Read Online Turn Back the Dawn by Nell Kincaid - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Nell Kincaid
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open herself up to a relationship with him; yet now, once again, she was nagged by doubt. She had been wrong so many times. Every time. How could now be any different? But as his lips gently brushed hers, and she opened her eyes and looked into his filled with desire, wonder, and affection, she moaned and pulled him closer. Doubt was replaced by pleasure, uncertainty replaced by deep need, and she hoped, viscerally and as deeply as could be, that someday she would stop doubting Hen forever.
When he drew back, he smiled. "Kate Churchill, you're a liar."
Her eyes widened. "What? Why do you say that?"
"Because anyone who kisses like that and responds to me as you did now has to know what she means to me." He ran a hand along the length of her back, sending a trem or of pleasure through her. "And there's no use deny ing it. Your body doesn't lie." She laughed. "Well. You might be right," she said lightly.
He shook his head. "You know damned well I'm right, Kate want you to see that." She smiled. "Maybe I do," she said softly. "Maybe I do."
The next few hours were an unanticipated delight. Kate and Ben started at the ground floor of the store, made up of the usual perfume and cosmetics displays, along with
the dozens of small boutiques that made Ivorsen and Shaw special.
Together Ben and Kate talked to more people than in all the weeks Kate had been doing her Thursday-night tours. They went through the ground floor slowly, then through Nighttime Secrets lingerie and on to the men's- wear, resort-wear, and sporting-goods departments, then almost an hour in the home-gifts department. Kate had a better sense of the store's customers than she had ever had before; somehow, Ben managed to draw each one he talked to out of his or her shell. And after their initial surprise at being approached by anyone who wasn't a salesperson, most were more than forthcoming, welcoming Ben's form of indirect help and in turn helping him.
Finally, after they had talked to half a dozen people in the gifts department, Ben led Kate off to the store's restaurant, II Trattoria. In addition to its small tables it had a counter where shoppers could get the restaurant's fare to take home. Decorated in clean, modern lines, with white tile floors and walls and butcher-block tables, the restaurant was a big draw for the store's customers. It had delicacies difficult to find even in New York—perfectly smoked molasses ham, the finest fresh Russian Malossol caviar, perfect paté de canard, three hundred kinds of cheeses—and it was all served and displayed absolutely beautifully, with the freshest of fruits and vegetables and breads almost everywhere one looked.
Now, all the tables were filled, but Ben led Kate to the small line of customers standing at the counter. "I assume we can eat in your office?"
She nodded.
"I had had other places in mind," he said, smiling, "but I suppose this will have to do."
"Oh, this place is great," she said. "I love it. And it's a perfect cure for the midtown lunch syndrome." lien smiled. "What's that?"
"Well, you probably don't know because you've always been at too high a corporate level to experience it. It happened to me when I used to be a secretary and it still happens when I'm in a rush. Basically, you go shopping or window-shopping, at the beginning of your lunch hour and then before you know it you only have half an hour left. So you go into restaurant after restaurant in the forties and fifties and at every single place, either the prices are too high, or there's a long line, or you sit at the counter and wait forever to be served. So you go back to the office with a container of yogurt and a cup of coffee and plan to move to another city. But with this place, you really can find something incredibly good for not that much money. And it's clean as well."
Ben was smiling. "And how many people know about this place, Kate?"
She shrugged. "We advertised in the newspapers when it first opened. But the board cut my
When he drew back, he smiled. "Kate Churchill, you're a liar."
Her eyes widened. "What? Why do you say that?"
"Because anyone who kisses like that and responds to me as you did now has to know what she means to me." He ran a hand along the length of her back, sending a trem or of pleasure through her. "And there's no use deny ing it. Your body doesn't lie." She laughed. "Well. You might be right," she said lightly.
He shook his head. "You know damned well I'm right, Kate want you to see that." She smiled. "Maybe I do," she said softly. "Maybe I do."
The next few hours were an unanticipated delight. Kate and Ben started at the ground floor of the store, made up of the usual perfume and cosmetics displays, along with
the dozens of small boutiques that made Ivorsen and Shaw special.
Together Ben and Kate talked to more people than in all the weeks Kate had been doing her Thursday-night tours. They went through the ground floor slowly, then through Nighttime Secrets lingerie and on to the men's- wear, resort-wear, and sporting-goods departments, then almost an hour in the home-gifts department. Kate had a better sense of the store's customers than she had ever had before; somehow, Ben managed to draw each one he talked to out of his or her shell. And after their initial surprise at being approached by anyone who wasn't a salesperson, most were more than forthcoming, welcoming Ben's form of indirect help and in turn helping him.
Finally, after they had talked to half a dozen people in the gifts department, Ben led Kate off to the store's restaurant, II Trattoria. In addition to its small tables it had a counter where shoppers could get the restaurant's fare to take home. Decorated in clean, modern lines, with white tile floors and walls and butcher-block tables, the restaurant was a big draw for the store's customers. It had delicacies difficult to find even in New York—perfectly smoked molasses ham, the finest fresh Russian Malossol caviar, perfect paté de canard, three hundred kinds of cheeses—and it was all served and displayed absolutely beautifully, with the freshest of fruits and vegetables and breads almost everywhere one looked.
Now, all the tables were filled, but Ben led Kate to the small line of customers standing at the counter. "I assume we can eat in your office?"
She nodded.
"I had had other places in mind," he said, smiling, "but I suppose this will have to do."
"Oh, this place is great," she said. "I love it. And it's a perfect cure for the midtown lunch syndrome." lien smiled. "What's that?"
"Well, you probably don't know because you've always been at too high a corporate level to experience it. It happened to me when I used to be a secretary and it still happens when I'm in a rush. Basically, you go shopping or window-shopping, at the beginning of your lunch hour and then before you know it you only have half an hour left. So you go into restaurant after restaurant in the forties and fifties and at every single place, either the prices are too high, or there's a long line, or you sit at the counter and wait forever to be served. So you go back to the office with a container of yogurt and a cup of coffee and plan to move to another city. But with this place, you really can find something incredibly good for not that much money. And it's clean as well."
Ben was smiling. "And how many people know about this place, Kate?"
She shrugged. "We advertised in the newspapers when it first opened. But the board cut my
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