Rescuing Diana Read Online Free Page A

front of her T-shirt. The University of California logo barely hid her unencumbered breasts, and her nipples were small pebbles against the thin knit. Her rich brown hair was in a loose ponytail that was rapidly becominglooser as it drooped on the nape of her neck. He let his gaze drift farther down to the back of her tight jeans and her slender bare feet. She looked downright earthy, and far removed from the “behind the times” innocent of Monday.
    He sobered when he realized he would be in close proximity to her for hours. Why did she have to be so damned shapely? The knights of the Round Table would have tossed chivalry out on its ear if all the ladies of the realm had been built like Diana. He sensed, though, that his first impression of her as a naïve virgin was a more accurate one. He only hoped his willpower held up.
    Wanting to dampen his growing awareness of her, he said, “This is a beautiful house, Diana. Who …”
    His voice trailed away when they reached the threshold of her workroom in the back lower level. Adam stopped dead. As he gazed in astonishment at the room’s contents, he wondered if he were about to enter the twilight zone. Frankenstein’s laboratory had never looked so wild. The workroom was enormous, running the width of the house, and contained the largest collection of computers he’d ever seen. There had to be at least twenty of the machines in all sizes sitting atop various desks and tables along two walls. Even a couple of commercial arcade games—big, boxlike things about six feet tall, with glowing screens to tempt players to part with their quarters—competed for space. The other two walls were lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves crammed with books. The electronic jungle was so overwhelming that the double sliding glass doors along the back actually looked squished.
    As his first surprise wore off, Adam became aware that there was order amid the chaos. The books and magazines weren’t just shoved any which way into the bookcases, but were neatly shelved. The manuals on the tables and desks were primly stacked or standing between book-ends. Although wires seemed to snake everywhere, they were neatly bound together in an effort to keep them under control. In fact the room and its contents were scrupulously clean, and everything seemed to have a place.
    “Don’t worry,” Diana said, chuckling. “Nothing bites.”
    “I hope not,” Adam said, cautiously entering the room. “Do you actually use all of these?”
    “I only use these for most of my preliminary work,” she said as she crossed the room to where three computers sat bunched together on an oversized table. A single swivel chair with rollers sat in front of it. “The others are different models currently on the market or outdated older ones that I don’t have the heart to get rid of.”
    “My brother would think this was computer heaven,” Adam said, still trying to take it all in.
    She turned around, her eyebrows raised above the top of her glasses. “Oh? Your brother likes computers?”
    He laughed, remembering how Dan had always been hunched in front of a computer when he was a teenager. “He loves them. He has his own software company in Seattle. Maybe you’ve heard of it. It’s called Starlight Software.”
    She shrugged. “I’m afraid I don’t get out as much as I used to. What kind of stuff is he doing?”
    “Educational and game programs,” Adam replied,forcing himself to keep his mind on the conversation. He didn’t remember Diana’s mouth looking so provocative on Monday … or the intriguingly stubborn tilt to her chin … or the mysterious depths of her violet eyes. He cleared his throat. “I was Dan’s guest at the reception.”
    In the ensuing silence there was a funny look on her face. Adam frowned. It was almost as if she were expecting him to say something more, and he had no idea what he was supposed to say. He’d exhausted his knowledge of his younger brother’s business.