Satin Dreams Read Online Free Page A

in the office,” she ordered. “ Tous comprenez? ”  
    Alix didn’t bother to answer. The voice from Washington was saying into her ear, “You didn’t expect this, did you? That we’d find out where you worked? I hope this demonstrates how serious we are, Catherine.”  
    Alix still wore the beaded and sequined fantaisie from the evening wear part of the show, and the dress weighed a ton. She was sweating under her heavy makeup. Wearily, she propped her elbow against the wall and leaned her forehead against it. “Don’t call me at work.” She tried to keep her voice steady. “Are you deliberately trying to get me fired?”  
    “Whatever it takes, Catherine,” the voice said, “whatever it takes. Didn’t we tell you that this morning?”  
    Still clutching one white silk peau de soie shoe in her hand, Iris winced as the fitter tried to pin the back of her gown. The Ethiopian girl spoke English as well as French; she mouthed a question silently. What’s the problem?  
    Alix only shook her head.  
    “You’re trying to cause trouble for me, aren’t you?” she said into the telephone. “Do you really think this is going to work? You must be out of your mind!”  
    Someone had come into the back hallway from the salon. The seconde dashed up, pushing the French model MarieYvonne out of her way. Iris covered her bare breasts with one hand.  
    A man stood in the far end of the hallway.  
    With the dim light behind him, all Alix could make out was a tall, leanly built figure in a black overcoat. He held a homburg hat in his hand.  
    “You have to come back, Catherine,” the voice in her ear insisted. “The pressure isn’t going to let up. You were told that things would get unpleasant when you called New York this morning, weren’t you?”  
    Alix eyed the man waiting in the hallway in his expensively tailored clothes. Good Lord, another one, was all she could think. Her average was two a week. But Rudi usually didn’t let them come backstage.  
    The tall man moved a few steps toward her. Although his eyes were shadowed, from the way he held his head she could tell he was studying her thoroughly. “When you’re through,” he said, indicating the telephone. He spoke in English. “I’d like to have a few words with you.”  
    Alix took a moment to study him just as intently, while the voice of the caller droned on in her ear. Broad-shouldered and rather young, she decided, with an arrogant, long nose, dark hair, and glinting black eyes. She wondered what the suggested scenario would be this time. Dinner at Maxim’s, followed by “my-place-in-the-country” afterward? Or maybe a straightforward time-saving pitch for a few hours’ dalliance in a suite at the Crillon?  
    “Don’t call me here again.” She kept her voice low. “You’re defeating your own purpose, hassling me like this.” She suddenly felt reckless, a return of the morning’s defiance. “I have—important friends.” She lifted her eyes to the hardfaced man standing under the hall light. “They’ll help me.”  
    Suddenly, Alix knew just how and when she was going to make her move. It was brilliant, perfect for the moment. And it had just popped into her head.  
    She turned to face the man in the corridor. The shimmering sparks of sequins and glass beads from the gown that sheathed her body evoked an answering fire from his dark, lidded eyes.  
    Whoever he was, he looked experienced, assured, even ruthless, she thought, somewhat tremulously. Young, but there was a world of sensual knowledge in that chiseled face. He was known and accepted at Mortessier’s, or he wouldn’t be allowed in the back area. It was the only reassuring thought.  
    “You want to take me out?” she asked in French, startled that her voice sounded so sultry.  
    He hesitated only a moment, his expression saying that he hadn’t expected it to be this easy. “The invitation is for dinner, yes. Now, tonight. If you are free.”  
    The