‘There you are,’ declared Katerina accusingly. ‘For heaven’s sake, you two! I’ve been looking everywhere for you.’
It wasn’t the most well timed of interruptions. Izzy, struggling to pull herself together, said, ‘Why, is something the matter?’
‘Of course not.’ Advancing towards them, Katerina held out a sealed brown envelope. ‘We wondered where you were, that’s all. Doug’s only just remembered that he was supposed to give this to Sam, so I offered to deliver it.’
‘Looks like one of my tax demands,’ joked Izzy feebly. Then, glimpsing the loopy, uneven scrawl on the front of the envelope, she said in surprise, ‘That’s Lucille’s writing.’
Katerina winked at Sam. ‘Lucky old you, then. It’s probably an indecent proposition. Now that Doug’s out of the picture she’s fixing her sights on the next best thing.’
‘Thanks,’ said Sam drily, tearing open the envelope and removing a once-crumpled, now flattened-out sheet of paper. Then he frowned. ‘But Lucille didn’t write this.’
With a shriek, Izzy made a lunge for it. ‘You mustn’t read that!’ she yelled, struggling to wrench the half-finished letter from his grasp. ‘It’s mine! I was just about to tell you—’
‘It says Dear Sam,’ he pointed out, effortlessly fending her off and skimming the contents in seconds. Then, his expression changing, he turned his gaze back to Izzy.
‘Is this true?’
Trust Lucille, she thought, to take matters blithely into her own meddling Irish hands. Carefully keeping a straight face, she said, ‘Maybe.’
Oblivious to the presence of his future stepdaughter, Sam dropped the letter to the floor and pulled Izzy into his arms. This time the kiss he gave her wasn’t brief.
‘Young love,’ said Katerina cheerfully. Unembarrassed, she perched on the edge of the coffee table and waited patiently for the grown-ups to finish. Sam, she decided, had evidently taken notice of the advertising posters exhorting him to Experience Izzy Van Asch’s Kiss.
‘OK,’ she said eventually, fixing Sam with a determined gaze. ‘This is all very well, but before it goes any further there’s something I really must ask you.’
‘What’s that?’ said Sam, his expression suitably deferential. Hidden from Katerina’s view, his left hand was surreptitiously exploring the gaping zip at the back of Izzy’s skirt.
‘I need to know,’ said Katerina slowly, ‘whether or not your intentions towards my mother are honourable.’
Kiss
JILL MANSELL
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www.headline.co.uk
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62