The Rent-A-Groom Read Online Free Page A

any situation, Miss Madison, but are you quite sure you want this man removed? I mean, most young women in your place would be screaming bloody murder and demanding someone throw the bum out instead of worrying about him.”
     
    “There’s really no other choice, is there?” Her smile was rueful.
     
    The concierge reached to pat her hand where it rested on the counter. “Not unless you are in the mood for a little adventure.”
     
    Live dangerously . Race had said that; she could hear the words echoing in her head in his deep, seductive tones.
     
    All her life she had been sensible, conscientious, and law-abiding. Her clothes had always matched as a child; her closet had always been tidy. She never walked on the grass, never crossed against the light or exceeded the speed limit. She always made and finished her To Do lists, and double-checked her addition without fail. Her bank account balanced to the penny, not to mention the books she kept for others.
     
    She had played it safe, and see what it got her: a fiancé who was a cheat and a solo honeymoon.
     
    She was tired of it. She had also had it with men who thought they could move in on her as they pleased, treat her as they liked while she did nothing about it.
     
    Her gaze narrowed as she stared at Tyrone. “You think I should risk going back up there?”
     
    “Here, now, that’s not exactly what I meant.”
     
    “But you said I might enjoy the adventure.”
     
    “I said—What did I say? No matter. You must realize, Miss Madison, that I am here only to serve you, not to advise you.”
     
    “Thank you,” Gina said, a slow smile lighting her face. “You’ve really been very helpful.”
     
    As she turned and walked away, she thought the concierge stood staring after her. And why not? She must be insane. She could not be thinking seriously of going back upstairs and playing along with the man in her shower? No. of course not.
     
    Could she?
     
    Perhaps she might. Just for an hour or two.
     
    To give herself a little more time to think, she turned to make a circuit of the mezzanine balcony that overlooked the Glass Garden. Though she glanced over the railing, she scarcely saw the luxuriant palms and bromeliads, the sparkling fountain, or the fairy lights twinkling along the limbs of the ficus trees. The music drifting up from below was a Caribbean rhythm that put a lilt in her steps and provided a reckless undertone to her thoughts.
     
    Race Bannister had not seemed threatening, she told herself. In fact, he’d appeared the cowboy-rancher he claimed to be. He even smelled like one; there was about him the scent of horses and the honest sweat of a healthy male who had been working in the great outdoors. You couldn’t fake that, surely.
     
    So there was a mix-up. She could find out what it was, couldn’t she? He would explain then everything would be fine. She and Race would spend the evening together, and that would be that. It was no big deal, not really.
     
    All things considered, she loved the idea of being seen in Race’s company. Bradley would be flabbergasted. He seemed to think she must be miserable without him; he’d been so careful when he talked to her on the phone, as if afraid she’d descend to hysterical tears and pleading.
     
    He needn’t have worried.
     
    She was ready for something different in her life, for someone different. She should be thanking her lucky stars that Race Bannister had shown up instead of getting ready to send him packing. If he came with a little mystery attached, well, that could be a good thing. Maybe it would get her out of her rut, away from her dull, too-safe life.
     
    Change, excitement, and yes, adventure. That was what she needed. She was going to live dangerously.
     
    Yes, she was indeed.
     
    Gina shivered, and could not be sure if it was caused by the thrill of it all or sheer, undiluted terror. In any case, it was banished an instant later by another consideration altogether.
     
    Race