Warrior's Embrace Read Online Free Page A

the windows and
illuminated a middle-aged woman with cellulite and a belly that
would never be flat again.
    She’d always been one of those people who
blithely said that age was all in the mind, but today she felt the
mantle of her years. Today she wished for a windowless bathroom.
Today she wished for dark clouds over the sun and shades drawn over
all the windows.
    What could Bolton possibly see in a woman her
age?
    Virginia climbed quickly into the tub so she
could shut out the view of all the damage done by years of wear and
tear, by an appendectomy and a hysterectomy, by giving birth and
giving too much of herself to her career, by anxiety about the past
and worry over the future.
    What kind of fool was she, anyhow? Dreaming
of a man thirteen years her junior?
    Angry, she sloshed water haphazardly over
herself, then stalked to her bedroom, dripping all over the floor.
She found Bolton’s card on the antique table beside her bed.
    “Be there,” she said to herself as she
dialed.
    “Bolton Gray Wolf.”
    She was held momentarily speechless by the
sound of his voice.
    “Oh, shoot,” she whispered.
    “I beg your pardon? Virginia?”
    “I dropped the phone.”
    “I see.”
    There was laughter in his voice. Was he
laughing at her?
    “Be here in one hour sharp,” she snapped.
“Let’s get this interview over with.”
    “I’ll be there.”
    “I’ll be ready.”
    “Good.”
    There was laughter in his voice again. Ready?
Lord, was she ever
ready
... A hot flush came over her as
she remembered what she’d done in the bathroom. She hung up without
saying good-bye, then sat heavily on the edge of her bed and stared
at the telephone.
    “Mother?” Candace poked her head around the
bedroom door. “Aren’t you coming down to breakfast? I’m leaving in
half an hour to go back to school.”
    “Sorry, honey. I forgot.”
    How could she forget something as important
to Candace as the Sigma Chi fraternity dance? Virginia threw on her
pink terry cloth robe and raked a brush through her hair.
    “You look gorgeous, sweetheart.” She put her
arm around her daughter’s waist and together they went down the
stairs to the breakfast room. “You’re going to knock Walford’s eyes
out.”
    “Wexford.”
    “Wexford. Beaufort, is it?”
    “Yeah. From Shreveport. Every woman on campus
is going to be pea-green with envy.” Candace cast a disapproving
eye on Virginia’s plate.
    “Mother, is that all you’re eating?”
    “Fruit and cereal. It’s a perfect
breakfast.”
    “Four little sections of grapefruit and half
a cup of cereal? Yeah. Perfect, if you’re a bird.”
    “When you get to be my age, honey, you have
to count fat grams.”
    Candace’s laughter was affectionate. “How
many more years do you think I have to eat banana splits with
mountains of whipped cream and popcorn dripping with real
butter?”
    “Plenty. Make the most of them, honey.”
    “I plan to.” Candace stood up and kissed
Virginia on the cheek. “I’ve had a good example to follow.”
    Virginia escorted her daughter to the car,
then stood in the driveway waving as the sky-blue Thunderbird
convertible disappeared down the winding driveway.
    As she watched, another car came up the
driveway, a red Mustang with Bolton Gray Wolf at the wheel. How
appropriate that even the car he rented was named after a horse,
she thought.
    “I’m early,” he said. He looked fresh and
delicious standing in the morning sunlight with his cameras slung
over his shoulders, his face just shaved, and his hair untamed. She
could imagine how he had looked standing in front of the small
bathroom mirror in his motel room, trying to subdue that mane of
wild black hair.
    She wished she’d been there to help him. The
thought made her smile.
    Bolton aimed, and the shutter clicked.
    “I look awful.” Virginia held a hand over her
face.
    “Don’t.” Gently Bolton moved her hand, then
tipped her face upward. Her breath caught in her throat. Something
magical bloomed