Read Donovans 02 - Jade Island for Free Online

she noticed that his unusual eyes were watching her with the kind of remote, measuring glance usually reserved for unwanted relatives who showed up on the doorstep just in time for dinner.
    “What are you talking about?” she asked.
    “You. Following me. Tonight. Two days ago. Last week.”
    “Are you referring to the fact that we’ve both attended the same jade showings?”
    “Yes.”
    “That constitutes following you?”
    “A guy can hope.”
    “A guy can drop off.”
    Kyle shrugged. “Okay.”
    He turned and started to walk away.
    “Wait,” Lianne said before she could think better of it.
    There were promises to keep. And there was the undeniable fact that Kyle Donovan interested her. Maybe she was finally getting over the man who had seduced her, married a proper Chinese maiden, and then had been surprised when Lianne didn’t want to continue the relationship.
    Like mother, like daughter.
    Kyle turned back toward Lianne. And waited.
    Lianne took a hidden, calming breath and glanced up through her eyelashes at the tall man whose shoulders were too wide for her comfort. The wineglass looked small in his big hand, yet he held the crystal with precision and delicacy. His inherent restraint and coordination reassured her. She repeated what had become her mantra in the past two weeks: You can do it. Women do it all the time.
    Yet Lianne had never stalked a good-looking stranger. Until recently. And she had been caught. Now she wondered what to do next. Something subtle, perhaps indirect,certainly calm, preferably patient. Those were the qualities favored by her almost-family of Tang.
    “I have a really big favor to ask,” Lianne said baldly. Subtlety, indirection, and patience be damned.
    “Decent wine?” Kyle asked.
    She looked at her own half-full glass and almost smiled. She was so edgy tonight that everything tasted like vinegar and ashes. She set her glass aside, took a steadying breath, and smiled.
    “Try the beer,” she suggested, raising her voice to carry over a burst of Cantonese as three connoisseurs argued over the merits of a Ming statue. “The Chinese aren’t noted for their understanding of wine.”
    “That explains it.”
    “What?”
    “Last week. Bubbles in the burgundy.”
    Despite Kyle’s dry words and crooked smile, his golden-green eyes were watching her with unflinching patience. He was waiting for her answer the way a cougar waited for a fawn to do something stupid.
    A server came by balancing a tray of wineglasses both empty and full. He picked up Lianne’s glass, accepted Kyle’s, and took their refusal of more wine with an understanding smile.
    “Bubbles in the burgundy,” Lianne repeated, biting her lower lip and smiling almost sadly as the waiter disappeared into the crowd.
    Silence grew. Kyle did nothing to break it.
    “You know,” she said, “it would be easier if you at least smiled again.”
    He did.
    It wasn’t.
    “I’m not planning on sticking a nail file in your oversize chest,” Lianne said, “if that’s what is bothering you.”
    Despite his wariness of the intriguing Ms. Blakely, Kyle’s smile warmed a few degrees. The thought of the petite lady attacking him was amusing.
    It was also arousing. The stirring of his body surprised him. He hadn’t been much interested in women lately. Being set up to die by a former lover had had a chilling effect on his interest in the fair sex.
    “What do you want from me?” Kyle asked bluntly.
    Irritation jerked, replacing Lianne’s uneasiness. He had no reason to act as though she was a criminal or a beggar asking for a handout.
    “Do I have to have an agenda? Hasn’t a girl ever come on to a big stud muffin like you?” she asked with cool sarcasm.
    “Yeah. That’s how I know you aren’t. What do you want from me, Lianne Blakely, and what makes you think I can help you out?”
    “You’re big.”
    “So is a stuffed elephant. Want me to call a taxidermist?”
    The idea of hauling a stuffed elephant to jade