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Back The Dazzle of the Light Save as PDF
Chapters (55)
  1. Praise for Georgina Clarke
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. Historical Note
  52. Acknowledgements
  53. Also by Georgina Clarke
  54. About the Author
  55. Copyright

‘That would be a pity,’ he says, moving closer to her. She catches a hint of his scent again. ‘Pity for a lovely girl like you to be on her own. I’ll be glad to buy you another drink. Or, should I say, I’ll ask a waitress to bring you one? I don’t, as you pointed out, need to buy my drinks. I can have whatever I fancy.’

He takes her hand and makes as if to kiss her knuckle. Instead, he turns it over and raises her wrist to his mouth, right where Billy crushed it. His lips are soft, and they graze her skin briefly before they press in a warm kiss. Ruby shivers.

Why not? Why not let this man try it on with her? Her anger at Billy’s response – his insistence that she should go back to Annie, back to being just a small-time, bit-part player in the Forties, rather than sharing a new adventure with him – is making her reckless. And this man is making her hot.

She revels in the sensation of lust, intoxicated by the possibilities of her own potency.

‘Well, perhaps one more won’t kill me. But we might take a quiet corner. There’s someone I don’t want to be looking at right now.’

‘Your friend Billy Walsh?’

‘He’s not my friend.’

‘You don’t have to look at him if you don’t want to. I have some matters to attend to later tonight, but I have a small flat, just upstairs. We could enjoy our drinks there, in private. Do you know, I have a refrigerator? I keep it just for the champagne. And you’ – he touches her chin – ‘are welcome stay until the morning, if you’ve nowhere better to go. You have nowhere, do you, in truth?’

Ruby and the truth parted company years ago. And now she recognises that there is potential in this evening after all. She doesn’t need Billy Walsh. She sighs.

‘No. You’re right. I have nowhere to go tonight, and no money – even for a taxicab to nowhere.’

‘Then your luck has just changed. Mine certainly has.’

He takes the coat and hat from the attendant and tucks Ruby’s arm under his, steering her not to the door that leads downstairs, but to another, marked ‘Private’.

17

17

Tuesday, late evening

‘I meant what I said. You’re welcome to stay for the night.’ Peter Lazenby fastens the cufflink at his wrist. ‘I need to be downstairs in the club – I have business to deal with – but please, do stay. I’d like you to stay. Drink your way through the refrigerator if you wish, while you wait for me. There’s also some food in the kitchen, I believe.’