The Waiting Game Read Online Free PDF Page B

gently.
    Sara was instantly intrigued. "Somehow you don’t look like a vegetarian."
    He leaned back against the cushion of the booth and picked up his coffee cup. "What do vegetarians look like?"
    "Oh, I don’t know. Maybe like leftovers from a sixties’ commune or like a member of some exotic religious cult. Do you avoid meat for health or moral reasons?"
    "I avoid it because I don’t like it," Adrian said too quietly.
    Feeling very much put in her place, Sara managed a faintly polite smile. She knew when she was being told to shut up. "I guess that’s as good a reason as any other. So much for that topic. Let’s try another one. When will you be able to leave for the mountains? I’d like to start as soon as possible, if you don’t mind."
    Adrian’s dark lashes lowered in a thoughtful manner and then his steady gaze met Sara’s. "Was I rude?"
    "Of course not," she assured him lightly. "I should never have pried. What you eat is entirely your own business."
    "I didn’t meant to be rude," Adrian insisted.
    "You weren’t. Forget it. Here come the scones and they do look good." Sara flashed her best and most charming smile. The one she reserved for cocktail parties and management types.
    "Don’t."
    She blinked and arched a brow in cool question. "I beg your pardon?"
    "I said don’t," Adrian muttered as his plate was set in front of him.
    "Don’t what?"
    "Smile at me like that."
    "Sorry," Sara said rather grimly. Perhaps she would go to the mountains without him.
    "It looks like something left over from your yuppie days," Adrian explained carefully. "Kind of upwardly mobile. A little too flashy and not quite real. I’d rather have the real thing."
    Sara couldn’t resist. "Choosy, aren’t you?"
    "About some things. I can leave right after breakfast if you like."
    "Actually," she began forbiddingly, "I’m on the verge of changing my mind."
    "About breaking into your uncle’s cottage?" Adrian slid a piece of egg onto a piece of toast.
    "About taking you with me," Sara said sweetly.
    He glanced up, surprised. "Just because I was a little short with you a few minutes ago?"
    Put like that, it did sound rather trite. Sara was at a loss to explain exactly why she was vaguely reluctant to have him accompany her, but the feeling had been growing since she’d awakened that morning. She didn’t really have a valid excuse for refusing his companionship, however. After all, she was the one who had sought him out and she had done so precisely because Lowell Kincaid had
    advised it several months ago. The sense of ambivalence she was feeling for Adrian was a new emotion for her. Sara drummed her berry-tinted nails on the table and decided to lay down a few ground rules.
    Normally she didn’t think too highly of rules, but there were times when they represented a certain safety.
    "I suppose I can’t stop you from coming with me, although I’m not at all sure it’s necessary. But I would appreciate it if you would keep in mind that this whole plan to get into the cottage is my idea."
    "Meaning you’re in charge?" Adrian munched his toast, watching her with intent eyes.
    "Something like that. Forgive me if I’m jumping to conclusions, Adrian, but I have this odd feeling that you might be the type to take over and run the show." Even as she said the words, Sara realized the truth of them. Perhaps this was the source of her vague wariness regarding this man.
    "Think of how nice it will be to have someone else along to share the blame in the event you get caught breaking and entering."
    Sara’s eyes widened. "Not a bad point," she conceded. Then her sense of humor caught up with her.
    "What did you do before you became a writer, Adrian? You seem to have a knack for getting what you want. Were you a businessman?"
    He considered the question. "I guess you could say I was sort of a consultant."
    "A consultant?"
    "Umm. Someone you call in when things go wrong and have to be fixed in a hurry. You know the type."
    "Sure. We used