Read Platinum (Facets of Passion) for Free Online Page A

up?”
    “I think it’s best, yes. I’m sorry. I’m sorry to do it here.” She waved her glass vaguely at the party.
    “Is this because of what happened in the car?”
    “No.” And it wasn’t, she realized. Steel had simply awakened her, as if she’d fallen asleep without realizing it. “It seems like we both wanted this to work—and it’s been nice—but we don’t really have a spark, do we?”
    Brandon clutched his chest in mock agony. “Ah, I got hit with ‘nice.’ The kiss of death.”
    She giggled. This was the funny, charming Brandon she’d been attracted to. “I’m saying this badly.”
    “No.” He shook his head. “It’s just that…I thought you liked how things were. You never complained, for sure. What’s wrong with nice?”
    What’s wrong with brunch ?
    “Nothing at all. I want more than nice, Brandon. Don’t you? I want…” Something not pastel .
    “Fireworks? Drama?” Brandon gazed down at the beachgoers. “Love isn’t like a romance novel, Thea. Real people don’t live that way.”
    “The thing is—I don’t know that. I don’t know how people live because I’ve been playing it safe. I want to try some fireworks and see how it feels. Maybe I want to get a little sunburned. What’s the point of never getting skin cancer if I die an old woman who never played on the beach?”
    He stared at her as if he didn’t recognize her, with the slow dawning of understanding. “This is about that Steel fellow.”
    She shook her head. “It’s not. Not entirely,” she amended, not wanting to lie.
    He laughed, casting his gaze toward the heavens. “What a cliché this is. You know, the bad boy is fun until he leaves mud on your white carpet and forgets to use a coaster on your antique furniture.”
    She pressed her lips together, determined not to rise to his bait. And she owed Brandon at least that, a chance to inflict back some of the hurt she’d laid on him.
    She was home by early afternoon. Brandon saw her off with a friendly kiss and a reminder to put the tulips in water. Steel was nowhere in sight. Good—that would give her time to collect her thoughts. Decide how she wanted to handle this affair.
    Letting herself into the gallery, she checked that all was green on the alarm system. A few dust motes swam in the afternoon light. The cleaning crew would come tomorrow. The beat of rock music throbbed through the floor. So, he was down there. Working, most likely. Walking softly, she crossed to the door that led up to her apartment. A flutter of paper on the floor half under the door to Steel’s lair caught her eye. She picked it up. Scrawled on a torn piece of drawing paper was a single word:
    So ?
    There went time to consider and decide. She could creep upstairs, see the kitties, pretend she hadn’t seen the note. But that would be hiding. He would know it too.
    She tapped in the code, opened the door and descended into the flame-lit darkness.

Chapter Four
    Music throbbed and sparks flew through the air. He was welding, darkly silhouetted against the brightly spot-lit satyr, with a yellow-blue flare in front of him. It burned her eyes, making them water. Before she averted them, she noticed—not without some disappointment—that he wore heavy coveralls and a visored helmet.
    So much for the fantasy she’d brewed up of him in a wife-beater or shirtless, sweating as he worked the metal.
    Life isn’t like a romance novel .
    Still, her blood ran hot and fast thinking of what would happen now. Her nipples peaked, pressing hard against the lace bra. Wet heat pulsed between her legs. Steel would be in the mood. He’d promised that much.
    She wasn’t sure how to get his attention over the loud music without going too near those sparks, so she perched on a tall wooden stool sitting nearby. She hooked a heel over one rung and crossed her legs, watching him work and waiting for him to notice her. Enjoying the bubbling anticipation.
    Then he changed angles. The moment he caught