Read Online Lady Be Bad by Elaine Raco Chase - Free Book Online Page B

elevator doors clanked open on the heavily
populated indoor pool grotto. "Please…" she placed her hand on his
bicep, "don't be mad at me again. I know you were upset when you
discovered Daddy had turned the housewarming into a surprise
engagement party but …"
    "I am upset about this damn engagement,
period," came his taut rejoinder. Taking her elbow, Noah guided her
into a sheltered area away from the loudly festive crowd. "It's
usually the man who proposes, Gwen. You've really got me in a
corner about this whole thing."
    "So you keep saying."
    "That's because I still don't remember how
this mushroomed into an engagement."
    Her brown eyes shifted under his narrowed
gaze. "Well. . . you were in one of those black moods of yours . .
. having trouble reworking that design on the boat house Daddy
insisted on, and your back was giving you a problem and . . .
well... we were sitting and you were drinking that night and
...I...just. . .sort of. . ." Ten magenta-painted toenails
scratched against the pebbled decking as Gwen's voice trailed
off.
    "That probably means I was quite a few
scotches over my limit," Noah finished. His disgusted tone was
meant to encompass them both. A weary hand rubbed his face, then
moved to the back of his neck to try and massage away the dull ache
that had developed during the last ten minutes. "Look, Gwen, you
and I are going to have to sit down and discuss a few things."
    "You keep saying that, too."
    That whining tone she could so quickly
manufacture grated in his ears. "I've been saying it for the last
six weeks, and you've consistently and persistently been flitting
off for parts and places unknown and avoiding me."
    Gwen's expression was sullen, her tone
peremptory. "Now is hardly the time, Noah." Her hand made an
all-encompassing gesture. "I do have an obligation to entertain
Daddy's guests. After all, I am his hostess and …" a neatly arched
eyebrow lifted, "…did you forget that you are the honored
guest?"
    "The castle is the honored guest."
    She sucked in her cheeks. "I hate it when
you get cynical." Gwen turned her face away and chewed on her lower
lip while her fingers played with her long dark braid. "What gets
into you, anyway? A few minutes ago you were just fine and now you
are like a volcano ready to erupt. And men have the nerve to say we
women have moods!" She blinked rapidly, trying to stall tears that
came both from anger and fear. "I love you, Noah, and I know you
like me." Gwen sniffed. "That'll be enough."
    Noah found that it was his turn to look the
other way. He shuffled his body backward, not stopping until the
solid presence of a marble colonnade was felt against his spine and
legs. God, how could he have let himself get tangled in this
web?
    His dark gaze shifted to study a petulant
Gwen. She had arrived on May Day, fresh from the Sorbonne and
determined to show off various degrees in art by decorating the
castle. Noah had found her more child than woman, always in the
mood to sulk; her mouth naturally formed a pout. He should have
kept his distance but couldn't. The reason: Arthur Kingman's
twenty-three-year-old daughter bore a remarkable resemblance to his
wife.
    Wife! Noah's smooth forehead rippled in
concentration; that woman certainly looked like his Mimi. Then
again, maybe he just wanted her to. No. There were too many
striking similarities, or were there? This woman had short hair and
was much slimmer than his wife and yet...
    Noah cleared his throat and tried to sound
casual. "Gwen, who was that in the hallway with your father?
Another magazine reporter?"
    She moved closer to him, her hands playing
with the zipper on his jacket. "So that's what set you off?" Gwen
gave a relieved sigh. "You shouldn't get so uptight about giving
interviews. What's one more picture? One more recitation? You're
going to have to get used to it, Noah. Daddy loves press
coverage."
    "Was it another reporter?" He persisted.
    "To tell you the truth, I didn't really get
a good look." She