Sweet Bondage Read Online Free Page B

side.
    Opening it he apologized, ‘Only sandwiches, I’m afraid. But you do have a choice. Chicken or ham?’
    â€˜Chicken, please. I’d appreciate a drink of something first. Traveling long distances always gives me a thirst.’
    â€˜Coffee coming up.’
    He took a flask from the hamper and unscrewed the top even before she said, ‘Lovely, thank you.’
    It was more than lovely. It was delicious. Hot and strong, easing a passage in her throat, dispelling the dryness and a little of the fear as well. The situation seemed slightly less menacing now that she was on the receiving end of human kindness in the form of food and drink. She wondered if he would be more disposed to listen to her now. She could but try.
    â€˜Honestly, I’m not Glenda Channing. There’s no point in your kidnapping me. It was true what I said about collecting Miss Channing’s car for her and the mix-up over the handbags.’
    â€˜Still keeping up the pretense, are you? Anyway, who’s been kidnapped? This was at your instigation; you’ve come voluntarily.’
    â€˜You know that I’ve done no such thing.’
    â€˜It’s too late for a change of mind. I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to fetch you. Elaborate plans have been made.’ He swallowed the rest of his coffee in a gulp, put the cup back in the hamper and twisted round, his arms bent at the elbows and splayed along the back of his seat, granite chin resting on linked fingers to look at her. ‘I expected you to look more hardboiled. Who would have thought that anyone with such an appealing little face could be so heartless and insensitive? I don’t mind admitting that I’m having problems on that score. I’ve got to keep reminding myself of what you have done—and what you would do, given half the chance. You stand for everything I most despise. This time you’ve met your match. Clever as you are, you may as well get it into your head to drop the pretense because it isn’t going to do you any good. I am not taken in, nor am I likely to be. Is that clear?’
    â€˜No, it isn’t I’ve landed myself in some bizarre situations in my time, but I’ve never been involved in anything like this before. I’m beginning to feel really angry.’
    His words had caught her on the raw. She wasn’t used to being viewed so harshly. She liked to think that she was regarded kindly and admired for her caring and the way she concerned herself for others. She didn’t think it was too conceited of her to know that this was the majority opinion and that most people thought well of her. Miss Davies, her superior at work, had once confided that she loaded things on her quite shamefully because she was a kind-hearted girl who never grumbled when asked for help.
    It came to her that she was taking this personally, as if his biting contempt was directed against her and not the girl he thought she was, Glenda Channing. It also occurred to her that she was being paid back for her earlier dissatisfaction with a vengeance. Never again would she covet anyone else’s lot as she had Glenda Channing’s. Not only was this a severe punishment, but it brought a complete reversal of thought. She was glad she wasn’t the other girl. She couldn’t have borne it if he’d looked at her like this and known all the while who she was. Hard on the heels of that thought came a tremendous sense of self-betrayal. Why should she want him to think well of her? His code of behavior was hardly commendable, no matter what injustice, real or imaginary, had been done to him. She was a fool to want his good opinion.
    â€˜Hurry up with your coffee. You can eat as we go along. We still have a fair amount of ground to cover.’
    She had no option but to do as she was told. The fleeting idea of getting out of the car and making a run for it was squashed. It would be a waste of energy. He would catch up with