Fortune in the Stars

• CHAPTER ONE
  
• CHAPTER TWO
  
• CHAPTER THREE
  
• CHAPTER FOUR
  
• CHAPTER FIVE
  
• CHAPTER SIX
  
• CHAPTER SEVEN
  
• CHAPTER EIGHT
  
• CHAPTER NINE
  
• CHAPTER TEN
  

'Penny, I want you,' Dominic exclaimed hoarsely. 'A wanting
that began almost from the first moment I saw you…and I knew
it would be like this, almost from that first moment. Just as you knew
it too, didn't you, Penny?'


'Yes, I want you,' she stated tonelessly. 'Even I'm not
stupid enough to try denying that. But no, unlike you, I… I
happen to believe there has to be something more than the mere
gratifying of a physical urge.'


'Has there?' he drawled. 'I really wouldn't know.' He
rolled from her on to his back and lay gazing up at the ceiling.


'No, you wouldn't, would you?' she exclaimed bitterly, a
bitterness she found oddly devoid of any sense of humiliation but, far
more oddly, based on an elusive and completely inexplicable sense of
disappointment.

We
hope you're enjoying our new addition to our Contemporary
Romance series—stories which take a light-hearted look at the
Zodiac and show that love can be written in the stars!

Every month you can get to know a different combination of
star-crossed lovers, with one story that follows the fortunes of a hero
or heroine when they embark on the romance of a lifetime with somebody
born under another sign of the Zodiac. This month features a sizzling
love-affair between Libra and Leo.

ABOUT THIS MONTH'S AUTHOR

Kate Proctor says: 'I admit to being a typical
Sagittarian. With an abundance of other Fire signs in my
life—including a Leo elder daughter—only too happy
to help lead me astray, I'm eternally grateful for the gently sobering
presence of my Virgo younger daughter…and my readers too,
because sharing my fantasies with them is what I love most.'

First published in Great Britain 1991

by Mills
& Boon Limited

©
Kate Proctor 1991

Australian copyright 1991

Philippine copyright 1991

This edition 1991

ISBN 0 263 77245 4

STARSIGN ROMANCES is a trademark of Harlequin
Enterprises

B.V., Fribourg Branch. Mills and Boon is an authorised user.

Lavish
floodlighting swelled the moonlight bathing the villa coming into sight
as Penny Elliot rounded the last of the hairpin bends along the road
leading towards the Formentor Peninsula. Her sigh of relief was audible
as she turned up the long drive approaching the gracefully Moorish
outlines of a large and dazzlingly white house. She had been mentally
prepared for something a lot smaller, she realised with a wry smile of
affection; Lexy Raphael's description of the place had been
characteristically vague but, she supposed, by the standards of the
fabled wealth of the Raphael family, this palace looming up ahead of
her was probably something they would regard as cramped.

Penny winced as the car hit a sleeping policeman, Lexy's
voice echoing in her ears as she hurriedly changed gear.

'Penelope Elliot, you're twenty-three years old, a
knockout to look at and, despite this temporary setback, the world will
return to being your oyster in a few weeks—just you wait and
see!'

'I suppose "temporary set-back" is one way of putting it.'
Penny's own jaundiced reply returned to her. 'Having been made
redundant on Monday and today losing the roof from over my head with
the discovery that the man who claims to want to marry me is having an
affair with my flatmate… More of a minor hiccup really.'

'Penny, what you need is a holiday. I did a quick bit of
delving into your horoscope this morning, and what you need, my dear
Leo friend, is—'

'Lexy, I'm not in the mood for any of your astrological
mumbo-jumbo! What I need is a job and somewhere to live.'

'You need a holiday,' Lexy had repeated imperturbably.
'And fortunately, Aunty Lexy has the ideal one lined up for you.' Lexy
Raphael's exotically dark-lashed blue eyes had flashed impatiently with
the look Penny had given her. 'You needn't think I'm being in the least
altruistic in what I'm about to suggest; you'll be doing me a
favour… Interested?'

And it had been the most tempting of suggestions: the use
of the Raphael villa in the north of Mallorca, and time to lick her
wounds before facing the world once more…something she
sorely needed. But she had turned to the very dear friend who had
dipped in and out of her life since their school days, her expression
uncertain.

'Lexy, if, as you claim, your flight's booked for
tomorrow, a car's awaiting you at Palma airport and the family villa
has been opened up to receive you, how is it you're suddenly not going?
And for heaven's sake don't tell me it's something to do with your
wretched stars, because I'll not believe you!'

'No, it isn't. It's…' Lexy had paused, patently
stalling. 'I'm needed at the gallery, if you must know.'

'Pull the other one!' had been Penny's retort. The art
gallery to which her friend had referred was one privately owned by the
Raphael family and one at which Lexy held an exceptionally vague
position—her work there had never been known to interfere
with her play, which she tended to take very seriously.

