]Harlequin] - Pamela Burford - In the Dark (txt), Ksiazki, txt
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Contents:123456789101112131415----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter 1^ｻOkay, so maybe I'm a little nervous, Cat Seabright admitted to herself as she wiped her damp palms on her cotton sundress. Why deny it? What was going to happen in this apartment tonight would, after all, transform her life forever. She hoped.She leaned on the warm metal railing of the penthouse terrace and stared at the sparkling cityscape ofManhattan'sUpper East Sideat night. The spacious top-floor terrace offered a panoramic view of lofty buildings stretching into the distance, all studded with innumerable glowing windows.Muted sounds of traffic from the street twenty-two floors below competed with the seductive drone of the apartment's air conditioner behind her. There wasn't a whiff of breeze to stir the heavy, muggy air. The July heat was nearly as oppressive now, after ten at night, as it had been at high noon.Cat resisted checking her watch, knowing it had been only about a minute and a half since she'd last done so. He wouldn't arrive for perhaps another half hour yet擁fhis plane had landed on time and if he'd managed to get a taxi promptly and if that taxi wasn't now sitting insnarled traffic on the bridge or in the tunnel. If, if, if.Just get here, Greg. Get here and let's just do it before I lose my nerve.No. She wouldn't lose her nerve. It would be awkward, certainly, and mechanical, but the end result was what mattered.As Cat gazed distractedly at the glittering urban landscape, a block of buildings to the north abruptly disappeared熔r seemed to as the windows winked into darkness. She straightened and stared, wide-eyed, as the lights in an adjacent duster of buildings disappeared. Within seconds everything north blinked out, as far as she could see, then theWest Sidein one great swath, and then her own chunk of the city suddenly turned dark.The air conditioner rumbled to silence as Cat stood frozen. "A blackout," she whispered. A real, honest-to-goodnessNew York Cityblackout! The day's record heat must have placed the ultimate strain on the city's power system.From street level far below came a cacophony of human voices, a faint mumble that swiftly rose in volume. New Yorkers roaring their delight or disgust, or possibly both.A blackout. No electricity to run the elevator. Which meant Greg would have to climb twenty-two flights of stairs to get to her. That thought had her sputtering with nervous laughter as she turned and made her way across the brick-paved terrace, which felt like a pizza oven under the bare soles of her feet.Yep, that's me,she thought,the most alluring babe inNew York.A woman any man would traverse the continent for, before cheerfully sprinting up twenty-two flights of stairs. With luggage. There she was, the fairy-tale princess in her forbidding tower, devising a fitting test of endurance for all those princes clamoring for her hand in marriage.No, not marriage, she reminded herself, as she stepped through the doorway into the cool, dark living room and groped her way around the velvet-upholstered sofa. It had taken long enough葉hirty-eight years, to be precise傭ut Cat had eventually given up that particular pipe dream. There was only one thing she really wanted out of life, and she'd finally decided she'd waited for it long enough.Has anyone thought to lay in a few candles here?she wondered, gingerly making her way through the gloom to the small kitchen, barking her shin on the marble coffee table in the process.What would Nana do if she knew Cat had appropriated the agency's apartment for the night? And for such a scandalous purpose? She wouldn't be amused, that was for sure. Cat's employer was as straitlaced as they came, hence the grandmotherly moniker. One of her first clients had nicknamed Mrs. Amaryllis Littlestone "Nana" and the name had stuck.Nana would fire Cat if she knew about tonight; end of story. Nana's "nurturers" were expected to comport themselves in a chaste and dignified manner, in their off hours as well as on assignment.Up until now, Cat had never had a problem living up to her employer's exacting standards. She was anything but a hell-raiser, and her pitifully tame love life wouldn't raise an eyebrow. In the kitchen, she felt for a drawer handle and began to carefully paw through corkscrews and chopsticks, blindly hunting for a candle and praying she wouldn't find a boning knife or an ice pick in the process.Cat had actually admitted to Greg on the phone that she hadn't had sex in three years. She still couldn't decide whether that particular item of information was likely to turn him on or, heaven forbid, earn his pity."Oh yeah, that's what you want to be," she