Free Heartbreaker by Linda Howard Page A

maitre d' knew him, as did most of the people in the room, by
sight and reputation if not personally. They were led across the crowded room
to a select table by the window.
    Michelle had noted the way so many people had
watched them. "Well, this is one," she said dryly.
    He looked up from the menu. "One
what?"
    "I've been seen in public with you once.
Gossip has it that any woman seen with you twice is automatically assumed to be
sleeping with you."
    His mustache twitched as he frowned in
annoyance. "Gossip has a way of being exaggerated."
    "Usually, yes."
    "And in this case?"
    "You tell me."
    He put the menu aside, his eyes never leaving
her. "No matter what gossip says, you won't have to worry about being just
another member of a harem. While we're together, you'll be the only woman in my
bed."
    Her hands shook, and Michelle quickly put her
menu on the table to hide that betraying quiver. "You're assuming a
lot," she said lightly in an effort to counteract the heat she could feel
radiating from him.
    "I'm not assuming anything. I'm planning
on it." His voice was flat, filled with masculine certainty. He had reason
to be certain; how many women had ever refused him? He projected a sense of
overwhelming virility that was at least as seductive as the most expert
technique, and from what she'd heard, he had that, too. Just looking at him
made a woman wonder, made her begin dreaming about what it would be like to be
in bed with him.
    "Michelle, darling!"
    Michelle couldn't stop herself from flinching
at that particular phrase, even though it was spoken in a lilting female voice
rather than a man's deeper tones. Quickly she looked around, grateful for the
interruption despite the endearment she hated; when she recognized the speaker,
gratefulness turned to mere politeness, but her face was so schooled that the
approaching woman didn't catch the faint nuances of expression.
    "Hello, Bitsy, how are you?" she
asked politely as John got to his feet. "This is John Rafferty, my
neighbor. John, this is Bitsy Sumner, from Palm Beach . We went to college together."
    Bitsy's eyes gleamed as she looked at John,
and she held her hand out to him. "I'm so glad to meet you, Mr.
Rafferty."
    Michelle knew Bitsy wouldn't pick it up, but
she saw the dark amusement in John's eyes as he gently took the woman's
faultlessly manicured and bejeweled hand in his. Naturally he'd seen the way
Bitsy was looking at
him
. It was a look he'd probably been getting
since puberty.
    "Mrs. Sumner," he murmured, noting
the diamond-studded wedding band on her left hand. "Would you like to join
us?"
    "Only for a moment," Bitsy sighed,
slipping into the chair he held out "My husband and I are here with some
business associates and their wives. He says it's good business to socialize
with them occasionally, so we flew in this morning. Michelle, dear, I haven't
seen you in so long! What are you doing on this side of the state?"
    "I live north of here," Michelle
replied.
    "You must come visit. Someone mentioned
just the other day that it had been forever since we'd seen you! We had the
most fantastic party at Howard Cassa's villa last month; you should have
come."
    "I have too much work to do, but thank
you for the invitation." She managed to smile at Bitsy, but she understood
that Bitsy hadn't been inviting her to visit them personally; it was just
something that people said, and probably her old acquaintances were curious
about why she had left their circle.
    Bitsy shrugged elegantly. "Oh, work,
schmurk. Let someone else take care of it for a month or so. You need to have
some fun! Come to town, and bring Mr. Rafferty with you." Bitsy's gaze
slid back to John, and that unconsciously hungry look crawled into her eyes
again. "You'd enjoy it, Mr. Rafferty, I promise. Everyone needs a break
from work occasionally, don't you think?"
    His brows lifted. "Occasionally."
    "What sort of business are you in?"
    "Cattle. My ranch adjoins
Michelle's."
    "Oh, a
rancher!"
    Michelle could