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BOOK 9
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Being Yours BOOK 9
George Dixon watched the large crocodile of people emerge from the intermediary house by the east wall.As the owner of fifteen per cent of the Orchid House, he’d been asked to attend the full day’s festivities, of course, but he’d only just decided to put in an appearance.It was three-fifteen p.m.The extra waiters and waitresses hired for the lunch had been circulating in the grounds all afternoon, laden with trays of champagne, fruit juice and little nibbles. He hijacked a waiter and grabbed a glass of cold Moet et Chandon and a few smoked salmon pastries that melted in the mouth.He was lounging against the fountain that was the centre-piece of the outer grounds. Round, made of stone, and full of fish and water-lilies, it shot a fountain of water nearly thirty feet into the air.It was cooler there.George didn’t much like the heat. He was a small but very fat man, with a round belly and short, stocky legs. He could only imagine what the heat must be like inside the hot-houses.G
Being Yours BOOK 9
Lohano Tiki drove his bright yellow Ferrari up the long gravel incline and parked in front of the huge pillared portico that was the entrance to the Black Orchid Palace.He climbed out of the car, and quickly ducked down to check his hair in the wing-mirror.Good. Nicely wind-ruffled and carefree.A handsome, square-jawed face looked back at him, tanned a deeper colour by the desert sun.By the Nevadan desert sun, to be exact.His shirt was dazzling white and casually opened at the throat to reveal a strong dark column of neck and the first few wisps of dark chest hair.His jacket was white linen, faultlessly tailored, his slacks a dark green. His loafers came from Rome. His only piece of jewellery was a modest, leather-strapped watch from Switzerland.He was dressing to impress Koki’Hana as much as his rebellious and strong-willed granddaughter.He sprang lithely up the four rounded steps, that were spread out like a fan and led to the huge, impressive, carved oak doors of the palace
Being Yours BOOK 1
A bateau-mouche glided over the dark water of the Seine. The glow from the lamplight joined the silvery light of the moon to dance on the spreading wake.It had been a long day, Nathan Damaron reflected, casually slipping his hands into his pockets as he strolled along the rough stones of the quay. But Paris never disappointed. The city was like a beautiful woman, seductive in her diamond lights and intriguing scents. Spring was in the air and lovers were in each other’s arms.“Excuse me?”A young woman materialized in front of him. So suddenly had she appeared, he was instantly forced to halt before he walked right into her. He caught sight of a lovely face, long brown hair, and a smile.“Would you mind kissing me as if you’re madly in love with me and are never going to let me go?” she asked in a rush. Without waiting for his answer, she threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.Instantly, he grabbed her upper arms, intending to imtangle them from around his neck a
Being Yours BOOK 1
Surely they’d heard the same thing. The Hotel Crillon had formerly been a palace, built for Louis XV. Royalty. Palace. It had seemed funny to her, but her little attempt at breaking the ice fell flat. Instead of cracking jokes, she counseled herself, she should concentrate on accomplishing what she’d come for, then getting out with her skin still intact.“The Hotel Crillon is the closest exclusive, high-priced hotel to the place where—” She stopped again, this time for a different reason, and cleared her throat. “Where—”“Where you threw yourself at me and kissed me,” he supplied, his tone helpful, his expression anything but.At the second mention of a kiss, the attitude of the other two Damarons changed slightly. Now they seemed more interested than hostile. With a glance at each other, they settled back in their chairs, obviously having no intention of going anywhere.Danielle passed her fingers across her forehead. She could feel her face growing hot with embarrassment. “Look. If
Being Yours BOOK 1
He’d been smiled at by many beautiful women, but there was something unique about Danielle.Very few things he could think of would have gained her his complete and undivided attention as quickly as the Idss had. It had been a sucker punch. He hadn’t seen it coming, and when it did arrive, he’d been helpless to guard against it.He’d been thinking about it ever since.He’d looked forward to their next encounter, because he’d thought he would be able to make her pay for kissing him as she had, for making him want her, then for running away with another man.But she’d fooled him.“Isn’t a scavenger hunt kids’ play?”“I suppose it depends on your point of view. My friends and I thought it was great fun, and we didn’t break too many laws.”“Too many?”She shrugged. “More importantly, no one got hurt.”“I suppose that depends on your point of view.”“You’re talking about the kiss, aren’t you?”“That was the only part of the scavenger hunt I was personally involved in.”Firmly she shook her
Being Yours BOOK 1
He slowly smiled. “Dani.”By the time she returned to the apartment, her friends had already crashed for the night. She threaded her way across a floor full of sleeping bodies and made it to the bathroom. There, she undressed, washed up, and finally, in a T-shirt and boxer shorts, sHpped into her own sleeping bag.“Dani?” she heard her friend Marcia whisper.She rolled over to face her. “Yeah?” she whispered back.“How’d it go?”“Somewhere between the Spanish Inquisition and a meat grinder.”“Hey, at least you’re back in one piece.”“I’m not so sure.”“Why?”“He wants me to fly back with him on his private jet tomorrow and attend a ball Saturday night.”“Hey, way to go. Sounds like you caught yourself, Damaron.”“I don’t think so. It’s more like he caught me.”There was a subtle grace about Dani, even while she slept, Nathan reflected as he watched her. They hadn’t really talked since they’d boarded the jet in Paris. As was his custom, he’d pulled out his work even before the jet bega
Being Yours BOOK 1
“And just what will I have to do to solve your problems?”He shrugged. “Nothing too hard. I will only require you to perform a small service for me.”“Excuse me, but the only service I agreed upon was to be your date.”“Right, and in doing so, you will be . . . doing a job, so to speak.”She pondered that a moment. “So let me understand this. To pay off my debt to you, I must attend the ball with you, but while doing so, I should look upon it as a job and not as an opportunity to have been?”“Mmmm, Em afraid you don’t quite have it yet. I said if you had nothing but fun, it wouldn’t constitute paying off your debt.”“I see.” She nodded. “I must suffer part of the time. Okay. So what type of suffering would you prefer?”“Not suffering, just a little bit of work.”“Oh, we’re back to the job part. Okay, I’m game. You have dishes that will need to be washed? Floors that need to be scrubbed? What?”“More like debutantes and their mamas to be blocked, along with the odd divorced socialite o
Being Yours BOOK 1
“The dress had about twenty pounds of beads on it,” she said in further explanation.“I’m sorry,” he finally said, and funny enough she knew he meant it. “I’m afraid I didn’t have time to go out and choose the dress myself, and all my assistant told me about it was that it was black.”“Don’t apologize.” Her reaction to his sincerity softened her voice. “As I said, it was a very kind thing fpr you to do, but it just wasn’t necessary.”In the end she’d gone home empty-handed from her sister’s and delved into her own closet. The dress she’d ultimately decided to wear was very simple, very light. There was a silk strapless underdress of mist blue, then a one-shouldered overdress made out of sheer silk chiffon in the water colors of mauves, greens, and blues. A graceful, floating dress, its skirt fell to an asymmetrical hem, on one side cascading downward in uneven gossamer layers to her feet, the other side stopping at her knees. A handful of blue sequins resembling glistening drops of wa
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