Read Home for Love for Free Online Page B

"I'm not trying to hide anything. It all seems very straightforward to me. We're business associates. We should avoid… certain things. But it's nothing—nothing to get worked up about." She folded her arms tightly, willing her heart to stop its tumult. Oh, she was angry all right—but mostly at herself. How could she respond so quickly to his touch?
    The knocker at the front door rapped peremptorily, jarring Kate's taut nerves.
    "That must be my ride," Steven said. "Be careful tonight. Don't kill yourself with that ladder."
    "You don't need to worry about me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself," she retorted. His expression was skeptical as he went to open the door.
    A beautiful woman stood on the porch. No, she wasn't just beautiful; riveting was a more appropriate word to describe her. Luxuriant black hair flowed over her shoulders, and her mouth was an unabashed slash of scarlet in a cream-white face. Every curve of her stunning figure was tightly sheathed in green silk.
    "My, my," the woman said, giving Steven a frank appraisal. "It looks like tonight is going to be promising, after all. I'm Gloria Nestor, Steve. Randolph sent me over to be your chauffeur for the night." She made "chauffeur" sound like something delightful and wicked, and her eyes roved over Steven as if he were a tall chocolate shake. Kate glanced at him to see how he was taking all this female admiration, but it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Women probably looked at him like that all the time. Kate herself looked at him like that. It was a perfectly natural and perfectly annoying reaction!
    "Gloria, I'd like you to meet Kate Melrose," Steven was saying, but Gloria barely flickered a glance in Kate's direction. She tucked her hand in the crook of Steven's arm, her jade-green fingernails resplendent against his tuxedo.
    "Come on, Steve," she said in her throaty voice. "I'm going to show you what a warm and friendly place San Francisco can be."
    Steven started to look over his shoulder at Kate, but Gloria Nestor proved she had muscle along with everything else as she squired Steven away.
    Kate shut the door after them, leaning her forehead against it. The emptiness inside her was filling with a sharp pain whose source she didn't understand. It shouldn't bother her at all that Steven was spending the evening with a beautiful woman. He and Kate had agreed that their relationship ought to remain a strictly professional one—which didn't include any room for jealousy.
    Kate hated herself for what she did next. She simply couldn't stop from running up to the landing window. She was just in time to see Gloria and Steven driving away in a sleek, dark green Jaguar. Kate's little yellow Bug looked dowdy and forlorn as the Jaguar swept past it.
    Kate wilted and sank onto the stairway, rubbing her gold scarf against her cheek. But after a moment she sat up straight and glanced about defiantly in the gathering dusk. If she wanted, she could go out tonight herself. She pictured how she'd look, decked out in her corduroys and flowered shirt, her chipped nails displayed on Steven's tuxedoed arm. Then Gloria would appear, dazzling Steven in her designer gown—
    This wasn't the right fantasy. Kate wrapped her arms around her knees and refocused her thoughts. She had that really fantastic evening dress she'd bought last year for the party with Myron. So what if Myron was just a family friend, a boy she'd grown up with and who was like one of her brothers. That didn't mean she couldn't toss on the dress at a moment's notice and go sailing off with some gorgeous male. Her brothers had plenty of friends she could rely on for the purpose!
    Somehow the thought didn't cheer her up. Kate took a rag and started rubbing grime away from the newel post. But she couldn't concentrate on anything. All she could think about was Steven dancing close to Gloria in a ballroom somewhere. The thought was torment.
    Kate threw down her rag. There was no peace here