Read Tess's Tale (The Chanel Series Book 3) for Free Online Page B

hard to breathe as he drew closer.
    ‘Is it all right,’ his voice was husky, ‘if I kiss you?’
    I felt heat in my cheeks but I nodded my head, hoping I didn’t stuff it up. I’d been taking notes over the last year, watching Brittney and the other girls. But even though I knew the theory, my first practical exam was still nerve-racking.
    I shouldn’t have worried. Kissing Harry came as naturally to me as breathing. I felt the warmth of his breath a moment before his lips touched mine, then all rational thought went out of my head. I clung to him as our lips slid over each other’s. His arms pulled me in hard against him, and when we finally broke apart we were both breathing heavily.
    ‘I’ll see you later.’ He reached out a finger and touched me on the nose.
    ‘Tonight?’ Oh please let it be tonight.
    He nodded as he backed away from me. ‘Tomorrow is too far away.’

3
Here Comes The Bride
    Harry came to the club that night, and every night after that, with, or without his father. He sat in the front booth while I was singing, and when I wasn’t, he joined me and Liss at the bar. I was happy about that because his father scared the living bejesus out of me. He laughed a lot, sure, but even while he was laughing, his eyes were hard and carried their fair share of crazy.
    My favourite times though were the ones when we were alone, talking, kissing and staring into each other’s eyes like moonstruck teenagers. If I had realised how wonderful falling in love was, I might have tried it before.
    I had been worried about what Liss would think of Harry and me dating, but she welcomed him into our home with open arms. And he started spending more and more time sitting with her and Thor at the bar while I was on stage.
    Things continued blissfully for a few months. But slowly I noticed a change in Harry. Oh, he was still as devoted as ever, but he carried a mantle of tension. When we were together it wasn’t so obvious, but when he was with the other Mafiosi, tension radiated off all of them. Jolly Jim stopped laughing and Lou the Brain had a perpetual frown.
    Something bad had obviously happened and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what.
    We were sitting on the little deck off the kitchen when I summoned up the courage to ask him about it.
    ‘What’s wrong?’
    He squeezed my hand and broke from his contemplation of the building across the road. ‘Wrong? Nothing. Everything between us is wonderful. Isn’t it?’
    ‘Apart from your insistence on leaving me a virgin.’ Things had gotten pretty hot and heavy between us over the last month and I wanted way more than he was giving me. I knew he wanted it to and couldn’t understand what he was waiting for.
    He laughed, leaning over to kiss me. The feel of his mouth on mine ignited all sorts of improper feelings and thoughts. I wanted to feel his hands slipping up under my blouse, hell I wanted to feel him stripping my clothes off my body. I wanted to feel the weight of him on top of me as he possessed me totally. But he wasn’t going to give me that, and I wasn’t about to let him break me from my train of thought when it had taken so long for me to ask.
    I pushed him away. ‘Tease.’ I re-arranged my clothing. Somehow they always managed to get all awry when Harry kissed me. ‘I wasn’t talking about us.’
    I watched the emotions flit across his face as he met my gaze. There was a war going on inside him. Part of him desperately wanted to tell me and part of him didn’t.
    The part that wanted to, won out. He sighed and looked back across the street, taking up his contemplation of the building. ‘You know who my father is?’
    ‘Of course. I’m a virgin, not dumb.’
    He smiled at my jibe. ‘He and some of the others own some of the casinos.’
    I hadn’t known that .
    ‘They use them to launder money.’
    That was probably more than I needed to know.
    ‘Anyway, a substantial sum of money’s gone missing. There’s a lot of finger pointing going