Read More Than Paradise for Free Online Page A

all hell.
    Talk dirty, Ash prayed. Just once, please. “Henry Powell is sending some of his security guys over. He got agitated when I explained the situation. And here’s the thing. Those guys, they’re not hired for their brains. Do you understand?”
    A threat had never sounded so good.
    Dani got louder. “What are you saying?”
    “Put it this way. You have ten minutes to pack your things and get out. Tamsin doesn’t want blood on her carpet. The steam-cleaning chemicals bother her.”
    Ash hovered indecisively in the doorway. She knew she ought to be gallant and rush to Dani’s defense, but from the sound of things Dani had created her own problems. Besides, life held so few surprises she wanted to make the most of this one. It didn’t sound like the woman calling the shots was armed with anything but her delicious arrogance and extraordinary vocal cords. Ash wanted to meet her. As in, yesterday.
    • 35 •

    JENNIFER FULTON
    Karlah belatedly piped up. “Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”
    “Dani,” the voice sensually invited, “perhaps you’d like to explain why you’re still living in the home of the partner you’ve been cheating on. Is this the other woman, or are you just slutting around with whoever?”
    “Dani? What’s she talking about?” Karlah sounded genuinely shocked.
    Dani was silent.
    The unwelcome visitor knew she had won. Ash could tell from the silky satisfaction that entered her tone. “Shall I call the police and have you both arrested? Or do you want to take your chances with Henry’s boys? Dani, you know a good plastic surgeon, I’m sure.” A sigh. “Facial reconstruction…ouch.”
    Whoever this sultry-spoken hardass was, Ash would pay to be intimidated by her. At the risk of making a poor Þ rst impression, she wished she could hang around for an introduction, but she didn’t like the way things seemed headed. The police. She pictured herself downtown trying to explain why she was on an Interpol watch list. Bad idea.
    Silently she closed and locked the door, then headed for a bay of double-hung windows at the far end of the room. Cold air rushed at her face as she lifted one and peered down into the ß oodlit gardens below. It was maybe a twenty-foot drop. She’d handled worse without breaking an ankle.
    Determined to get out before she could be sucked into someone else’s drama, she hurriedly Þ nished dressing and double-checked that she hadn’t left anything crucial behind. Like her car keys and wallet.
    Someone thumped on the door and Karlah’s mufß ed voice begged,
    “Ashley! Come out here!”
    Ash thought she could make out the stranger’s response. “Oh, tell me this isn’t happening. There are three of you? No wonder this place smells like last week’s crotch stains. Someone hand me a sanitary wipe.”
    Ash had to cover her mouth so she wouldn’t laugh out loud. An object crashed against a wall. Dani was throwing stuff, she surmised.
    “Tell her to get up here right now,” the outraged blonde yelled.
    “She can’t just throw me out.”
    “Oh, but I can.”
    • 36 •

    MORE THAN PARADISE
    Ash could not believe how wet every word made her. Get a grip on yourself, she thought and lifted the window all the way up, thankful that it was high enough and awkward enough to access that it didn’t have security locks. Hauling herself onto the ledge, she twisted and got her legs out, then scanned the grounds for the softest place to land. A strip of lush lawn looked promising. Even better, a huge pile of wood chips and leaf mold had been dumped near a ß ower bed, obviously part of some fall landscaping project before the snows came. Ash wasn’t sure if she could hurl herself far enough to hit the mound dead center, but it was worth a shot.
    As the door-thumping grew more insistent and the handle started to rattle, she reß ected that this had been quite a night. Then she jumped.
    • 37 •

    • 38 •

    MORE THAN PARADISE

CHAPTER FOUR
    The