Once Is Not Enough Read Online Free PDF

desire.”
    She folded her arms across her chest. She should have worn a bra. She hadn’t realized the dress was so thin.
    “You’re not too big on top,” he said pleasantly. “I like that.”
    “Franco . . . Stop it!”
    Once again the familiar slap against his brow. “Whooey . . . how can Mike Wayne’s daughter be so . . . such prude?”
    “I’m not a prude.” She felt safe at last. He was pulling into the driveway of the Excelsior.
    “I have no call tomorrow,” he said as he sprang out of the car and opened the door. He helped her out. “We see each other . . . no?”
    “No.”
    “Why? You are not angry?”
    “Not angry? Franco, you treated me like . . . like . . .”
    “Like a beautiful woman,” he said with a smile. “Please. Tell you what . . . You have good night’s sleep. I call tomorrow and we spend day together.” He held his arms open. “No touch, I swear. We take ride on my motorcycle. I show you Roma.”
    “No.”
    “I call tomorrow. Ciao.”
    She turned and walked into the deserted lobby. It was almost three o’clock. Mike would be frantic . . . probably waiting and tapping his foot. Well, she wouldn’t tell him the truth.She’d just say she didn’t want to be stuck with Franco again. She’d tell him he made a slight pass. She thought about it as she rode up the creaky elevator with the sleepy attendant.
    She put the oversized key into the door. He was up. She could see the streak of light under the door. She walked in. “Mike . . .” Then she looked around. The door to his bedroom was shut. There was a pile of paper money and a note propped up against the lamp on her desk.
“Waited until two, Princess. Hope you had fun. Sleep late. Remember the shops all close between one and four. So just see some sights in the early part of the afternoon. Visit the Spanish Steps. A guy named Axel Munthe once used the little house down there to take in stray animals. Also a guy named Keats lived there too. You can visit his apartment. After four go to the Via Sistina. Melba says there are some great shops there. If you run out of money you can always send things to the hotel C.O.D. Sleep well, Angel. Love, Daddy.”
    She stared at the note . . . then at his closed door. He was asleep! He wasn’t even concerned about her! But then, he probably never dreamed Franco would dare to come on so strong.
    She went to her bedroom. Some of her anger evaporated. If he had waited up until two . . . that meant he had gotten home around one . . . maybe earlier. So he probably really just had a nightcap with Melba. Nothing more. The big love affair was all in Franco’s mind. Melba was old . . . well, old for a movie star . . . in her thirties . . . she needed sleep. She couldn’t take a chance of staying up late with Mike. She was too career-minded. She walked into the bathroom and ran the bath. But what about the diamond pin? Well, what about it? Mike always gave the stars of his productions lavish gifts. Of course . . . It was all in Franco’s mind. The entire evening was like a dream. She took off her clothes and stared at her breasts. But the evening had happened. Franco had touched her breasts . . . sucked at them. His fingers had been between her legs. She got into the tub and scrubbed herself violently.
    Later as she lay in bed in the strange room, she felt wide awake. She stared at the dim outline of her bedroom door. Outside was the living room . . . and then there was his door.He was sleeping in there. Oh God, if she could only slip in there and climb into his arms the way she used to do when she was little and had a bad dream. Why couldn’t she slip into his arms and tell him all the terrible things that had happened tonight? Let him hold her close and tell her it would be all right. He was still her father. Why was it wrong now? And yet . . . she felt she couldn’t do it. Was it because she wanted to feel Mike’s body against her own? Yes. But in the nicest of ways. She wanted the soothing