Read Online Betrayed: Days of the Rogue by Nicky Charles - Free Book Online

suddenly
realized she was sitting near the door and that he’d have to pass
right by her. She grabbed her tea cup and took a sip then nearly
choked when he stopped beside her chair, his shadow falling across
her table.
    She could feel him willing her to
look up, waves of power seeming to radiate from him. For perhaps
two seconds she resisted but her awareness of him, of his nearness,
couldn’t be denied. Giving in to the urging inside her, she allowed
her gaze to travel up the length of him.
    When her eyes finally met his, the
intensity of his stare caused her to inhale sharply. He was
examining her feature by feature, a frown marring his brow as if
she were a puzzle he couldn’t solve. A muscle worked in his jaw and
shadows passed, in rapid succession, over his face as if he were in
emotional turmoil; hope, despair, longing, confusion. His lips
parted. He appeared about to speak, then his hands curled into
fists. With a shake of his head, he abruptly turned and left.
    Unable to stop herself, Eve
swivelled in her seat and watched him cross the road before
disappearing from sight. What the heck had that been about?
    Before she could engage in any
effective speculation, Caro arrived. Her lemon yellow sports car
roared to a halt at the curb, blocking Eve’s view and causing more
than one local resident to stop and stare. Exiting her car, she
paused for a moment, as if striking a pose should anyone care to
take a picture, and then entered the café in a swirl of brightly
coloured silk and heavy perfume.
    Giving a dramatic sigh, she sat
down opposite Eve.
    “I’m here.” Caro made the
announcement as if she’d accomplished some monumental feat, and Eve
barely held back a round of mocking applause. Caro wouldn’t
appreciate the humour of the gesture.
    “Glad you could make it.” Eve
smiled. Caro’s flamboyant shows were enjoyable as long as they were
only experienced in short doses. She gestured for the waiter.
“Would you like some herbal tea?”
    Caro shuddered and ordered black
coffee instead before leaning back and casting a sweeping glance
over her. “Apparently you weren’t accosted by your stalker last
night.”
    “Um…No. I wasn’t.” She paused, her
tea cup halfway to her mouth.
    “Too bad, it would have made an
interesting addition to your bio.” Caro sipped the steaming
beverage that was placed in front of her, and Eve gave the woman a
considering look. She wasn’t entirely sure the woman was joking.
Deciding to give her the benefit of the doubt, she explained what
had happened.
    “It was a wolf, not a stalker. At
least that’s the creature that I saw watching the cabin. I called
Rafe and he came and checked the area for me.”
    “Mmm… The idea of your Rafe rushing
to save you from a wild beast summons up all sort of yummy
scenarios.” Caro licked her lips and then grinned, her teeth
strikingly white against her blood red lipstick.
    “He’s not my Rafe and he
didn’t come rushing to save me. He simply searched the area around
the cabin and suggested I stay…elsewhere…until the wolf moved
on.”
    “Elsewhere? As in his place?” Caro
leaned forward, likely expecting to hear juicy details.
    “Well…he did make that suggestion.”
Eve took another sip of tea, “but I turned him down, of
course.”
    “ Of course ? My God, woman,
what’s wrong with you?” Caro sat back and shook her head. “The
local hunk makes a play for you and you brush him off. Didn’t
anything I taught you sink in?”
    Eve rolled her eyes. “First of all,
it wasn’t a play, and of course I turned him down. He didn’t really
want me to stay with him, he was only trying to help out. And
secondly, I don’t recall you teaching me anything. In fact, weren’t
you warning me off men a few months ago?”
    Caro sniffed. “That was because I’d
recently broken up with Barry, but now that I’ve found Ross I’m
seeing the male of the species in a more favourable light
again.”
    “Oh.”
    If she recalled correctly,