Read Online Demon Rumm by Sandra Brown - Free Book Online Page B

one scene in the movie where Rumm’s career was just getting off the ground.”
    “No pun intended.”
    He saluted her cleverness. That she could tease him at all was a good sign. Maybe he was making progress.
    “As I was saying,” he continued, “after this particular air show, Miss Airhead—I can’t remember her official title—trots up to him wearing a bikini and a banner—which was the wider of the two—and kisses him full on the mouth. She offers him unrestricted use of her body in the nearest motel room. Her dialogue goes something like, ‘I’ll show you acceleration and high-tech performance like you never dreamed of, Demon.’ Fact or fiction?”
    Kirsten dipped a spoon into a bowl of yogurt and fresh strawberries and stirred it, but didn’t eat it. “It’s a composite. Things like that happened all the time.”
    Rylan was watching her closely. “It didn’t bother you?”
    “This book and movie aren’t about me, they’re about Charlie.”
    “You’re sidestepping the question, Kirsten.”
    “Which should be your first clue that I don’t want to talk about it.”
    “So these incidents with other women
did
bother you.”
    She sprang out of her chair and clearly enunciated each word. “They were nuisances, Mr. North. Aggravations. Invasions of our privacy.”
    “Which I am now.”
    “Thank heaven! You finally got the message.” She pushed back her bangs with a frustrated flick of her hand. “Stop badgering me about my personal life with my husband. It has nothing to do with Demon Rumm the aerobatic pilot.” She rounded the desk. Rylan followed her across the room.
    “You’re wrong,” he said. “A man lives with a woman. Whether he loves her, hates her, or is indifferent to her, she’s bound to have some influence on his life.”
    He tracked her through the various hallways until they stood outside her bedroom. She turned to confront him. “All right, granted. I would like to think that I had a very positive influence on Charlie’s life. He did love me. He did need me. He even
liked
me, which is rare in most marriages these days.”
    She drew a deep breath. “But, I repeat, the book and the movie aren’t about our courtship or marriage. They’re about his career. If you want to talk about that aspect of his life, fine. If not, you’re wasting your time and mine by being here, which I told you last week in Mel’s office. Now, please excuse me.”
    She went into her bedroom and closed the door. Fifteen minutes later, having exchanged her slacks for a pair of shorts, she emerged only to find Rylan leaning against the wall waiting for her. He doggedly picked up the conversation exactly where they had left it.
    “Did he talk to you about his work? About flying?”
    “All the time.”
    “Did he ever tell you that he was afraid?”
    His question brought her up short, but she hadn’t taken umbrage as he expected she might. She had stopped to consider her answer carefully.
    “ ‘Afraid’ isn’t the term I would use. Cautious. He was always extremely cautious. He calculated each trick aeronautically and mathematically before he ever got into an airplane to try it.”
    “What about superstition?”
    She smiled. “Oh, yes, he was very superstitious.”
    At one of the terrace doors, she reached for the handle. “Don’t you have something to do? Some place to be? When is your next call?”
    “Not until next week. They’re shooting scenes that I’m not in.”
    “Shouldn’t you be studying lines?”
    “I know my lines.” She looked at him with aggravation. He smiled back. “Where are we going?” He followed her through the door she had slid open.
    “
I’m
taking a walk on the beach.”
    “That sounds great.”
    “I usually go alone.”
    “Today you’ve got company.”
    Without giving her a chance to argue, he encircled her upper arm and helped her down the steep steps.
    “I don’t need your help,” she said querulously. “I can negotiate these steps even on moonless