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Authors: Violet Winspear
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mocked, pushing a hand against his chest in an effort to lever herself away from him, but he had the strength and resilience of a dancer and she found herself his very unwilling captive.
'Release me, Mr Coltan,' she said firmly.
'You scared of men and emotion?' he asked, an inquisitive gleam in his eyes as they stroked over her face.
'It takes more than someone like you to make me scared!'
'Someone like El Rodare, for instance?'
Every separate nerve in Debra seemed to give an alarming little jump. 'You'd better mind he doesn't hear you calling him that.'
'You sound in awe of him.' The laughter left the vivid blue eyes and they probed her features. 'Relax, kid, he doesn't know you're alive. The girl he'll be squiring tomorrow evening is the daughter of Morton Chandler, one of the Cornish bigwigs. D'you imagine you can compete with her sort?'
'Is her first name Sharon?' Debra asked thoughtfully.
'That's the lady.'
'I had the idea she was Jack Salvador's girlfriend before he met and married Pauline.'
'Maybe she was, but now she has her eye on his half-brother and it's no secret that the Salvadors would like her in the family. She has what they consider the three essentials: face, fortune and finesse. Be warned, Debra, you and I might amuse these people but we don't really fit in. No more than Pauline did.'
'Did you know her?' Debra eyed him curiously.
'Casually,' he replied. 'She danced in the chorus line of a few of the television shows I starred in. Pauline was a climber, but she lacked the streak of ruthlessness that creates people like the Salvadors. Don't pretend you haven't taken a long look at El Rodare.'
'I—I know what you mean.' From the first moment Debra had looked at Rodare Salvador he had seemed to have an almost barbaric detachment from gentle feelings; a high-and-mighty man, proud of his bloodline even if he had forebears who had strayed from the path of virtue. He probably knew that he was the living image of the family founder.
'You and I are amusing outsiders, honey, but that doesn't mean that we have to be subservient.' Stuart Coltan gave a scornful laugh. 'So how about putting on your party dress tomorrow evening and keeping me company?'
'I—I don't know what to say—' Debra was hesitant, and yet something inside her responded to the idea of dressing up and being a person in her own right instead of being the quiet mouse in the den who got on with her work and bothered no one. 'I haven't been invited to the party by Zandra and I'm not the sort to stroll in with the casual assumption that I'm wanted.'
'You'll be strolling in with me,' Stuart said airily, 'and I've handled tougher propositions than Zandra in my time. She isn't as tough a chick as she likes to pretend, you can take it from me.'
Debra felt sure that she could take it that the good-looking and insouciant Stuart could handle most females. 'Won't she want you to keep her company?' Debra asked.
'Sure, she'd like my company, but the producer of our show is invited to the soiree and he'll expect the VIP treatment, which means that she'll have to be attentive to him.'
'I see.' Debra looked directly at Stuart and once again she found herself thinking how attractive he was, and yet he didn't stir her pulses in the least. 'Are you involved with Zandra?—I hope that doesn't sound as if I'm prying but I don't want her thinking that I'm trying to take you away from her.'
'Honey babe,' he drawled, 'you have my permission to take me away from all other women.'
'I bet!' Debra scoffed. 'Seriously, is Zandra attracted to you?'
His smile answered for him. 'I play up to her because I'm ambitious and she has connections in the right places, but the real truth is that I don't feel drawn to thin brunettes who live on cigarettes and salads.' He looked Debra over in his impudent way. 'You're just the right height for me; you come to my shoulder and I bet we'd dance a dream together. Do you dance?'
'As a matter of fact I do.' Her smile was
'Release me, Mr Coltan,' she said firmly.
'You scared of men and emotion?' he asked, an inquisitive gleam in his eyes as they stroked over her face.
'It takes more than someone like you to make me scared!'
'Someone like El Rodare, for instance?'
Every separate nerve in Debra seemed to give an alarming little jump. 'You'd better mind he doesn't hear you calling him that.'
'You sound in awe of him.' The laughter left the vivid blue eyes and they probed her features. 'Relax, kid, he doesn't know you're alive. The girl he'll be squiring tomorrow evening is the daughter of Morton Chandler, one of the Cornish bigwigs. D'you imagine you can compete with her sort?'
'Is her first name Sharon?' Debra asked thoughtfully.
'That's the lady.'
'I had the idea she was Jack Salvador's girlfriend before he met and married Pauline.'
'Maybe she was, but now she has her eye on his half-brother and it's no secret that the Salvadors would like her in the family. She has what they consider the three essentials: face, fortune and finesse. Be warned, Debra, you and I might amuse these people but we don't really fit in. No more than Pauline did.'
'Did you know her?' Debra eyed him curiously.
'Casually,' he replied. 'She danced in the chorus line of a few of the television shows I starred in. Pauline was a climber, but she lacked the streak of ruthlessness that creates people like the Salvadors. Don't pretend you haven't taken a long look at El Rodare.'
'I—I know what you mean.' From the first moment Debra had looked at Rodare Salvador he had seemed to have an almost barbaric detachment from gentle feelings; a high-and-mighty man, proud of his bloodline even if he had forebears who had strayed from the path of virtue. He probably knew that he was the living image of the family founder.
'You and I are amusing outsiders, honey, but that doesn't mean that we have to be subservient.' Stuart Coltan gave a scornful laugh. 'So how about putting on your party dress tomorrow evening and keeping me company?'
'I—I don't know what to say—' Debra was hesitant, and yet something inside her responded to the idea of dressing up and being a person in her own right instead of being the quiet mouse in the den who got on with her work and bothered no one. 'I haven't been invited to the party by Zandra and I'm not the sort to stroll in with the casual assumption that I'm wanted.'
'You'll be strolling in with me,' Stuart said airily, 'and I've handled tougher propositions than Zandra in my time. She isn't as tough a chick as she likes to pretend, you can take it from me.'
Debra felt sure that she could take it that the good-looking and insouciant Stuart could handle most females. 'Won't she want you to keep her company?' Debra asked.
'Sure, she'd like my company, but the producer of our show is invited to the soiree and he'll expect the VIP treatment, which means that she'll have to be attentive to him.'
'I see.' Debra looked directly at Stuart and once again she found herself thinking how attractive he was, and yet he didn't stir her pulses in the least. 'Are you involved with Zandra?—I hope that doesn't sound as if I'm prying but I don't want her thinking that I'm trying to take you away from her.'
'Honey babe,' he drawled, 'you have my permission to take me away from all other women.'
'I bet!' Debra scoffed. 'Seriously, is Zandra attracted to you?'
His smile answered for him. 'I play up to her because I'm ambitious and she has connections in the right places, but the real truth is that I don't feel drawn to thin brunettes who live on cigarettes and salads.' He looked Debra over in his impudent way. 'You're just the right height for me; you come to my shoulder and I bet we'd dance a dream together. Do you dance?'
'As a matter of fact I do.' Her smile was
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