Free Anne Mather by Sanja Page A

Perhaps you would show Miss Sinclair to her room.' He turned to Caroline. 'You go along with Mrs Jones, honey,' he murmured softly. 'Goodnight.'
    'Goodnight, Adam,' said Caroline, and obediently followed Mrs Jones from the room.
    Her bedroom, with its adjoining bathroom, was upstairs and Caroline was absolutely bemused by the splendour of it all. A white pile carpet covered the bedroom floor and one's feet sank in it up to the ankles. The bedding and curtains were rose-coloured satin and the bedhead was quilted. The furniture was a rich mahogany while a white telephone stood on the bedside table.
    The bathroom was even more fantastic, with a floor of rich mosaic design, scattered about with thick rugs. The walls were all mirrors, reflecting one hundreds of times over, and Caroline felt sure she would feel embarrassed bathing in such surroundings. The bath, sunken deeply into the floor, was circular, with silver taps and an adjoining shower compartment.
    With determination, Caroline turned on the taps and walked back into the bedroom to collect a pair of Adam's pyjamas which were lying on the bed in readiness for her use.
    After almost filling the bath and adding some bath salts she found in the bathroom also, she had a really satisfying bath and got out feeling refreshed. She dried herself on the woolly white bath towels and put on the silk pyjamas. They felt expensive and the dressing gown which had also been supplied could have been wrapped round her twice.
    Then she went back into the bedroom and sat down on the bed, unable to consider sleep for a while. She wished she had been able to say more to Adam before she had been shepherded off by Mrs Jones, but perhaps he wanted it that way. She took a cigarette from the box beside the telephone and after lighting it lay back against the pillows luxuriously. This bed for instance, she mused, would sleep about six adults, let alone only one, and that ceiling; who had devised such an intricate system of design? All the opulence seemed so different from the flat she shared with Amanda and she couldn't deny that she preferred this room to the small cubbyhole she and Amanda slept in at home.
    She switched off the main lights, leaving only the bedside lamp burning casting a golden glow over the room. Her watch told her that it was half-past eleven and she thought lazily that she ought to be getting right into bed. She stubbed out her cigarette and then lay back again. She felt relaxed and sleepy.
    Suddenly there was a light tap on the door and it opened to admit Adam. He closed the door and leaned back against it, smiling.
    She sat up, startled at his unexpected entrance. He was still fully dressed and he moved away from the door towards the bed.
    'Don't be perturbed,' he murmured lazily. 'I've only come to make sure you're all right and to say goodnight.'
    Caroline sighed. 'I thought you must have wanted me out of the way,' she replied softly.
    Adam shrugged. 'Did it sound like that? No, honey, I just didn't want to give Mrs J. anything to gossip about. After all, you're very young. . .and very beautiful. . .' He bit his lip savagely as he looked down at her.
    'I'm glad you think so,' she answered quietly. She lay back. 'I think this is a wonderful room.'
    He did not reply but continued looking at her until she said:
    'I suppose these are your pyjamas?' in a husky voice.
    'So they are,' he murmured, his eyes caressing her slender body. With a groan he sank down beside her and pulled her into his arms, his mouth seeking hers. There was a tenderness in his kiss which overwhelmed her and then as she responded the kiss hardened and became passionately absorbing.
    'Adam,' she breathed achingly, and with a muffled curse Adam wrenched himself away and rose to his feet.
    'God, Caro,' he muttered, 'you don't know what you do to me.' He turned away abruptly and thrust his hands into his pockets.
    'I know what you do to me,' she protested, propping herself up on one elbow, the revers of the