One Stolen Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page A

unflattering way, usually.”
    “ So it’s like – positive PR?” Christie said, a little warily.
    “ Public Relations? Yes, exactly – positive PR. If we create something congruent with a positive image that we present to the public, there will be no instability. And any other story – whether it is a good or bad secret, or another invention – will not be able to dislodge it.”
    Some comprehension seemed to be filtering in through her shell-shock.
    “Good PR is not about hiding things,” he added.
    Eileen had somehow gotten hold of the microphone from Eddie and the banjo-players, and by the noise in the room, Adrik guessed she had already announced that everyone was invited to a top-secret engagement soiree in Lake Como in two weeks’ time. That would already guarantee that the early gossip would match the headlines – and knock aside any seedy rumours of unofficial engagement parties and shotgun weddings.
    “You look like you need some air,” he said to Christie, not unkindly. “I hear the nightclub has a roof terrace.”
    “ Ah,” Christie replied. She appeared almost numb, and extremely distracted. “Perhaps I will have a better phone signal from there.”

 
    CHAPTER THREE.
     
    Leaving the managers and staff to close up, Christie found herself in the back of a limo with Adrik at her side, and Eileen and Doug (aka ‘Dawg’) seated opposite, heading for the after-party at Doug’s club, DwG .
    She was glad of the extra company. Every vibration from her phone was a painful taunt. Still more bids were coming in, from folk who hadn’t even attended the event but had heard the news – a sudden influx of bids from London since Eileen’s phone call, and a few from clients in Japan, but a great deal were currently arriving from Moscow. And text messages from other people she knew, ranging from the one word Congratulations! to Is it true?? OMG! We must do lunch!
    “ You can turn it off,” Adrik suggested. “I’m not answering mine. You can reply to all of those tomorrow.”
    “ I’m waiting for someone to call me back.” She stared blankly at the latest update. “My PR advisor. For the gallery.”
    “ Derek Goldman is the best in today’s market,” Eileen put in, making Christie’s blood run hot and cold both at once. “Horribly arrogant little man, but the best. I shall put you both in touch with him.”
    My God, Derek does his job well , Christie realised. No-one knows we’re connected already…
    “ I have it covered,” said Adrik, reaching for Christie’s hand across the leather seat and taking it in his. “After all, we have managed to keep our own affairs private up until now, have we not?”
    The warmth of his hand around hers was all the more unexpected because it was such an unfamiliar sensation. Derek never held hands. Public displays of affection were on his ‘PR death’ list. Even private displays of affection didn’t seem to come into his emotional vocabulary. But as Adrik’s thumb caressed her knuckles, she began to wonder what she had been missing.
    To her shame, it wasn’t the last two years and an American PR guru she was thinking about. It was the last eleven, and the Russian shipping magnate sitting right beside her.
    She looked down and studied the contours of his fingers, closed around her own. She recalled the first time he had taken her hand, in order to lead her onto the dance floor in the ballroom of a Swiss chateau. So long ago it felt like a dream. A dream she had recalled many times, while nothing else lived up to it.
    “How about keeping your affairs private from each other?” Doug suggested wryly. “That’s when you need good advice.”
    “ There may be one or two secrets yet to emerge,” Adrik admitted, squeezing her hand gently.
    “ No secrets.” Christie’s voice was terse.
    “ No ring!” Eileen cried, pointing at their hands entwined in Christie’s lap. “We haven’t seen the ring! I must call Roger – it will be another exclusive for