The Passion Price Read Online Free PDF

twenty-five and forty, although there was an air of self-assurance about him that suggested he’d been around a while.
    The grey-haired lady stepped up to the counter first. ‘I made a booking for two for twelve-thirty,’ she said with a sweet smile. ‘The name’s Landsdale. Mrs Landsdale.’
    Angelina was highly conscious of the hunk standing at the lady’s shoulder. Was he staring at her from behind those opaque shades? It felt as if he was.
    â€˜Yes, I have your booking here, Mrs Landsdale,’ she replied, proud of herself for sounding so polite and professional in the face of the tension that was building inside her. ‘Would you like to dine inside, or alfresco? It’s really lovely outside today. No wind. Not too hot. And not too many flies.’
    The lady’s smile widened. ‘Alfresco sounds wonderful. What do you think, Jake? Shall we sit outside?’
    Angelina froze. Had she heard correctly? Had the woman really said that name?
    Angelina stared, open-mouthed, as he finally tookoff his sunglasses, her whole world tipping on its axis.
    It was him. Those eyes could not possibly belong to anyone else.
    â€˜Jake,’ she blurted out whilst her head whirled with the incredibility of this scenario.
    â€˜Hello, Angelina,’ he said in the same richly masculine voice he’d already had at seventeen. ‘I’m surprised you recognised me after all these years.’
    If it hadn’t been for the eyes, she might not have. He was nothing like the boy she remembered, or the man she’d imagined he might have become. This Jake was smooth and suave and sophisticated. More handsome than ever and obviously no longer underprivileged.
    â€˜Goodness, you mean this is Angelina,’ the grey-haired lady piped up before Angelina could find a suitable reply. ‘Jake, you naughty boy. Why didn’t you say something earlier?’
    He lifted his broad shoulders in an elegant shrug. ‘I spotted her through the windows, and decided if she didn’t recognise me back I wouldn’t embarrass her by saying anything.’
    Well, at least that meant he hadn’t deliberately come looking for her, Angelina realised with some relief. Still, this was an amazing coincidence, given she’d been thinking about him all morning. She could feel herself trembling inside with shock.
    â€˜I—er—didn’t recognise you till you took off your sunglasses,’ she admitted whilst she struggled to pull herself together. Think, girl.
    â€˜You do have very distinctive eyes, Jake,’ she added, bracing herself to look into them once more. This time she managed without that ridiculous jolt to her heart.
    â€˜Do I?’ he said with a light laugh. ‘They just look blue to me. But now that you have recognised me, I must ask. Is your father around?’ he whispered. ‘Should I put the sunglasses back on, pronto?’
    Angelina opened her mouth to tell him that her father was dead. But something stopped her. Some sudden new fear…
    This man before her, this grown-up and obviously wealthy Jake might present more of a danger than the loser she’d been picturing barely an hour earlier. This man had the means to take her son away from her, in more ways than one.
    She had to be very, very careful.
    â€˜You’re quite safe in here,’ she said, deciding she would tell him absolutely nothing of a personal nature till she’d found out more about him.
    But she was extremely curious. What woman—what mother —wouldn’t be?
    The questions tumbling round in her head were almost endless, the main one being how on earth had he come to look as if he’d win the bachelor-of-the-year award in every women’s magazine in Australia? And who was this Mrs Landsdale? What did she mean to Jake and how come she knew about her ?
    Despite—or perhaps because of—all these mysteries, Angelina resolved to keep her wits about her.