The Scarlet Wench Read Online Free PDF Page B

asleep. Want me to put in him his cot, Nora?” She nodded to Declan. “Hello, Mr. Barnes.”
      “Declan is fine. Nice to see you again,” Declan said.
      Nora was pleased Callie remembered to leave out Detective . “Thanks, Callie.” The deep purring of a throaty engine caused Nora to turn back to peer outside. “That must be Grayson with Gemma Hartwell and Fiona Church. They’re riding in from London together.”
      Declan followed her out onto the stoop to see a silver Jaguar XKR turn into the drive at a fast clip. It shrieked to a stop in front of the lodge with a belch of petrol fumes. Declan made a face, and Nora supposed he disapproved of the way the driver abused his tires. Or was it that she’d used the director’s first name? Three of the car’s four doors opened, spilling out the male driver and his two female passengers. The boot swung open as the driver ran around the car and up the steps.
      “As I live and breathe, it’s the red-haired fox,” the man pronounced.

Chapter Five

    “You always behaved very badly.”
    Charles: Act II , Scene 2

    12:45 PM

    Declan gritted his teeth when Grayson Lange scooped Nora into a bear hug that swept her off her feet. He relaxed his jaw when Nora caught his eye and rolled her own. The director’s long nose and angular jaw were offset by eyes that crinkled with laughter as he deposited Nora back on the ground.
      “Good to see you, too.” Nora smoothed her hair.
      Grayson put his hands on his hips and surveyed the area. “Just as charming as I remember it from last autumn. We missed you then, Nora.”
      “I was busy in hospital having a baby, Grayson. Let me help you with your luggage.” She pulled a small bag and a laptop case out of the boot, and the director dipped back for a large suitcase.
      Declan pushed the door wide and looked around for a doorstop. Nora winked as she passed him; the director followed, rolling the large case with another bag balanced on top.
      “Hello,” Grayson said, looking Declan up and down. “Come along, Gemma.”
      Declan bit back a protest that he wasn’t the bellboy. He held the door for the woman from the front seat. Her full-lipped face held light-hazel eyes; chin-length wavy blonde hair topped a voluptuous figure. Gemma Hartwell wore a fitted, navy-and-white polka-dot dress that nipped in at her waist and revealed a wealth of cleavage. In one hand, she carried a large flowered case. The other held a soft leather bag.
      “Hello, sailor,” she purred as she passed him.
      Declan watched her saunter down the hall after Grayson, hips swinging. The woman exuded sex appeal of a rather obvious sort that left him cold. Simon came down the stairs and met them at the registration desk.
      “Could I get some help here?” a woman’s voice said.
      Declan turned at the request of the second woman, a brunette with a thick fringe and shoulder-length hair cut bluntly straight. Fiona Church, he assumed from Nora’s description of the actors. Her silky, green tunic and pants were wrinkled but clung in all the right places to her slim frame. She stood by the backseat holding a leather train case and tapped one pointed shoe on the pavement to underscore her impatience. He decided to be a gentleman.
      “Actually, I’m another guest,” he explained as he reached for her bags.
      “Don’t bother, then.” She tried to hoist a huge leather sack out of the footwell of the backseat.
      “My pleasure,” he insisted, hauling the bag out. What did she have in here, a dead body? He admired the car’s interior, soft, charcoal leather with ivory stitching. Directing must be lucrative.
      She slung her purse over her shoulder and slammed the door. Declan followed her into the lodge, studying her smart look and trim figure. Too bad she came across as such a stuck-up tart.
      Nora came down the stairs as they reached the desk. “You must be Fiona.” She held out her hand in greeting. “I’m Nora Tierney, and I