The Seduction Trap Read Online Free PDF

in his strong arms. And it was harder than it should have been to drag herself free.
    Unhappily, she lifted the thick fringe of lashes which shaded her anxious forest-dark eyes. They asked him the unspoken question. What’s happening?
    ‘Sorry,’ she whispered distractedly, and even more stupidly said, ‘I’m so tired. I tripped.’
    ‘Did you?’
    That wasn’t really a question at all. It sounded horribly like the cool carelessness of a man who was so used to women throwing themselves at him that he treated them all with scant respect. She flushed again, indignant with herself-and with him for making assumptions.
    Desperate to prove her sublime indifference to his insidious charms, she said stiffly, ‘Look, you don’t need to come any further. Just point in the general direction. I’ll find it on my own.’
    ‘No. I’ll take you to the door.’ There was no room for argument in that tone. ‘You’re almost asleep on your feet., ‘That’s why I tripped,’ she persisted stubbornly, squirming with mortification when he neglected to agree with her. Looking ahead, she saw nothing but the steep rise of steps as they twisted and turned up the hill. It occurred to her that surely, no bakery would ever have set up shop this far from the centre. Suddenly suspicious of his motives, she bit her lip, wondering where he was taking her.
    ‘Rue Boulangerie,’ he announced, and pointed to a lane half-hidden on her left.
    ‘Oh!’ She’d misjudged him. They’d arrived! Tessa’s whole body slumped against the wall in sheer relief. ‘That’s wonderful!
    You’ve no idea how grateful I am! Thank you. Thank you!’ Her beatific smile apparently startled him. For a breathless moment he stared down at her, his expression
    puzzled. Then, ‘Let’s make sure your mother is in,’ he suggested with silky smoothness.
    ‘Of course she’ll be in!’ she said in surprise. ‘It’s been arranged. Which house is it?’
    ‘The one at the end.’
    It was quite small, part of a short terrace of crumbling buildings. The evidence that it once had been a shop was apparent in the large window and faded sign above the door. The house looked uncared-for, and Tessa swallowed back the lump in her throat.
    ‘It needs a lot of work done to it,’ she said in a small voice, her heart sinking as she ran an expert eye over the building. ‘Aren’t you going to knock?’ asked Guy, when she hesitated. ‘I’m. ..’ Her hands fluttered in the air helplessly. She flung a panic-stricken glance up at him, confused by the turmoil of her emotions. ‘I’m nervous. It’s a long time since I’ve seen my mother,’ she confided huskily. ‘Twenty years ago. I was five.’ She drew in a deep breath. ‘All I remember is a mass of blonde hair and the smell of jasmine. I-I wonder what she’ll make of me? I’ve heard so much about her.’
    ‘Have you?’ For several seconds he studied her face, his expression unreadable. ‘Then,’ he said eventually, ‘the sooner you get the next few minutes over with the better.’ And he reached up to rap on the door with a fist so hard that it would have summoned the dead.
    Tessa swallowed to calm her nerves and hastily tidied her silky hair with her fingers. No one came. He knocked again, with the same result. Bewildered, she exchanged glances with Guy, her stomach lurching sickeningly.
    ‘This is the right house?’ she asked. He nodded. Pityingly. And her hands went clammy. ‘She must be in!’ she cried, her voice wavering.
    ‘Must she?’ He was frowning at the peeling paint on the door, his fingers lifting off one or two of the flakes. His thumb investigated the inadequate pointing of the stone facade. ‘Perhaps-as I suspected-there’s another reason she’s not answering.’
    There was a sudden silence. Tessa’s eyes rounded in alarm.
    ‘You’re deliberately trying to frighten me!’ she accused him. He looked as if he felt genuinely sorry for her. Caught by an urge to grab him and shake him for