muttered as she slammed the drawer shut and fumbled for the one next to it, "the kind of woman men sleep with out of pity."She'd located the junk drawer, and it bore fruit a short candle stub, the remnant, no doubt, of some intimated絜er t黎e ・t黎e. A little more exploring turned up a mostly empty matchbook and a squat, wax-encrusted glass candlestick. She crammed the candle in the holder and touched a lit match to the blackened wick."We're in business羊omantic lighting," she dryly intoned. "Ha ha ha."Whatever this night held in store for her, she was pretty certain "romantic" wasn't part of the equation. Though the experience should shape up as a great story to tell her child someday.You were conceived on the night of the bigNew York Cityblackout. Your daddy had to trudge up twenty-two flights of stairs because he'd promised to try and make a baby with Mommy while Mommy could still make babies.All right, so maybe she'd stick to the three little pigs. As bedtime stories went, this particular escapade left something to be desired.Like a husband.No. She wouldn't travel that mental road again, and the dead end it inevitably led to. Her two-decade search for Mr. Perfect had been a resounding failure. He didn't exist. Neither did Mr. Almost-perfect or even Mr. What - the - heck - it's - worth - a - try.Brigit claimed Cat's requirements in a mate were too exacting, that she was holding out for some impossible-to-attain ideal. Cat's answer was always the same. Considering the alarming divorce rate nowadays, was it possible to be too picky? The last thing Cat would want to do was subject some innocent child to the emotional meat grinder of divorce, having experienced that particular hell firsthand.Cat carried the lit candle into the bedroom and set it on the dresser next to the huge gourmet snack basket wrapped in cellophane. The contents looked tempting容verything from Godiva chocolates to blue corn chips傭ut she didn't dare touch it. She had to leave this place precisely the way she'd found it or risk Nana discovering she'd been here.When she left tomorrow, the agency's apartment would have been restored to its previous condition, but as for herself・Cat's hand drifted to her abdomen. If tonight was a success and she did indeed become pregnant, her job would be forfeit within a few months anyway, once she showed. A pregnant unmarried lady? Not in Nana's agency. But in the meantime Cat would continue to work and save every nickel toward a house in the suburbs. She had no intention of raising her child in her apartment inTarrytown, the upper floor of a two-family house. She'd never even considered trying to conceive the baby there, under the watchful eyes and keen ears of her landlady, Mrs. Santangelo.Selecting a suitable location had been the easy part, and she was certain Nana wouldn't notice that the spare set of apartment keys was missing from her office before Cat could return them. Selecting a suitable sperm donor, on the other hand・Thank goodness for Brigit. Her best friend had come through for her. They'd been sitting in the Magnolia Coffee Shop last month, their favorite breakfast spot, discussing Cat's plight over Belgian waffles and the Magnolia's bottomless cup of coffee. By that point Brigit had given up trying to persuade her lifelong friend of the foolhardiness of her scheme and they were in the process of vetting candidates for the honor of Chief Inseminator. The guy had to have exemplary genes, but just as important, he had to be willing to stay out of the picture once the deed was done.One by one they'd crossed off the names Brigit had scrawled on her paper place mat, until only two remained: Cat's old boyfriend Anton Lind, a confirmed bachelor, and Brigit's cousin Greg Bannister.Cat had been tempted to choose Anton, who had the distinction of being the hottest guy she'd ever dated, with his golden Viking beauty and body by Nautilus. Mentally melding her own coppery curls and his pale locks, she envisioned a darling little girl with strawberry blond hair and the pale blue eyes both parents shared. And Anton was convenient; he lived right there in the city. More important, she'd slept with him before. Of course, it had been a long time ago, about four years, but at least he was a known quantity. They had a history.Which was why she'd ultimately crossed Anton off the list. The last thing she needed was her baby's biological father running into them at the park, wistfully recalling the relationship they'd once shared, dropping by for unexpected visits. Confirmed bachelor or not, she could see him becoming nostalgic for the good old days and renewing their emotional involvement once they'd made a baby together.That left Greg, Brigit's Cute Cousin, which was how Cat had though...
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]