White Satin Read Online Free Page A

I regard as foul.” His silver-green eyes weren’t cold but hot now, Dany noticed. “I’m trying to hold on to my patience until after Calgary, Dany, but I’d advise you not to push me. Don’t see him again.”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said angrily. “I haven’t understood half the allusions you’ve made today. You’re not acting like yourself at all.”
    “Aren’t I?” He smiled, a slash of brilliance that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “But how would you know, Dany? You’ve never known me. Not really.”
    She knew that, and it was an aching emptiness inside her. “You haven’t let me.” Her voice wasshaking with confusion and anger. “You’ve never let anyone close enough for that.”
    He became still. “I know,” he said quietly. “And it’s time for a change. I plan to let you come as close to me as you want to from now on. But I’ve waited so long, it’s made me a little savage. We only have a little further to go. Please don’t stretch my patience to the breaking point.” He paused. “Cross Jack Kowalt off your list.”
    “Just like that?” She snapped her fingers. “Why should I?” She could feel her throat tighten with tears. “He gives me warmth and friendship and makes me feel I’m something special. Not only as a skater, but as a woman.” She drew a deep, quivering breath. “Why should I give that up because you’ve suddenly decided you’re generously going to allow me to be your friend? You might change your mind tomorrow and decide I’m not worthy of you. I don’t think you’d make a very reliable friend, Anthony.”
    There was a flicker in his eyes that in another man might have been interpreted as pain. “We’ll have to see, won’t we? I don’t think I’ve been a bad friend to you for the past fourteen years.”
    “You’ve given me everything,” she said huskily. “Almost everything.” She turned and walked toward the door. She faced him again and her eyes were suspiciously bright. “Where were you yesterday? I
needed
you.”
    He shook his head. “No, you didn’t. You don’t need anyone. Remember that.”
    He was wrong. She’d needed him and he hadn’t been there. “We’re not all as strong as you are, Anthony,” she said, lifting her chin proudly. “And we’re not all made out of ice.”
    “You’re stronger than you think. Someday you’ll find that out.” His lips tightened. “And if it makes you feel any happier, at the moment I don’t feel anything close to being a man made of ice.”
    “Where were you?” she persisted.
    He parted his lips to speak but restrained his words. Then, his face impassive, he said, “As you told the commentator, I’m a busy man.”
    The pain was swift and piercing. “You see? You wouldn’t make a very good friend,” she said shakily. “Friends understand you and are there when you need them, Anthony.” She turned, her hand on the doorknob.
    “Dany.”
    She paused, waiting.
    “I understand you better than anyone in this whole damn world.” His words vibrated with force. “And I never said I wanted to be your friend.”

Chapter
2

    Dany closed the door behind her and leaned back against it for a long moment. Her heart was beating wildly, and fear, bewilderment, and an odd excitement were racing through her veins. That last, enigmatic statement couldn’t have meant what it sounded like. Anthony had never exhibited the slightest interest in her as anything but a protégée, a Galatea for his Pygmalion. No, it couldn’t be a sexual attraction that had made him behave so strangely tonight.
    But if it had been? The excitement and panic increased by giant proportions. She wouldn’t know how to cope with the type of sexual chemistryAnthony generated so effortlessly. Her feelings for him were so intense and confused, she couldn’t possibly sort them out. Admiration, hero worship, resentment, dependence. Love? Yes, that was there too. She’d loved Anthony all her life, and it