Free Mistress: At What Price? by Anne Oliver

experience with the opposite sex knew when it was better to wait.
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    When Mariel came downstairs next morning Dane was already dressed. A suitcase and a suit bag sat by the kitchen table. He was standing at the breakfast bar, reading the newspaper and drinking coffee.
    â€˜Good morning.’
    He looked up at her greeting, his brow puckering as if he was uncomfortable seeing her there. ‘Good morning.’
    He resumed skimming his paper, but she could feel the tension emanating from him like vibrating wire. ‘Did I break a house rule or something?’
    He flicked to the next page. ‘No. Of course not.’
    â€˜What, then?’
    He looked up again, met her gaze. ‘I’ve never shared breakfast with a woman in this house; it caught me off guard.’
    â€˜You’re kidding me. Dane Casanova Huntington has never had a sleepover?’
    He studied the paper once more. ‘I didn’t say that.’
    â€˜So, what—they’re the Cinderella kind?’
    â€˜I have a penthouse apartment in the city.’ He tossed back his coffee, set his mug on the counter with a snap. ‘I’m going to be busy all day, organising for this evening.’ He stared through the window at the pool. ‘I’ve booked a suite for us at the hotel, so I’ll arrange a car to pick you up when you’re ready to leave here.’
    She was still processing the first bit. ‘You keep a city apartment for sex ?’
    He exhaled slowly. ‘I want to keep my private life exactly that. Private. I’ve also made appointments for a massage, spa treatment, hair and make-up,’ he continued, as if she hadn’t interrupted him with a questionhe obviously wasn’t comfortable answering. ‘Did I forget anything?’
    She was still catching up. ‘I don’t think so,’ she said slowly. ‘I could do with a little pampering. Do all your partners get the star treatment?’
    She saw nothing in his gaze, as if he’d deliberately blanked it. ‘Tonight’s important, Mariel.’
    â€˜I know that.’
    â€˜We’ll be staying overnight, so if there’s anything else you might need…’
    Like her contraceptive pills? ‘Overnight?’
    â€˜We want to give them something to speculate about. Isn’t that what we agreed?’
    Oh. ‘Of course. The press .’ The reason for this charade.
    The press hadn’t been the reason he’d kissed her yesterday .
    Picking up his bag, he headed for the door, jingling his car keys. Impatiently or edgily? ‘I’ll join you in our suite at six-thirty.’
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    Mariel’s entire afternoon session in the hotel’s spa and beauty rooms were pure bliss. Courtesy of Dane, she was massaged and exfoliated, buffed and polished until her skin tingled, her complexion glowed, her hair shone and her nails sparkled. She had The Best in facial and hair treatments.
    But beneath the pampering she couldn’t stop thinking about this public affair she was rushing headlong into. She considered herself worldly enough to understand that mutual desire sometimes came without strings.
    Except when it involved Dane.
    She considered herself sensible enough to accept that it was possible to enjoy sexual intimacy without falling in love.
    Except when it involved Dane.
    And when a high-profile celebrity like Dane and she went their separate ways, as they inevitably would, she was going to have to live with the media attention for a long time.
    She would not think about the other bad stuff she might have to learn to live with. Bad emotional stuff. Maybe she should make an advance booking for meditation or psychotherapy? She was likely to need it.
    At six o’clock, in one of the suite’s bedrooms, she stepped into her dress. A one-off European designer gown, it fitted so snugly it took a few moments to shimmy the silky white fabric up her body. As she tugged the zipper in the side seam