Free Fortune in the Stars by Kate Proctor

ludicrously naive, your assessment of my
acting skills would be rather flattering,' he murmured in that same
coldly drawling voice. 'But unfortunately the physical manifestations
of desire aren't something a man can summon up to order. Or, to put it
crudely—'
    'Oh, I'm sure you can put it very crudely,' lashed out
Penny, the anger now smouldering within her the only thing holding her
together as a devastating trembling began racking her body. 'But you
needn't bother.'
    His acquiescent shrug was in direct contrast to the harsh,
humourless laugh it accompanied. 'Judging by your accusation, I feel I
should bother… But rather than offend your sensibilities,
I'll put it another way.'
    There was no way she could have anticipated his next move,
and by the time her outraged mind had digested what he had done his
hands had returned to his sides, having already reached out and cupped
her breasts, each thumb having lightly caressed against the rigid peaks
outlined sharply beneath the soft material of her blouse.
    'You see, it works both ways,' he murmured, as though
explaining the workings of a toy to a child. 'Granted, the female body
doesn't signal its desire quite as flamboyantly as that of the
male…but it sure as hell does it, wouldn't you agree?'
    For several seconds Penny fought to keep her mouth shut,
for once aware that had she opened it nothing more than a rage of
gibberish would have come from it. She was completely
trapped—in unfamiliar surroundings in a completely strange
country, in a lie enforced on her by friendship and in her ludicrous,
totally inexplicable physical entrapment by a man whom she positively
loathed!
    And then, as though by a miracle, her head suddenly
cleared, replacing anger and humiliation with giddy elation…
She could always leave!
    Her shoulders squared perceptibly as she faced him, and
she almost managed a smile.
    'There's cheese salad for lunch, which your sensitive
tastebuds will no doubt reject in disgust. And there's bread warming in
the oven—though I dare say that's done to a cinder by now.'
She turned on her heel and marched through the door.
    She was tempted to dance a small jig on her way to her
room, but was still too giddy from relief to risk it.
    Yes, she was taking the coward's way out, but she didn't
care. She had come close—within a whisker, to be perfectly
honest—of making the most colossal fool of herself, and now
she was making her escape. Perhaps Lexy was right after all about Leos
throwing a mental wobbly over being made to look foolish, she conceded
indulgently as she entered her room—this one certainly didn't
take at all kindly to it.
    She got down a case and opened it up, then froze, her
smile faltering to a tense grimace. Lexy! If Lexy wasn't around she
would have nowhere to stay, and furthermore the rest of her clothes
were at Lexy's place and it would probably be freezing in London by now!
    'What exactly do you think you're doing?'
    She swung round to find Dominic lounging in the doorway,
an expression of irritation on his handsome features.
    'I'm leaving.'
    'Really? And where were you planning on going?'
    'Back to London, of course,' she snapped, opening a drawer
and removing clothes from it. Lexy was bound to have turned up by the
time she got back, she told herself, choosing to ignore the niggling
inner voice immediately querying such unfounded confidence.
    'I see… You plan swimming down to Palma, do
you?'
    Penny swung round, flinging the clothes in her hands down
on the bed.
    'What's that supposed to mean?' she demanded, furious with
herself for responding with a sharp stab of alarm to his taunting words.
    'Well, you can't possibly drive,' he murmured, his tone
oozing reasonableness. 'There are rockfalls and God only knows what
else blocking the road between here and Pollensa, and then there are
several areas of severe flooding further south… Didn't you
know?'
    'Of course I didn't know!' she wailed, flopping down on to
the bed in despair. 'The