Read Online Avoiding Mr Right by Sophie Weston - Free Book Online

you badly.’
    She sighed. ‘It’s not the contract.’
    A small flame lit in the dark eyes. ‘Well, then—’
    ‘I promised,’ she said simply.
    He stared. For a moment she thought he had not understood what she said.
    ‘I made a promise when I took the job—’ she began, but he had understood all right. He was shaking his head in disbelief.
    ‘What does that matter? You don’t care about these people.’
    It was her turn to look disbelieving. ‘I care about my promises.’
    He stared. Eventually he said slowly, ‘That is very—laudable.’
    Her blush was subsiding but she still felt far from at ease. She smiled at him with constraint. Suddenly, startlingly, the brown eyes began to dance.
    ‘So the lady in distress won’t let me carry her off,’ he said softly. ‘What can I do, then? Bring out your dragons.’
    Christina could not help herself. She looked at the black rubbish sack and laughed. ‘That was about all the tasks I had on hand at the moment.’
    He shook his head, seemingly disappointed. ‘No dragons at all?’
    Christina stared. The way his mouth was tilting, it almost sounded like a challenge.
    She thought of Captain Demetrius. Of his cousin, the first officer. Even better, of their absent royal employer who had commanded the whole mess into being.
    ‘None available for slaying,’ she said ruefully.
    The heavy brows rose. ‘You mean there are dragons and you’re afraid I won’t be able to handle them?’ He sounded affronted.
    She looked at the broad shoulders and laughed aloud. ‘No, no, I’m sure you could handle them beautifully. It’s just that if you slay them I’m out of a job. My employer might not feel about promises the same way that I do.’
    His eyes narrowed suddenly. ‘You’re fighting with your employer?’
    ‘My employer is an absentee. It’s not easy to fight with a man who isn’t there,’ Christina said crisply.
    His eyes went blank suddenly. ‘I don’t think I follow,’ he said slowly.
    ‘Oh, technically I take my orders from the captain. But the guy who calls the shots is a tennis-playing playboy with an unpronounceable title,’ Christina said, selecting freely from what she knew of the Prince. ‘He,’ she added with some bitterness, ‘chose the captain.’
    There was a curious little silence.
    Then Luc raised his brows enquiringly. ‘It really isn’t a happy ship, is it?’ he drawled.
    She laughed shortly. ‘I’ve been on happier.’
    The black brows twitched together. He looked at her broodingly. ‘This is—irritation,’ he said half to himself.
    Christina did not understand. It was occurring to her suddenly that he had shown no surprise at encountering her, and that, although he might have had the trip in his diary for ever, she had not the slightest idea who the man really was who owned that diary or what he was doing here.
    For a couple of moments during their conversation she had wondered whether he had pursued her to this place deliberately. But his manner did nothing to support that reading of the situation. He found her attractive all right, but whatever he was frowning over at the moment it was not her. If anything, he seemed almost too preoccupied to remember that she was there.
    And yet he was not surprised to see her…
    ‘What are you doing here?’ she said again abruptly.
    Luc’s eyes found hers. He smiled suddenly, brilliantly. ‘Reconsidering my strategy,’ he said. His voice was full of that infuriating secret amusement again.
    To Christina’s complete astonishment, he leaned down and slid the sunglasses down her nose so that he could speak straight into her suspicious eyes.
    ‘Don’t look so alarmed, Christina Howard. Don’t forget, you’re not afraid of me.’
    He bent his head before she knew what he was about and gave her a light, searing kiss full on her startled mouth.
    Then he was gone, slipping like a shadow among the shadows of the waterfront buildings. Christina stared after him. The kiss had been so brief