Read Online Lucifer's Lover by Tracy Cooper-Posey - Free Book Online Page A

and still in there and for a moment he wondered if he had guessed right. He pushed open the door to her office, his heart sinking when he saw there were no lights on.
    She was sitting on the edge of the coffee table, perched like an awkward schoolgirl, with her knees together and her feet splayed anyhow. She was sitting upright, her hands braced on either side of her and her head bowed. The golden curls glowed on the top of her head.
    Panic attack . She looked like she was ready to bolt at the smallest disturbance.
    “You just don’t get the same quality in crowds these days, do you?” he said softly so she wouldn’t startle. “All that staring and pawing. They’re much more civilized in New York, of course.”
    It was a full moon. The ghostly light was filtering through the tinted window, catching every movement of the stones and sequins on her dress. He saw her take a deep, wobbly breath.
    “I can’t do it,” she said and despite the grown-up gown she sounded just like the schoolgirl he had first thought of.
    He settled himself next to her on the coffee table and made his body relax into a nonthreatening posture. “How long have you had agoraphobia?” he asked.
    “I don’t.”
    “That was a pretty convincing performance you gave out there.”
    She stiffened. Luke reached for her hand and grasped it in both his and willed her to relax. It didn’t surprise him to find her hand was trembling.
    “You make me sound like I’m clinically…disturbed or something. That’s not it at all.”
    He stayed silent.
    “It’s my mother,” Lindsay added very quietly.
    “I know she was very successful in the hospitality industry.” He tried to remember what else he had learned. Very little, surprisingly. But the little he had heard had been tinged with awe. Catherine Eden had been a legendary figure, even before she died.
    “I’m surprised you don’t know all about her,” Lindsay told him. “You seem to be so good at soaking up gossip. Did you know she worked at this hotel?”
    He hid his surprise. For some reason he couldn’t quite fathom, the fact seemed to be terribly significant to Lindsay. It was as if she had revealed a deep secret. “No, I didn’t know.”
    “She was so good at this stuff—at mixing and mingling and charming birds out of the tree to eat from her hand.” Lindsay sighed. “I’m not good at it at all. Actually, I suck at it.”
    “It comes easier for some people but nobody is a complete natural at it, Lynds. You just have to practice more. Although I have to wonder how you’ve managed to come so far so fast if you genuinely are such a terrible schmoozer. You’re in marketing—it comes with the territory.”
    “I…just got by, somehow. Mostly, I tried to make up for it with other skills.”
    He nodded a little in the dark. Yes, he’d seen the force of will and determination she applied to everything else she did. Was that what drove her? A simple feeling of inadequacy? He knew it went deeper though—there were more secrets beneath this one. They enticed him to delve deeper but he resisted the impulse. He was content, tonight, with the little she had given him. It was an Olympic victory, really. This was the first time she had ever volunteered so much as a glimpse inside.
    “You have to go out there again. You know that, don’t you?” he told her.
    “I know.” Again, the small sigh. “I’ll be okay. I just had to…get my breath.”
    He patted her hand. Despite her words, her trembling had not subsided. If anything it was worse. Transmitted through her hand, he could feel her whole body was shaking.
    “Look at it this way,” he said. “What’s the worst thing that could happen to you out there?”
    “I could embarrass you,” she said instantly.
    “Never,” he shot back. “I do that to myself well enough. I don’t need help.”
    “No, really,” she insisted. “I’m…a social klutz.”
    Well, that’s the understatement of the year, Luke thought wryly.
    He had