Velvet Touch Read Online Free Page B

getting to know one another and I want to
be quite sure . . ."
    "Sure! Sure about what?" he rasped heatedly, forcing
Lacey to wonder what was riling him. He might not find her future plans
suitable in his estimation but she was, after all, only one of his summer guests.
"Why concern yourself with being 'sure' at all?" Holt went on in a
cold drawl. "You can always scratch an unsuccessful experiment and start
over if things go wrong!"
    "You misunderstand,
Holt," Lacey told him with a seething calm. "I've given this a great
deal of thought. I' m
looking for an interesting, reasonably long-lasting relationship which, when
the excitement fades, can be terminated without the bitterness of divorce. . .
."
    "You're talking about
becoming some man's mistress?" he shot back gruffly, taking a rather
large gulp of his brandy.
    That
annoyed her and Lacey frowned at him severely. "I'm talking about a
totally equal arrangement Don't forget all those letters from potential
employers you were saving for me. I will support myself. There will be no
question of being any man's kept woman!"
    "So
you're going to indulge yourself in a series of affairs?" he asked
derisively.
    "Why
not? I found out what the traditional marriage has to offer during the years
when I should have been learning about real romance. I spent twenty-nine years
putting up with the values of small-town life. Now I'm going to make up for
what I missed!"
    "Oh,
my God," he breathed, looking appalled. "You're going to go through a
midlife crisis right here at my inn!"
    Lacey
relaxed, the smile shaping her mouth full of pure, feminine taunting. She liked that appalled look on
him. It reminded her of all the appalled expressions she had left behind and it
gave her a singular pleasure to add fuel to the fire. "Why not? I took one
look at the brochure you sent me and decided this island looked like the ideal
place to go through such a crisis." Turning on her heel she walked off to
find Jeremy Todd.
    The smile was still mirrored in her eyes an hour later when
Lacey slipped into Jeremy's arms on the dance floor. Her hand rested lightly on
the shoulder of his corduroy jacket and he encircled her waist with an
increasingly familiar touch.
    "You were right This place does seem to be the bright
spot of the island's nightlife," she said, glancing at the number of
people filling the lounge. Many, she knew, were not staying at the Randolph
Inn.
    " I'm devoted to my new career as a writer but
I didn't want to go overboard in isolating myself. This place has a reputation
for being lively during the summer months but still provides peace and quiet if
one wants it And we're not too far from Seattle or Vancouver. If a person gets
island fever there's always the brief escape." Jeremy grinned.
    "I intend to see those cities while I'm in the
area," she agreed.
    "If you're job hunting around the Northwest, you'll
have plenty of opportunities. . ." he began, not understanding.
    "This is only a base for my job hunting," she
emphasized. "I've got applications and resumes out all up and down the
entire West Coast and in Hawaii. There's no telling where I'll finally end up.
I'd say the odds are probably on California, though. But I'm in no rush. I have
the summer to see the Northwest"
    "You mean you might be leaving for California or
Hawaii?" Jeremy asked curiously.
    "This summer is only the extended vacation I've been
promising myself."
    "I see." His boyish grin returned. "I hope
you don't have anything against summer romances?"
    "I don't know." She smiled. "I've never
really had one!"
    "You've been missing something."
    "I know."
    He pulled her closer as the music flowed around them and
Lacey didn't resist He was nice, she told herself. And she thought they
understood each other very well.
    She
listened attentively as he talked about the hero he was developing for his
novel.
    "I'm hoping to sell it to one of the publishing houses
which puts out series books," Jeremy explained.
    "And if it doesn't sell right