He felt an almost imperceptible shiver charge along her arm and he led her from the living room along the hall. "The kitchen and formal dining room are on the other side," he said conversationally. "Game room and den are down here." "Nice," Bryn murmured. "I like it."
They started walking back. He felt he could hear the pounding of her heart more thoroughly than any drumbeat. She glanced up the stairway to the open balcony. "Gives you a good sense of spaciousness,"
she approved. "Want to see upstairs?" "Sure."
She preceded him up the stairway, pausing to stare down below. "This really should be in 'House Beautiful' or something," she said, offering him a soft smile.
"Thanks. The length of this hallway is all bedrooms until you get past mine. There's a sound studio beyond it.""A studio?In the house?''"Umm. Come on, I'll show you."
The studio was fascinating. If Bryn hadn't had a million worries on her mind, she would have loved to have explored it thoroughly. It occupied more than half of the upstairs, the half that sat over the kitchen and dining room, she surmised. From the floor rose about four feet of handsome paneling; from there up, the wall was glass. From outside she could see the drums and an elaborate keyboard system. A number Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
of guitars, zipped away in their cases, lay against the far wall. There were wires and speakers all about; on a back wall was another assortment of instruments: tambourines, wind pipes, several wooden flutes and some things she didn't even recognize. Within the glass-encased room there was another smaller room, housing all sorts of mechanical boards.
"We record some of our things right here," Lee told her. "It's a complete sound studio. And this--" he rapped firmly on the outer glass ''--is completely soundproof. We can play our hearts out and not even disturb the plants!"
"It's wonderful," Bryn murmured. "I had no idea you could keep something so complete in your own home."
He was standing right next to her. Close enough so that she could feel him.His energy, his heat...his fascinating masculinity. She felt drawn to him, like metal to a magnet, and yet she wanted to run as far as she could, before she found herself consumed by his fire. She couldn't run. She had to charm him, play the hunter rather than the hunted....
Not yet! Not yet! She was shaking and shivering; chills racked her, followed by that dizzying sense of heat.
Bryn swallowed, clenching her teeth, afraid suddenly that she would burst into tears. It seemed that it would be so easy right now to turn to him, to tell him the situation, to throw herself on his mercy and beg for his help.
No, no!she reminded herself painfully. She had been warned. Don't tell Condor; don't tell the police.
She didn't dare tell him; she just couldn't take the chance. Not when the children had been threatened and she could still close her eyes and see the remains of what had been her darkroom.And Lee... If she told him the truth now, he would despise her for the deception she had already played on him. He would be furious; he would never cooperate. He would demand that she call the police.
No, she had to keep trying to seduce him. Well, not seduce him all the way. Just enough so that he would be willing to cater to her whims...
She turned suddenly, smiling at him. "What's behind this next door?" Nervously she opened it,then wished she hadn't.
It was obviously his bedroom.
Neat and sparse, but having a feel of the man. The bed was large, covered with an Indian print spread.
Throw rugs picked up the browns and oranges of the pattern, and the room gave her a sense of basic earthiness--as well as something a little raw and primeval. Despite all the rock star trappings that came along with Lee Condor, you could strip him down and still find a man, strong in his own right.
She turned around to face him and saw that he was smiling with cool amusement. She had walked into his bedroom; he hadn't led her there.
"The doors are lovely," she said, wondering if he was aware that she had swallowed quickly before she could manage to speak.
"They lead to another balcony," He walked across the room and threw open the French doors. Turning, he offered his hand to her. She set her drink on the bedside table as he had, then followed him out.
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The night was breathtaking. Thousands of stars seemed to glitter in the heavens, diamonds on black velvet. The air was pleasantly cool; she could feel it keenly on her bare shoulders and back.
And the balcony looked over a lustily landscaped pool, complete with a Jacuzzi that sent a waterfall spilling into the larger body of water.
A cry of real delight escaped her; the sight was beautiful. Garden lights in blue and green enhanced the mystical impression of a tropical lagoon; she would have loved to have forgotten everything and lost herself in the surroundings.
Bryn moved to the railing to fully see and appreciate the view. "Did you design that yourself?" "Yes."