Read Online Desire (#5) by Carrie Cox - Free Book Online Page B

feeling a little off-colour.”
    He frowned and raised a hand to push my hair back from my face. “Are you still feeling unwell?”
    “I’m fine, but after this morning, I think I should stay away from alcohol.”
    “Soda water?”
    I nodded, and he poured me a glass from the bar.
    When we all had our drinks, Colin raised his glass. “To Tina,” he said. “We wish her every success for the future.”
    Tina blushed. “Thank you.”
    Over dinner we talked about what Tina would do next. The logical step would be to look for a job. Selfishly, I hope she’d find a job nearby so I could see her more often.
    Tina sipped her drink then shrugged. “There’s not all that much work in Newport … for someone like me.”
    “What sort of thing would you like to do?” Colin asked.
    I knew Benjamin would find Tina a job if I asked him to, but I didn’t want to do that. I thought she needed to accomplish this herself. For a long time she had relied on other people’s help. I thought it would help her self-confidence to work through this on her own.
    “Well, I’m not qualified for much,” Tina said. “Maybe waitressing work, in a restaurant or a coffee shop.”
    “There are lots of those here,” I said. “Why don’t you stay with us for a few days and see if you can find anything?”
    I felt Benjamin’s cool eyes on me. We’d discussed this last week, and he’d been prepared to help Tina out as much as he could, but I knew he was worried about me getting hurt again.
    “Are you sure?” Tina asked, turning to look at Benjamin. “I don’t want to put you to any trouble.”
    “It would be no trouble at all,” Benjamin said.
    Tina beamed.
    It was a good evening, and I enjoyed seeing my sister so full of hope for the future, but my secret niggled away in the back of my mind. I couldn’t put it off indefinitely. I would have to tell Benjamin tomorrow.
    Carter, the butler, brought us coffee, and as he served Colin, he lowered his head and whispered something. I gave him a sharp look. I had never liked Carter. He always seemed to be looking down his nose at me.
    Colin placed his napkin on the table. “I won’t be a moment,” he said and pushed his chair back and followed Carter out of the dining room.
    Benjamin was telling Tina about restaurants in the area, and Tina was listening to him intently. Neither of them seemed curious about what Carter had said to Colin.
    I tried to put it out of my mind. I had other things to worry about.
    After we had dinner and I had made sure Tina was settled in one of the guest rooms, I returned to the master bedroom, feeling a little nervous. Would Benjamin notice I was hiding something from him?
    “We’ll have a guest in a few weeks’ time,” Benjamin said, undoing the buttons on his shirt. “Alexander Harding. He owns a mining company, and I’m hoping to do business with him.”
    “Mining?” I pulled a face. “For coal?”
    Benjamin shook his head. “Precious stones. Diamonds mainly.”
    That perked up my interest. Diamonds were much more interesting than coal in my opinion.
    Benjamin laughed. “Perhaps I could buy you something. A necklace?”
    He moved towards me and encircled my neck with his hands. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips to my neck.
    I forgot about my pregnancy, diamonds, and future guests. My mind was filled with Benjamin.

2

    WHEN I WOKE THE next morning, Benjamin had already left for work. I had breakfast with Tina, who was excited and a little nervous about job hunting. Benjamin had offered her one of the Easton company drivers to take her around town so she could drop off her résumés at places at as many different restaurants and cafes as possible.
    Tina smeared butter on her toast, as I sipped my tea.
    “Are you not eating?”
    I shook my head. I was feeling a little queasy, although thankfully it was nowhere near as bad as yesterday.
    I left Tina to it and headed out to the Preservation Society. My stomach churned. I didn’t know if it