Read Love and Honor: The Coltrane Saga, Book 7 for Free Online Page A

excitement.
    Moments later she stared with a mixture of emotions at her reflection in the full-length mirror. The cap sleeves were draped off her shoulders, and beneath a sensuous spider web of black lace, her full bosom showed above the straight-line bodice. Beneath her bosom, it hung in a straight sheath, curving provocatively to her small, rounded rear. The dress fit perfectly—not a nip or tuck would have to be taken. Did she dare? she wondered anxiously as Kitty and Marilee called to her to let them see.
    Twisting and turning in front of the mirror, she experimented with the way her left leg was exposed when she moved. If, by chance, she encountered someone at the ball who could dance the tango as she had learned it from Carasia, there was no doubt that she would be the center of attention—and would be talked about for a long time to come. Carasia knew a different version from the ordinary dance that was currently all the rage in Europe. She knew the steps that had evolved from the Argentine milonga—fast, sensual, and in some circles considered indecent. Incorporating steps of the flamenco, the Spanish tango could be deliciously wicked. But Kit doubted there would be any really experienced dancers among the men at the ball.
    Kit took off the dress without modeling it. Stepping from behind the curtain she said to the anxious trio, “You’ll have to wait till tonight. I want everyone to be surprised.” Then, as Mademoiselle Delacorte happily rang up the sale, Kit said worriedly to Kitty, “If Mother sees me in that dress, she’ll never let me out of the house!”
    Kitty said that she had already thought about that. “She’ll want to see what you bought, so let’s just pick out one she’d approve of. You can put that on and make her think it’s what you’re wearing, but just as everyone is getting ready to leave, I’ll have some kind of emergency that will make me late. You can say that you’ll wait and come with me, and then you can change after the others have gone on ahead.”
    “Perfect,” Kit agreed. “Now I know where I inherited my devious nature.”
    Kitty winked. “Was there ever any doubt?”
     
     
    Only Travis was at the apartment when they got home. Colt was at an embassy smoker being held for out-of-town dignitaries, and Jade had gone to a tea for the wives.
    Travis started teasing Kit about Esteban Yubero. “Why did you stab him?” he asked. “I didn’t know my little sister was capable of such violence!”
    “Little sister!” Kit hooted. She turned to Kitty and demanded, “By how many seconds? You were there.”
    She gave them an indulgent smile, accustomed to their playful bickering. “It was less than a minute, and you both know it. Now, I don’t have time for your nonsense. I’m going up to take a nice, long bath and have a glass of sherry so I’ll be in the proper mood for tonight.”
    Following her, Marilee paused midway up the steps and grinned impishly at Travis, teasing, “If you don’t leave Kit alone, I’ll tell her about you and that demimonde you’re sneaking off to see.”
    Kitty froze, and as Marilee approached her on the stairs, she coolly asked, “And what do you know about demimondes, young lady?”
    “Nothing.” Marilee ran on up the steps. “I was just teasing!”
    But Kitty knew that she wasn’t teasing, just as she knew all too well that women found her grandson as handsome and desirable as they’d found his father, and his father’s father. Well, she wasn’t going to worry about it. He’d learn, as they had, how to deal with it. He probably already had, she thought to herself, smiling.
    When they were alone, Travis and Kit went into the first-floor parlor and helped themselves to a glass of cognac before sitting down on the divan.
    “Okay,” Travis said when they were settled. “I’ve heard Mother’s side of the story, several times. Let’s hear yours.”
    Kit shrugged. “It’s as she said. Belle was foaling, having trouble, and I