Love on Trial Read Online Free PDF

you were taking Nadine to that new night club.”
    â€œDon’t change the subject.”
    She shrugged. Of all people, she couldn’t lie to her father. “I’m afraid of Hawke,” she said miserably.
    He didn’t seem in the least surprised. “You’ve spent the past five years being alternately fascinated and terrified by him. Did you realize that you start backing away the minute he comes near you?” he asked with a patient smile.
    She took the napkin from her lap and folded it. “Isn’t this where I get the lecture about the evils of running away?” she asked.
    â€œJust about.” He leaned forward on his elbows. “He took you to lunch, didn’t he?”
    She nodded, dazed.
    â€œWell, did he try to seduce you at the table?” he persisted.
    â€œOf course not!”
    â€œYou needn’t sound so indignant. I know Hawke,” he laughed. “He isn’t even vaguely subtle when he wants something, and that includes women.”
    â€œI didn’t know he was such a playboy,” she observed, wrapping both cold hands around her coffee cup.
    â€œHe isn’t.” He picked at a speck of lint on the sleeve of his jacket. “Oh, he’s got money. But that can be a two-edged sword, my girl, didn’t you know? I don’t think he’s ever been really sure if women want him or what he can give them.”
    â€œIt wouldn’t make a bit of difference if he didn’t have a dime,” she said without thinking.
    Jared’s grin went from ear to ear. “I didn’t know you thought he was so attractive,” he remarked, noting the sudden color in her cheeks.
    â€œEven if he is a generation ahead of me, I can notice him,” she said defensively.
    â€œAge isn’t everything, you know.”
    â€œIt is to him,” she grumbled absently. “Any day now, I expect him to offer to buy me a balloon or an ice-cream cone. Even now, with an award of merit under my belt for investigative reporting, he’s still giving me the ‘helpless little Siri’ looks.”
    â€œYou could change his mind if you tried,” her father said gently.
    â€œWhy in the world would I want to?” she asked, aghast. “My gosh, dad, he’s almost twice my age, and you know we don’t get along at all. We never have!”
    â€œDo you get along all that well with Holland?” he probed. “Honestly?”
    She glowered at him. “I can handle Mark.”
    â€œThat’s probably the only reason you let him hang around, too,” he said flatly. “And someday you’ll accidentally marry him if you don’t open your eyes!”
    â€œI don’t want to marry anybody,” she muttered.
    â€œIt can still happen. Go with Hawke, Siri,” he said, more solemn than she’d ever seen him. “Face it. Will you do that, for me?”
    He didn’t make sense, but at the suggestion, she gave way to a twinge of panic. She stood up, shaking her head stubbornly. “I’m sorry. I love you very much,” she said, “but not enough for that. The story can go hang. I’m fresh out of sacrificial urges.”
    â€œSiri…!”
    But she was already halfway up the staircase, running for privacy.
    She knew her father wouldn’t be back until late, so she threw on a deep blue caftan and stretched out in the living room on the couch with a book and put on a stack of easy listening records. The book should have taken her mind off the problem of Panama City, but she opened it and couldn’t get past the front page.
    It was almost a relief when the doorbell rang an hour later. Expecting that herfather had lost his keys again, she threw open the door with a smile and a quip on her mouth and froze when she saw who was standing there.
    â€œOh!” she murmured.
    Hawke raised an eyebrow at her, his dark eyes taking in every inch of her body outlined under the clinging