Storms of Change by Radclyffe

Author:Radclyffe
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: ! Yes
ISBN: 9781933110578
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2006-10-15T05:00:00+00:00

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Carter snagged a drink from a passing tuxedoed waiter and moved off to one side of the stone patio into the shade of a huge flowering dogwood. At seven p.m., under the golden glow of the setting sun, the expansive gardens behind Alfonse Pareto's home were a riot of color and fragrance. Their beauty, however, was eclipsed by that of the woman Carter watched as she sipped her 1995 Krug. She hadn't seen Rica in three weeks, and while she hadn't thought it was possible to forget how striking she was, she had been wrong.

Rica wore a white two-piece evening dress--a sleek sleeveless silk top subtly styled like a bustier and a floor length fishtail skirt--with heels that brought her close to Carter's height. Her hair was pulled back from her face and held with a comb at the base of her neck. She looked exotic and untouchable. Every time she gazed in Carter's direction, her eyes passed over Carter's face as if they were strangers. Each time it happened, Carter felt the affront as if she'd been slapped. Finally, she couldn't take it any longer.

Against her better judgment, she eased her way through the crowd and waited until Rica had stopped speaking to yet another of the men Carter recognized as Pareto's captains. Then she closed the final gap between them.

"Ms. Grechi," Carter said quietly, her eyes sweeping the crowd, relieved when she saw that no one was paying any particular attention to them. It wasn't the smartest move for her to approach Rica in full view of people who might take notice, but she couldn't help herself. Up close she could see that the top of Rica's ensemble laced in the back, leaving her skin tantalizingly displayed beneath the thin silk strands.

Carter's fingertips tingled with the need to caress the small bare patches of skin.

"Carter," Rica said.

When it seemed that Rica might not say anything else, Carter murmured, "You look amazing tonight."

Rica slanted Carter a glance, then fingered the sleeve of Carter's plain, black, tab-collared shirt while she slowly perused the belted trousers. "You're probably the only woman in my father's entire acquaintance who could manage to show up wearing this and not cause a stir. Prada?"

"Uh-huh."

"I like the look."

"I'm glad." Carter sipped her champagne. "I called you when I was out on the Cape." She'd only been able to get away once for more than a day in the last few weeks, and although she could easily have made the short trip out to the Cape with a smaller window of time than that, she was afraid she might be called back when she was there. She hadn't wanted to rouse Rica's suspicions by making another abrupt departure, so she had forced herself to stay away. But the longer she had gone without seeing Rica, the harder it had been to sleep. The harder it had been to concentrate. The harder it had been to do anything except think about Rica and how much she wanted to see her again.

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