Read Online The Passion Price by Miranda Lee - Free Book Online

wasn’t worth a damn beside the passion and determination that was firing Jake’s belly at this moment. She was going to be his again. That Alex guy was going to be history, no matter what it took!
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    Angelina watched the yellow car till it disappeared from view, then she turned and walked with slow steps back down the path to the restaurant.
    Wilomena—who had no doubt been waiting with bated breath to collar her alone—pounced immediately. A tall, rake-thin brunette, the restaurant’s head waitress had sharp eyes to go with her sharp features.
    â€˜All right, fess up, Angelina? Who was that gorgeous hunk in the yellow Ferrari?’
    â€˜Just a guy I used to know. No one special.’
    â€˜Just a guy you used to know,’ Wilomena repeated with rolling eyes. ‘Did you hear that, Kevin?’ she called out to the chef, who was the only other staff member left in the restaurant at this hour. The rest of the evening’s waitresses wouldn’t arrive till five-thirty, which was almost an hour away. ‘He was just a guy she used to know. No one special.’
    Kevin popped his bald head round the doorway that connected the body of the restaurant with the kitchen. In his late thirties, Kevin was English andsingle and a simply brilliant chef. He’d been on a working holiday around Australia a few years ago, filled in for their chef, who’d been taken ill, and never left. Since his arrival the restaurant’s reputation had gone from good to great.
    â€˜Amazing how much he looked like Alex, isn’t it?’ Kevin said with a straight face. ‘If I didn’t know better, I would have said he was Alex’s father.’
    Angelina groaned. It was no use. She had no hope of keeping Jake’s identity a secret, not even for a minute.
    â€˜It’s all right,’ Wilomena said gently when she saw the distress on her boss’s face. ‘We won’t say anything. Not if you don’t want us to.’
    â€˜I don’t want you to,’ Angelina returned pleadingly. ‘Not yet, anyway. The other girls didn’t notice, did they?’
    â€˜No. They’re too new. And too silly. All they can think about on a Saturday is where they’re going tonight, and with whom. So! Does he know about Alex? Is that why he was here?’
    â€˜No. He has no idea. He just dropped in for lunch by sheer accident and he…he…. Oh, Wilomena, it’s terribly complicated.’
    â€˜Why don’t you sit down and tell me all about it?’
    Angelina looked at Wilomena, who at thirty-eight had a few years on her. Divorced, with two teenage girls, she lived in Cessnock and worked long hours at the restaurant six days a week to support herself and her kids. Angelina realised she could do worse than confide in Wilomena, who was both pragmaticand practical. And she needed someone to confide in. The only friends she had now were the people she worked with. Her father had been her best friend. Still, this little problem wasn’t something she’d have been able to talk to him about. He’d been totally blind when it came to the subject of Jake Winters.
    â€˜OK,’ she said with a sigh. ‘Let’s have a glass of wine and I’ll tell you all.’
    Wilomena smiled. She was really quite attractive when she smiled. ‘Fantastic. Let’s go into the kitchen so Kevin can hear. Otherwise, I’ll just have to repeat everything after you’ve gone.’
    Angelina laughed. ‘You two are getting as thick as thieves, aren’t you?’
    â€˜Yeah,’ Wilomena said with a twinkle in her quick blue eyes. ‘We are.’
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    Half an hour later, Angelina made her way slowly along the path that ran from the restaurant and past the cellar door before branching into two paths. One led to the winery, the other followed the driveway that led to the resort proper, a distance of about a hundred metres. She headed for the