Read Online Christmas Wishes (novella) by Rhian Cahill - Free Book Online Page A

shirt but unwilling to draw another comment from the body language expert. Would he ever feel comfortable in business attire? Probably not, too many years spent in camouflage gear and paratrooper pants.
    She blinked, drawing his attention to the amazing blue of her eyes. Not that he needed reminding. They were seared into his memory.
    “So, what’s your take on it, Luke?”
    An unexpected charge jolted through him at her use of his name. “There’s been no demand for cash or threats to expose you.”
    “So they aren’t motivated by money?”
    “I doubt it. They know you understand the harm they can do. They could be getting kicks from causing you mental anguish. But we won’t know for sure, until we get the next one.”
    She swallowed, and in her eyes he saw helplessness and resignation. “That was my next question. You think we will?”
    “I’m fairly certain. We know they have one photograph. If they’re in possession of the others, it’s more a matter of when .”
    She nodded, then reached down with unsteady hands and slung the satchel diagonally across her body. “If we’re finished, I might go home and check the apartment.”
    Luke pushed himself out of his chair. “That’s it for now.”
    He strode to the door and held it open for her.
    “Thank you for seeing me,” she murmured, brushing past him.
    “No problem.”
    He watched her walk towards the elevator, paying attention to the hip satchel slung across her body and the skyscraper heels she wore. Yes, if you looked hard enough, there were signs Allegra Greenwood had a non-conformist streak in her.
    As she pushed the elevator button, she turned to look back at him, and he hurriedly closed his office door. He didn’t want to be caught spying. He slid the lock and moved back to his desk. Feeling a little guilty, he picked up the tweezers and shook out the folded sheet of paper still lying there. He felt his heartbeat crank up and the breath catch in his throat at the glorious image staring back at him.
    Much as he hated to admit it, Noble had done a fine job. Allegra lay reclined on plush velvet, one long leg bent at the knee and crossed with the other in a manner that revealed nothing, though an arm thrown languidly above her head exposed the sloping outside curves of her breasts. Her blonde hair, so much longer then, swept over one shoulder and cleverly covered a nipple, while the other lay hidden behind a strand of expensive looking white pearls looped numerous times around her neck.
    Stunning. Enough to make any red blooded man salivate.
    Pushing it aside, he shoved his hands deep in his pockets and stared through the window at the Opera House, its pearly sails poised on the water’s edge a masterpiece of human creativity.
    He’d often thought about their first meeting, the day fresh in his mind for all the wrong reasons. A horror case involving children. A couple of drinks to ease the pain of the gruesome images he couldn’t wipe from his mind. Not the smartest move when trying to make a good impression. Then, as he stood on the terrace, wishing with all his heart he could just go home and avoid the Meet and Greet, a vision in blue walked up and introduced herself. They’d talked, and at some point he’d suffered an overwhelming urge to kiss her.
    It was inappropriate, out of character, and far from his finest hour.
    Still, he’d been angry when she’d blackballed him.
    Luke sighed. His job required an extensive assortment of intuitive skills, and it wasn’t often someone left him astonished. But she had. Smart and alluring, never in a million years would he have put her name, together with the word centrefold, in the same sentence .
    He shook his head in disbelief. Nude photos. Who would have guessed?
    With another heavy sigh, he closed his eyes, blanking out the memories of a mission gone wrong. There was no way he could let anything bad happen to Allegra Greenwood.
    He owed her brother that much.
    He’d been Trooper Martin