Read Online Untamed by Nora Roberts - Free Book Online Page B

circus business, counselor?” she asked, letting her eyes drift to his again as she set the mug back on the table. “If it’s law, I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint you. I don’t know much about it.”
    â€œWhat do you know about, Jovilette?” Keane slid into the chair beside hers.
    â€œCats,” she said. “And Prescott’s Circus Colossus. I’ll be glad to let you know whatever I can about either.”
    â€œTell me about you,” he countered, and leaning back, pulled a cigar from his pocket.
    â€œMr. Prescott—” Jo began.
    â€œKeane,” he interrupted, flicking on his lighter. He glanced at the tip of his cigar, then back up at her through the thin haze of smoke.
    â€œI was under the impression you wanted to be briefed on the personnel.”
    â€œYou are a member of this circus, are you not?” Casually, Keane blew smoke at the ceiling. “I have every intention of being briefed on the entire troupe and see no reason why you shouldn’t start with yourself.” His eyes traveled back to hers. “Humor me.”
    Jo decided to take the line of least resistance. “It’s a short enough story,” she said with a shrug. “I’ve been with the circus all my life. When I was old enough, I started work as a generally useful.”
    â€œA what?” Keane paused in the action of reaching for the coffeepot.
    â€œGenerally useful,” Jo repeated, letting him freshen her cup. “It’s a circus term that means exactly what it says. Rose’s parents, for instance, are generally usefuls. We get a lot of drifters who work that way, too. It’s also written into every performer’s contract, after the specific terms, that they make themselves generally useful. There isn’t room in most circuses, and certainly not in a tent circus, for performers with star complexes. You do what’s necessary, what’s needed. Buck, my handler, fills in during a slump at the sideshow, and he’s one of the best canvas men around. Pete is the best mechanic in the troupe. Jamie knows as much about lighting as most shandies—electricians,” she supplied as Keane lifted a brow. “He’s also a better-than-average tumbler.”
    â€œWhat about you?” Keane interrupted the flow of Jo’s words. For a moment she faltered, and the hands that had been gesturing became still. “Besides riding a galloping horse without reins or saddle, giving orders to elephants and facing lions?” He lifted his cup, watching her as he sipped. A smile lurked in his eyes. Jo frowned, studying him.
    â€œAre you making fun of me?”
    His smile sobered instantly. “No, Jo, I’m not making fun of you.
    She continued. “In a pinch, I run the menagerie in the sideshow or I fill in the aerial act. Not the trap,” she explained, relaxing again. “They have to practice together constantly to keep the timing. But sometimes I fill in on the Spanish Web, the big costume number where the girls hang from ropes and do identical moves. They’re using butterfly costumes this year.”
    â€œYes, I know the one.” Keane continued to watch her as he drew on his cigar.
    â€œBut mostly Duffy likes to use girls who are more curvy. They double as showgirls in the finale.”
    â€œI see.” A smile tugged at the corners of Keane’s mouth. “Tell me, were your parents European?”
    â€œNo.” Diverted, Jo shook her head. “Why do you ask?”
    â€œYour name. And the ease with which I’ve heard you speak both French and Italian.”
    â€œIt’s easy to pick up languages in the circus,” Jo said.
    â€œYour accent was perfect in both cases.”
    â€œWhat? Oh.” She shrugged and absently shifted in her chair, bringing her feet up to sit cross-legged. “We have a wide variety of nationalities here. Frank used to say that the world could take a