Runaway Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

immense wealth before, now began to hate it.  She started to feel her world closing in on her.  Everywhere she turned there was another hopeful with sterling, dollars, Euros - depending on his point of origin - dancing in his eyes. 
    However, there had been one.  He was fun.  He was attentive.  He wanted nothing except to be with her.  And there came a time when that was all she wanted, too. 
    Then...the mask came off.
    Then, all Genie wanted was to get away from him and everyone else who had his sights on her.  To get away to somewhere where no one would know who she was.
    Somewhere to escape shallow, fortune-hunting male attention.
    Genie pushed the hurt back down to where she had harboured it for many weeks and brushed aside the painful memories.  She took a deep breath and said, “I am here - in the present.  Now.”
    She surveyed Lorenzo's kitchen. “Look where 'Now' is.  A perfect hiding place.” She smiled. “Now I suppose dear old 'Celebs' rag is running, 'Genie Hamilton, the Runaway Heiress,' or, 'Where is Genie Hamilton?'”
    She busied herself cleaning the work-surfaces.  “Let them ask.  They aren't going to find me here.”
    “Being snowed in has its up-side,” she said.  “Mind you, heaven knows what 'Celebs' would make of her current situation if they found out.  How about, 'Genie Hamilton in Snowed-In Love-Nest with Italian Farmer'.”  A laugh bubbled to the surface.  “Never mind 'Celebs', what would Lorenzo think of the idea of a love nest?”
    Her smile faded.  The big question was what did Lorenzo think of her?  If, by the strangest chance he already knew her story, her stay here will be more of the same.
    This time, however, there will be no running away.
    “On the other hand, what if I'm just an ordinary-everyday girl to him - one that isn't a “Celebs” celebrity?”  She paused to consider the idea. “An ordinary-everyday girl.  That would be nice.”
    “What am I saying?  I am an ordinary, everyday girl.  It’s not my fault, men see me lugging about a treasure chest.” 
    She glanced at the kitchen window and wondered what Lorenzo was doing.  “I'm an ordinary-everyday girl, Lorenzo Calderone,” she said. 
    She strode to the window and peered out. “Wonder where he is?”
    She mentally tossed a coin. “Heads, I'll go out to see him; tails, I'll go to bed.”
    As soon as she voiced the word “bed”, the thought of snuggling up warm under the quilt exerted a strong pull.  The temptation was great, but so were thoughts of 'warm' contact with her host.
    “Cold contact, you mean, Hamilton,” she said, turning away from the window. “He's out there in the snow.”
    Nevertheless, her mental coin came up heads. 
    She slipped into the cold weather gear and checked herself in the mirror.  “I think I'll pass,” she said.  “Not exactly seductive.  It leaves too much to the imagination.  But, it'll do.” 
      She flung open the door. “Where are you, Lorenzo the fabulous?” she said.
    “Right here,” he responded, a mere metre away, shovelling snow away from the doorway.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Five
     
     
    The heat in Genie’s face was sufficient to melt the snow all the way to the nearest mountain.  Her sole comfort was that fact that Lorenzo had his back towards her and couldn’t see her discomfort.
    Try talking yourself out of this, Hamilton.
    “If it snows tonight, all your work will be wasted,” she said.  Oh, brilliant stuff.  Where did you get those wonderful conversation skills?
    Lorenzo turned to her with a wide smile and rested on the handle of his spade.  “Lorenzo the fabulous?”
    “Don’t,” she said.
    He laughed and placed his open palm on his heart. “The best compliment I’ve had all day.”
    “You’re welcome,” Genie said in a small voice. 
    Lorenzo frowned.  “Now, why are you here making compliments?  I thought you were going to rest.”
    “I wish I had now.”  She shrugged.  What had