Chain of Love Read Online Free Page A

answer he shook her again, hard. “Is it?”
    “Yes, sir,” she muttered, with little grace.
    He laughed then, loosening but not releasing his iron grip on her tender flesh. “Now are you ready to go above and be the nice, sweet girl I know you
    are beneath that bitchy exterior?”
    He was smiling down at her, that beguiling little smile, and Cathy could smell the salt spray and the tangy scent of his cologne, combined with the
    intoxicating smell of his sun-heated flesh. She made a face. “Yes, sir,” she said again, deceptively meek.
    “Good,” he said, leading her toward the steps. “But let me tell you one thing, my girl. You don’t fool me for one moment.”
    “I wasn’t trying to,” she shot back, starting up the stairs. “And you, Sinclair MacDonald, don’t fool me either.” She
    didn’t know why she said it, and she was totally unprepared for his response.
    “Really? I wouldn’t count on it.” And he followed her out into the bright sunlight.

 
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    Chapter Three
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    After their disturbing little confrontation in the cabin, things were surprisingly better, Cathy realized as she leaned back against the duck-covered
    cushions out on deck. If she didn’t know it was impossible, she would have said she was enjoying herself. The blueness of the sky, the sea all around
    them, the easy, non-demanding company, including Sin MacDonald, seemed calculated to relax her wary suspicions. Stifling a yawn, she shook her silver-blond
    hair about her shoulders, staring out at the horizon with a preoccupied air. The breeze was chilly, but Sin’s sweater was more than up to the task of
    keeping her warm. She would have liked to dispense with it—it was a toss-up as to which would be more disturbing: chattering teeth and blue lips or
    the insidious scent of Sin’s aftershave as it clung to his over-sized sweater.
    “More wine?” Sin offered lazily, and for a moment Cathy hesitated. The chilled white wine was delicious, but she had no head for alcohol. To be
    sure, Meg would take care of her and see that she got home safely, but...
    “No, thank you,” she replied politely enough, not missing the amused light in his eyes at her somewhat stilted courtesy. “I’m so
    full I couldn’t move.” As if on cue, Meg rose from her seat behind her sister and wandered forward to join Charles. Cathy tensed her muscles,
    prepared to join them, when Sin’s broad hand reached out and stayed her. She sat back down on the shiny wood deck, unwilling to come in actual
    contact with him again. She was far too susceptible to his very potent charm.
    “I think your sister and Charles would like some time alone,” he said, making no effort to cross the three feet that separated them on the
    small square of deck. “They’re still practically on their honeymoon.”
    “They’ve been married eighteen months,” she shot back.
    “As I said, they’re practically newly weds. You know, Cathy,” Sin observed meditatively, “I am hardly likely to throw you down on
    the teak deck and rape you. Particularly with an audience.”
    Embarrassment and irritation warred for control, with embarrassment having a slight edge. She lowered her confused eyes to the deck, thankful once more for
    the sunglasses. “Is it teak?” she inquired with just a trace of agitation in her voice. “I assumed it was some sort of synthetic.”
    “I’m not much for synthetics,” he stated, not bragging, merely as a statement of fact. And Cathy found she was inclined to agree.
    Everything about him was alarmingly real. “Why don’t you relax?” he added. “I promise you you’re safe from ravishment right
    now.”
    “I always assumed I was,” she said boldly. “After all, I doubt I’m the type to interest a man like you.”
    “A man like me?” he echoed, arrested. “And what would you think that is?”
    He had a lazy half-smile on his face as he leaned back against the bench, his long legs stretched out on the deck in front of him. Cathy