'A certain Peter Langton has appeared on the scene,' Lexy
had muttered, an expression Penny had found difficulty in interpreting
flitting across her face. 'But not to worry, I'll be joining you within
a few days—a week at the most—by which time your
spirits should be recovered enough for us to live it up a bit.'

A smile filled with affection curved Penny's mouth as she
remembered. Could this mysterious Peter Langton be the man to dispel
the stunningly beautiful Lexy's cynical conviction that it was her
wealth, rather than her looks and personality, that men found so
attractive?

The smile died on her lips as a swift surge of pain and
outraged indignation welled in her at the memory of Rupert's
treachery… He had obviously lied when he'd said he loved and
wanted to marry her, yet she certainly possessed no fortune that might
have led her to suspect the extravagance of his declarations.

'To hell with Rupert—and all men, for that
matter,' she muttered savagely to herself as she rounded the last curve
of the long drive before bringing the car to a halt with a puzzled
frown behind a white and gleamingly expensive-looking convertible car,
parked at a careless angle across the closed doors of a line of garages.

She stepped out of the car, glancing around uncertainly as
the still-balmy October air wrapped her in its cocoon. This
had
to be the right place, she reasoned with waning conviction. Vague
though Lexy had been, she had insisted that the villa couldn't be
missed, even in the dark. She gave another glance towards the badly
parked car, her features relaxing back to a softly striking beauty. The
car probably belonged to a friend who knew of Lexy's planned stay, but
not of its postponement, she decided, collecting her luggage.

She approached the huge dark wood front door, deciding to
ring the bell instead of using the keys left for her at the airport.
She rang several times before having to resort to using the key, and
then she was standing in the cool spaciousness of a marbled hall, awe
and amazement in the gasp escaping her.

She deposited her luggage at her feet as the soft, lapping
sound of water drew her bedazzled gaze towards an archway several yards
ahead of her and beyond to a shrubbed patio.

'Lexy, is that you?'

Penny spun round, glancing in confusion from one to the
other of the several arches to the left and the right of her, and with
no idea from which that deep, echoing sound of a man's voice had
emanated.

'Was it my imagination, or did you ring the doorbell just
now? I was in the shower… Who the hell are
you
?'

The body to which that voice belonged appeared in an
archway to the left of her, glistening and naked save for the small
towel slung precariously low on lean, muscled hips. It was a darkly
tanned and altogether magnificent body, but it was the shock of its
unexpected appearance rather than any sense of appreciation that left
Penny floundering for words.

'I asked who you were,' repeated the man, now padding
towards her on bare feet, with an almost menacing air.

'Good heavens, you must be Lexy's brother!' croaked Penny
inanely as the shadows created by the arch fell away to reveal a face
with enough of Lexy Raphael's familiar looks in it to be comforting,
despite its aggressively masculine and almost startling handsomeness.

'It's
your
identity, not mine,
that's in question,' stated the man, halting so close to her that the
damp fragrance of his glistening body seemed to wrap itself around her.

'I'm sorry!' exclaimed Penny, making a concerted effort to
collect her scattered wits. 'I'm Penny Elliot— Lexy and I
were at school together.'

Amusement glinted in the blue of those familiarly exotic,
dark-lashed blue eyes as he returned the shake of the hand Penny had
reflexively held out to him.

'Dominic Raphael,' he murmured with a small, mocking bow.
'As you so rightly deduced.' He glanced towards the door. 'Where's Lexy
got to?'

'She won't be here for another few days,' responded Penny,
her heart sinking on catching the expression of undisguised annoyance
on Dominic Raphael's handsome features as he swung round to face her
once more.

'Why not? She was due tonight!' he exclaimed, making no
attempt to hide his irritation.

'Yes, I know, but… Look, I really am
sorry—my turning up here instead of Lexy has obviously put
you out,' stammered Penny, torn between wishing the ground would open
up and swallow her and an overwhelming desire to throttle her
infuriating friend for having so thoughtlessly placed her in this
embarrassing position. 'I honestly didn't realise there would be anyone
else here,' she added, hot colour staining her cheeks as she returned
to where she had deposited her luggage by the front door.

'We'd better find you a room.'

'No… I'm sure there are still hotels
open—'

'I can't see any possible reason why you should feel the
need to go racing off to find a hotel—this place isn't
exactly cramped,' pointed out Dominic Raphael coolly.

'No, but…' Penny broke off with an awkward
shrug.

'Don't tell me you're worried about staying here
unchaperoned?' he drawled softly, laughter in his eyes.

Penny flashed him a withering look, but said nothing. The one exception to Lexy's uncompromising silence
regarding her family had been the brother almost eight years her
senior, whom she plainly adored—though at times with
reservations.