Secret Nights at Nine Oaks Read Online Free PDF Page A

imagining the damage. “It wasn’t pretty,” Phoebe said.
    â€œYou would have been better served to study harder,” Jean Claude said.
    â€œOh yeah, sure, but then, that would have been sensible.”
    â€œDid you pass the course?” a voice said from the doorway, and they all looked up.
    Cain was leaning against the door frame and the room grew noticeably quiet. When Willis made to leave, Phoebe subtly put her hand on his arm, keeping him still. How long had he been standing there?
    She tipped her chin up. “Yes I did. I didn’t have much else to do but study for the exam with a stomachache. Your sister, however, didn’t make higher than a C on the final.”
    â€œTattletale,” Cain said, amused.
    â€œWhat are friends for?” She grinned hugely, then said, “You going to stand there or come join us?”
    Cain recognized the challenge in her eyes. Everyone stared and waited. Never taking his gaze off her, he pushed off the door frame and came into the kitchen. Her triumphant smile was damned annoying.
    â€œSir, would you like your dinner now?” Jean Claude said.
    â€œSure he would,” Phoebe said, nudging out a stool, and Cain hesitated before he sat beside her.
    Jean Claude looked at him, waiting, and Cain nodded, too interested in feeling the heat of Phoebe’s body, in smelling her perfume. It was intoxicating. She was intoxicating. Dressed in a short denim skirt and a red top that scooped low enough to show come great cleavage, she looked fresh and incredibly desirable. But then, all Phoebe had to do was walk into a room and he was pretty much sunk.
    Her note under the coffee service tray hadn’t pulled him from his office, though her scribbled words “Come out and play with me” were evocative enough to give him daydreams for the rest of his life.
    But he’d been drawn by the noise, the laughter that echoed down the hall. It had been a very long time since he’d heard that. He’d stood at the door for a couple of minutes, watching as Phoebe pulled everyone into the conversation, turning the focus off her and onto the men. She talked easily, smiled often, and looked right at home. But then she was the highlight of the house. Aside from his sister, there hadn’t been a woman at Nine Oaks in five years. Cain’s thoughts shifted to Lily and he instantly derailed them, unwilling to ruin his dinner.
    Jean Claude served up a plate of dinner and Cain ate, listening as Phoebe told a joke. Laughing with them, one of the men said goodbye, and left.
    â€œI saw you diving, Miss Phoebe,” Willis said and Cain shot Phoebe a covert look. “You’re very good. That jackknife was something else.”
    â€œThank you, Willis.”
    For one pointed moment, she looked directly at Cain as if to say, “see, I told you so.” But all Cain had on his mind was the sexy image of her prancing out of his office with her bare behind jiggling. He’d tried all day to banish that picture and failed. He sure as hell didn’t need another reminder. His body wanted this woman. It damn near screamed when he was near her. And sitting beside her, feeling her arm brush his, was enough to shoot another wave of heat through his bloodstream. He was glad there were people around; he couldn’t trust himself alone with her.
    â€œI was on a team in college,” Phoebe said. “Heck, I was on three. Track, 500-meter relay swimming, diving.” She looked at the young man. “I’ve always been wound a little too tight.”
    â€œWell, there’s a news flash,” Cain said dryly, eating.
    â€œNo. Really?” Jean Claude put in and she laughed. “I’m surprised that you can sit still long enough to write.”
    She looked up, chewed, then swallowed. “You know?”
    â€œWe read the papers, bébé, ” Jean Claude said.
    Cain felt a surge go through her, saw her shoulders go taut.