The More I See You by Lynn Kurland

Author:Lynn Kurland [Kurland, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781101658321
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 1999-09-30T16:00:00+00:00

21

Jessica stared over the chessboard, puzzling out more than her next move. The entire chamber was thick with stratagem. There was Kendrick, who seemed harmless enough, a playboy who was sure of his good looks and wore casualness like a shield. She had the feeling that one day a woman might find that a serious, devoted man lay beneath all that polish, but it would take a while.

Then there was Richard, who sat on her right hand facing the fire. His chin rested on his steepled fingers and he looked completely bored with the goings-on.

A sure sign he was thinking too hard.

About what? was the question. Surely he didn’t think he had competition from Kendrick. Kendrick was gorgeous, witty, and should have had her falling at his feet from his slick compliments; he might have, had things been different or had she met him first. But she’d become so enamored of buried compliments and scowls that anything else seemed too sweet.

Besides, Richard was just so arresting, with his powerful physique and stern features. Rugged. Unyielding. The man just brought out all the womanly instincts in her. She wanted to tease him into giving her the smile she had yet to see. She wanted him to back her up against a wall, look down at her with that intense, stifling look he had, then lower his mouth to hers and kiss her until she was out of her mind.

It was starting to sound uncomfortably like a project relationship, but if there was anyone who wouldn’t submit to that kind of thing, it was Richard. She was safe from her own instincts.

“Jessica?”

Jessica dragged her eyes from Richard and blinked. “Yes?”

Kendrick smiled. “I believe you are in deep peril, my lady.”

Jessica turned her attention back to the board. She was doomed. All that she had left was her king and few insignificant pawns. She looked at Richard.

“Don’t you feel the urge to help me save myself?” she asked.

“I couldn’t care less about the outcome,” he snapped.

“Wine?” Kendrick offered politely, holding out the bottle.

“Not for Richard,” Jessica put in quickly. That, at least, earned her a deep scowl. Richard waved away the bottle and slumped down farther in his chair, his expression positively grim.

“I offered it to you, my lady,” Kendrick said, “not Richard, for I know his habits well. He was the only one any of us could ever count on to be sober. He saved my life more times than I want to admit thanks to his having a clear head.”

“Please spare us the tales,” Richard said, his tone positively frosty.

Jessica wanted to get the game over with as soon as possible, and perhaps flee to higher ground, so she recklessly plunged her king ahead into Kendrick’s trap.

“Checkmate,” he said cheerfully as he moved his queen. “Let’s start again, shall we? Richard, she’s quite good. You should play her once. I’ll aid her in besting you.”

“I don’t want to play.”

Jessica would have laughed had Richard’s expression not been so forbidding. There was serious disgruntlement going on, though she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why.

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