Read Online Lady Be Good by Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Free Book Online Page A

through her. She pushed past him and hurried down the stairs as fast as her awkward burden would allow.
    “Emma!”
    A terrible drumming echoed inside her head. She reached the front door and fumbled for the knob.
    “Emma, it’s dark. You can’t go out there.” He came up behind her and grasped her arm.
    She tore it free and slammed the corner of one suitcase into his crotch. He let out an oof of pain and staggered backward.
    She dashed outside.
    The humid night air enveloped her. She had no idea where she was, and she didn’t care. She only knew she had to get away.
    She nursed her anger until it drove out her need to weep. He hadn’t been dense or dull-witted or any of the other things she’d thought about him. He’d simply been manipulating her for a night’s amusement, and she’d fallen for it.
    The heavy suitcases dragged at her arms as she made her way to the end of the court, but she didn’t feel their weight. What if she hadn’t seen the magazine? What if she’d gone through with it before she discovered who he was? It didn’t bear contemplating, so she distracted herself by gazing down the street that intersected the court. She needed to get to a phone and call a taxi, but she saw only expensive homes, some with luxury cars parked in the drive. No one was walking about, and, other than the hiss of underground sprinkling systems, everything was quiet.
    She listened harder and thought she detected the faint sound of traffic far in the distance. The suitcases banged against her legs as she turned toward the noise. She kept walking until she had to set the bags down to rest her arms, and that was when she heard the purr of a luxury car coming from behind her.
    She snatched up the suitcases and dragged them on. From the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar champagne-colored Cadillac. The driver’s window slid down. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting just a little bit?”
    Her cheeks burned. She looked straight ahead and didn’t slow her pace even though her shoulders had begun to throb.
    “There isn’t a hotel within ten miles of here. And, in case you haven’t noticed, there aren’t any taxis passing by, either.”
    She kept walking.
    “God, I hate sulky women.”
    “Sulky!” She whirled on him. “Leave me alone! Or haven’t you had enough amusement for the night?”
    He pulled ahead of her, angled his car so that it blocked the street, then stopped and got out, leaving the motor running and the warning bell dinging. With his shirt hanging open and his bare feet stuffed into loafers, he approached her.
    She felt a flicker of satisfaction as she saw that he wasn’t standing completely straight, along with a shiver of panic. Although she didn’t physically fear him, she had only the most fragile hold on her composure, and she had to escape.
    Waddling slightly from the weight of her luggage, she hurried to the far side of the street. He closed the distance between them and manhandled both suitcases away from her.
    “Give those back.”
    Ignoring her, he grabbed her carry-all and purse, then took everything to the car. He opened the rear door and tossed it all into the back seat as if it weighed no more than a handful of beach pebbles.
    “You owe me a thousand bucks for that.”
    She bit her lip, blinked her eyes, and began walking.
    He dropped his hands to his hips. “Tell me how far you think you’re going to get without your passport, your money, and your clothes. Not to mention those umbrellas.”
    She had clearly been wronged, but instead of apologizing, he was making things worse. She tried to review her options, but they were so limited as to be nonexistent. Her steps slowed. “Drive me to a hotel at once,” she finally managed.
    “Gladly.”
    She hesitated, but she had little choice, and she forced herself to walk to the car. He opened the passenger door for her. Without looking at him, she slid inside, then tried to make herself invisible by staring out the window. Her lips