Midnight Flame Read Online Free Page B

straightened. “Good morning,” he said in a silky voice.
    She caught the scent of fresh tobacco, mingled with his own musky male scent. This man cut a dashing figure in a dark frock coat with matching trousers. Many women would melt willingly into this man’s arms, if given half a chance. Laurel might be inexperienced in the ways of passion, but she was well aware that some men could ruin a woman with a glance. She felt this man was one of those.
    “We haven’t been formally introduced, sir.” She sounded curt, very cold. The man only smiled, but there was no warmth in his eyes.
    “I am a stranger to New Orleans, mademoiselle. I hope not to be a stranger to you much longer. I shall make it a point to be properly introduced to you.”
    With that remark, he bowed again and then quickly walked away. Laurel thought he was an odd man and didn’t care for the way her heart thumped in her chest. But when she was in Boston she had been approached by men who were less than gentlemen, and her frosty manner had deterred them. She didn’t believe an icy approach would matter to this man. Already she sensed he was a hunter, and she the prey, and not about to be stopped until he had made his kill.
    Laurel shivered in the warm morning air and went to her cabin where she decided to put the stranger and his bad manners from her mind.
    She hoped she wouldn’t run into the man again.

CHAPTER THREE

    Laurel had just finished dressing for dinner when she entered Lavinia’s adjoining cabin. Before her stood Lavinia in a golden silk creation that took away Laurel’s breath. Her cousin’s auburn locks were pulled atop her head and cascaded in ringlets down her back. Compared to the prim dark-green gown Laurel wore, Lavinia resembled a fairy princess.
    “Well, how do I look?” Lavinia asked and swirled around the cabin. Gincie stood with her arms folded, a disapproving frown on her face.
    “You’re a breath-taking sight, Lavinia,” Laurel spoke truthfully. “But you can’t have dinner in the dining room dressed like that.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because I thought you feared the St. Julian family. You’re supposed to be my dour-faced companion, Agatha Malone.”
    “Oh, her.” Lavinia laughed and preened before the mirror. “I’ve given old Agatha the night off. I’m not about to have my evening spoiled. I can go back to being plain Agatha in the morning.”
    Lavinia never ceased to baffle Laurel. Only the week before she had cried in fear of her life, and now because she was apparently bored with her masquerade, she had decided to drop the pretense for a while. Laurel didn’t care one way or the other what Lavinia did, but she wasn’t about to allow Lavinia to use her.
    “I booked passage for a Miss Agatha Malone, companion to Miss Delaney. And now it seems that I’m to look like a fool in front of the captain and everyone else who saw you board the boat this morning. Truly, I don’t care if you drop the charade, but from now on I shall tell everyone who you really are. That news should delight St. Julian’s relative, if such a person actually is trying to find you. You may as well place a large sign on your person, proclaiming your identity.”
    For an instant Lavinia’s chin trembled, but only for an instant. Then she lifted her head high and flashed Laurel a dazzling smile.
    “I wonder if you really care about me, Cousin Laurel, or if you enjoy my disguise. Sometimes I think you dislike me a great deal.”
    There was a grain of truth in Lavinia’s statement, and Laurel hated to admit she did get some enjoyment out of the beautiful Lavinia playing the plain Jane. For most of her life she had mentally compared herself to Lavinia and found herself lacking, though her mother had constantly assured her she was beautiful but in a quiet sort of way.
    She didn’t dislike Lavinia. In fact Laurel felt rather protective of her and couldn’t fathom why.
    “I care about you very much,” Laurel found herself saying. “If