Gentle Pirate by Jayne Castle

Author:Jayne Castle
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2010-06-06T04:00:00+00:00

“I asked him to take me home and he insisted on going to his apartment first. I got out at a convenient stop sign,” Kirsten said simply, meeting Simon’s eyes directly. He nodded.

“The man made a pass at you?” he demanded. “Probably no more of a pass than you made at Liz Wilford. In fact,” she added reflectively, “probably not as effective a pass, since I didn’t go home with him as Liz did with you!”

“We are not discussing Liz Wilford. We are discussing you,” Simon said very distinctly. “I want to know why Roger Townsend is showing such an interest in you. Did you lead him to believe you would make a pleasant, easy conquest with which to occupy himself on a Friday evening?”

“No!” Simon’s scathing comments infuriated Kirsten to the point where she instantly forgot her determination to be regal. She bounded to her feet, small hands bunched into fists at her sides. “If all you’re going to do is hurl insults at me, you can get out! Now!”

“Sit down, Kirsten,” he said in a quiet tone that brooked no nonsense. In spite of herself, she sat. “There is no indication that Roger Townsend was interested in you until I appeared on the scene. He and Liz seemed quite content with each other, in fact. So why the sudden shift in attention?” He was still leaning back, to all appearances totally relaxed, his hand absently loosening the knot of the tie. But Kirsten wasn’t fooled. Simon Kendrick, to her possibly overactive imagination, seemed a large lion now who had only to extend a casual paw in order to keep an irritating kitten in line. And if that kitten continued its bold ways, then a deep growl would sound a warning. Few kittens would dare push beyond the limits implied by those means of control and Kirsten didn’t think she was one of them!

“I’ve told you why I went out with Roger,” she mumbled sullenly, not looking at him.

“I’m well aware of your reasons for datinghim ,” Simon nodded impatiently. “We’ll get to them later. What we’re talking about now is why he asked you out.”

“Is it so hard to believe that he might simply like me?” she retorted, feeling abused.

“The man doesn’t have enough intelligence to appreciate you, little owl.”

Kirsten swung her wide-eyed gaze back to him at that. What did Simon mean?

“No, I don’t mean to insult your basic feminine attractions, honey,” he continued in a lighter tone, “but common sense indicates a man like Townsend rarely does anything without an ulterior motive.”

For a full minute Kirsten traded hard looks with him and then Simon gave a small sound of exasperation. “I didn’t mean what I said earlier, little owl, about you letting Townsend think you would be another conquest to add to his collection, so unruffle your feathers. I know you wouldn’t stoop that low to scare off me.” The words were soothing, cajoling, and Kirsten did, indeed, feel as if her feathers were being stroked back into place.

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