The Paris Assignment Read Online Free PDF

the bohemian I’d taken you for.”
    His lips quirked into a slow smile. “What?”
    “When the driver mentioned we were headed to the West Village, I pegged you as the resident of a bohemian studio for sure.”
    Where she expected a quick retort, instead a far more sober note tinged his face with the slightest edges of sadness as the smile faded. “It was my parents’ first home. My mother’s sister kept it until she retired to Florida and I moved in a few years ago.”
    Of course.
    “I’m sure it’s absolutely lovely.”
    Abby forced herself to keep the sympathy at a minimum, but knew instinctively she’d hit a raw nerve. Charles and Katherine Steele had been killed in a car accident a few years before she and Kensington became college roommates. Although she’d visited some of the family’s other homes, the brownstone on the Upper East Side that now served as House of Steele’s headquarters had been the most frequent destination. Even so, she knew their wealth had extended to other homes.
    Other memories.
    “What’s that look for?”
    She saw the question in his gaze before adding a question of her own. “I’m trying to understand how it is we’ve never met. I’ve known your sister for twelve years.”
    “I had quite a few years where I didn’t spend much time at home.”
    “What changed?”
    “A lot of things.” He shrugged, the motion casual, but she knew there was much more behind his words. “I grew up, mostly.”
    “It happens to the best of us.”
    “I suppose it does.” The shadows faded from his eyes, replaced with another vivid, killer smile. “You bring up a good point, though, which reminds me you never answered my question earlier. About how we met.”
    “I’ll follow your lead.”
    “Nope. We need to be in sync on this, especially if we’re asked separately.”
    The point was a legitimate one and she threw out the first thing that came to mind. “Walking in the park.”
    “Too cliché.”
    “Cliché?”
    “This is New York. A lot of people meet in the park.”
    “Which would make it a logical way to meet.”
    He shook his head. “Nope. It’s too efficient. You strike me as the type who pops in her earbuds, does her run and pays no attention to anything, or anyone, around you. Something else.”
    The urge to argue was strong, but she had to give him credit for being spot-on. “How’d you know I was a runner?”
    “Those legs.” His gaze roamed lightly over her body and she sucked in a breath at the electricity that hummed underneath her skin at the perusal.
    “Hmm. All right. How about at a business meeting?”
    “Nope.”
    “Why not?”
    “Then people will ask what I do, leading to another lie.”
    Abby had to give him credit. What started out as a simple exercise was rapidly morphing into a more serious discussion where walking in unprepared could give them away. “What do you do, then? You know. If I’m asked.”
    “I’m in software. If anyone pushes any harder, say fractal wave patterns and it’s usually more than enough to shut them up.”
    “You do realize fractal wave patterns are a legitimate, documented phenomenon in the financial industry. What are you going to do if you get a banker asking the question?”
    “Ramble.”
    She had to laugh at that. “You do this often?”
    “Often enough to know that people really don’t want to know the ins and outs of a computer geek’s mind.”
    “All right. Let’s just say we met on an internet dating site and be done with it.”
    “I don’t need to get a girl through my computer.”
    She shook her head at his sexist—and outdated—comment. “First, it’s a perfectly respectable way to meet someone. Second, you do live your life attached to a computer. It would make sense.”
    “No.”
    “Fine. You’ve got a better idea?”
    “We met through my sister. A simple family connection. It’s not exactly a secret you went to Radcliffe. So did Kensington. It’s a perfect cover and it has the added