five and ferry me over to Mac’s cafe for the early shift?” Lotus expostulated, trying to loosen his grip from her upper arm.
    Dash stopped dead, his eyes narrowed in fury on her. “Why do you work there?”
    "Because I get breakfast that way and the few tips I get help keep the Reaper away,” Lotus snapped back. “Now, do we get my bike?”
    He continued to walk and she followed. “No, I’ll drive you home, then I'll pick you up tomorrow morning at four-thirty."
    “Four-thirty . . . Lotus wheezed, thinking about the two alarms clocks needed to wake her at five, so that she could be at the cafe, one block away, at five-thirty. “I don’t need to get up half an hour early.” “You can at least jog with me as long I’m taking you to work, then waiting to bring you to Cicero’s.” “Waiting?” Lotus gasped.
    “Of course. How else would you get to work?” He helped her into the passenger side of the car.
    She had taken no notice of the car until she was inside of it. “Goodness. Is this a Ferrari?”
    “Yes.” His teeth gleamed in the dark interior of the car.
    “Marvelous.”
    “Would you like to drive it someday?”
    “Is the pope Catholic?” Lotus muttered.
    Dash laughed. “Fine. The next time we go out . . . which will be . . .” He shot his left hand in front of him for a moment to look at his watch. “. . . This evening I will let you take the wheel.” “We don’t have a date for tomorrow,” Lotus ventured.
    Dash lifted one hand from the steering wheel and placed it on her knee. “Yes, we do, love.” He pressed a switch and a tape player slid into view.
    The music combined with the flashing lights of Las Vegas had a soporific effect, and Lotus felt the weightlessness that comes between consciousness and sleep.
    “Lotus,” Dash whispered. “You’ll have to give me more directions.”
    “Huh? Oh, yes, turn left, then right, then to the end of the street. It’s