“You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Sure, I should have. You deserve accolades for everything you’ve done.”
“That’s ridiculous. I just did my job.”
“You’re going to feel a stick,” George warned, and she did.
Sweat drenched her skin.
Lance took the man’s words as permission to do whatever he pleased. Apparently, kissing her hand again pleased him because he pressed another kiss to her flesh. This time his mouth lingered.
“Stop that.” She would have pulled away but she was too terrified to move. Plus, her mind was going dark. “I think I’m going to pass out,” she warned as the needle connected with its target.
She gritted her teeth, but didn’t move. Couldn’t move.
“Stay with me, McKenzie.”
“No.”
He laughed. “You planning to sleep through this?”
“Something like that.” Her gaze dropped to where George swapped one vial for another as he drew blood from her arm.
She shouldn’t have looked. She shouldn’t have.
“Hey.”
Lance’s rough tone had her gaze darting back to him.
“Stay with me or I might have to do mouth-to-mouth.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh, I’d dare.” He waggled his brows. “Do you think I have a shot at dating you?”
“Not a chance.” She glowered at him. Really? He was going to ask her that now?
“Then I should go ahead with that mouth-to-mouth while you’re in a compromised situation.”
“I’m not that compromised,” she warned, curling her free-from-George fingers into a fist.
“Don’t mind me, folks. I’m just doing my job here,” George assured them with a chuckle.
“I’m doing my best not to mind you.” Actually, she was doing her best not to think about him and that needle.
“You’re doing fine,” he praised.
Amazingly, she was doing better than she’d have dreamed possible. She glanced toward Lance.
He was why she was doing better than expected. Because he was distracting her. With threats of mouth-to-mouth.
Her heart was pounding from fear, not thoughts of Lance’s mouth on hers, not of him taking advantage of her compromised situation.
George removed the needle from her arm. McKenzie glanced down, saw the sharp tip, and another wave of clamminess hit her.
She lifted her gaze to Lance’s to tell him she was about to go out.
“McKenzie, don’t do it.” He snapped his fingers in front of her face, as if that would somehow help. “Stay with me.”
But out she went.
“GIVE IT A REST, McKenzie. I’m seeing you inside your place.” Lance maneuvered his car into the street McKenzie had indicated he should turn at. He’d wanted to punch her address into his GPS, but she’d refused to do more than say she’d tell him where he could go.
Yeah, he had no doubt she’d do exactly that and exactly in what direction she’d point him. He suspected it would be hellish hot there, too.
She crossed her arms. “Just because I passed out, it doesn’t give you permission to run roughshod over me.”
“Is that what I’m doing?” He glanced toward her. Finally, her color had returned and her cheeks blushed with a rosiness that belied that she’d been as white as a ghost less than an hour before.
Her lips twisted. “Maybe.”
“You have had a lot happen tonight, including losing consciousness. Of course I’m concerned and going to make sure you get inside your place, okay?”
“I think you’re overreacting.”
“I think you’re wasting your breath trying to convince me to drop you at the curb and drive away.”
“That’s not what I said for you to do.”
“No, but the thought of inviting me into your place scares you.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“You’re imagining things. I came to your Christmas show.”
“You brought a friend.” As long as they were bantering she’d stay distracted, wouldn’t think about having passed out.
“You were part of the show. It wasn’t as if you were going to sit beside me and carry on conversation.”
He shot a quick glance toward where she sat in the passenger seat with her arms crossed defensively over her chest.
“Is that what you wanted?” he asked. “For me to be at the dinner table beside you?”
“If I’d been on a date with you, that’s exactly what I would have expected. Since I was just there watching your show as a friend and someone who wanted to help support a great cause, it’s not a big deal.”
“I could take you to a Christmas show in Atlanta, McKenzie. We could go to dinner, or to a dinner show.”
“Why would you do that?”
“So I could sit beside you and carry on conversation.”
“I don’t want you to sit beside me and carry on conversation.” She sounded like a petulant child and they both knew it. She was also as cute as all get-out and he couldn’t help but smile.
“Isn’t that what we’re doing right now?”
“Right now you are bringing me home, where you can walk me to my front door, and then you can leave.”
“What if I want to come inside?” He couldn’t help but push, just to see what she’d say. He had no intention of going inside McKenzie’s place, unless it was to be sure she really did make it safely inside.
Her eyes widened. “We’ve not even been on a date. What makes you think I’d let you stay?”
“You’re jumping to conclusions, McKenzie. Just because I
