used a blade—close, oh so damned close, and so very edgy.
Something like comprehension washed over her face and her tensed, bunched shoulders relaxed a little bit. “Did Tommy send you?” she whispered.
“Huh?”
“Of course it was Tommy. Or Candace? But, wait, this isn’t... I’m not... Look, I don’t need you.”
“Don’t need me for what?” To do your taxes? Cut your hair? Carry your suitcase?
Put out your fire?
Oh, he suspected he could do that last one, and it wasn’t just because of his job.
“To have sex with me. I don’t need to get laid this badly.”
His jaw fell open. “What?”
She licked her lips. “I mean, you’re very attractive and all.” Her gaze dropped again, and he noticed the redness in her cheeks, and the audible breaths she drew across those lush lips. “Still, I just don’t do that. I couldn’t.”
He had no idea what she was babbling about. But he was starting to get an idea. The gentlemanly part of him wanted to tell her right away that she was in the wrong room. The male part demanded he wait and see what on earth this beauty would say next.
“You couldn’t do what?” he asked, letting the towel drop a little bit. Oh, it still covered what he needed to cover, but he wasn’t gripping it the way a spinster virgin would grip her petticoats. And when she licked her lips, eyeing the thin trail of hair that disappeared beneath the terry fabric, he couldn’t resist letting it slip a little bit more.
He was no flasher. But damn, the woman made it interesting to be ogled.
Her eyes almost popped out of her head. “I couldn’t, you know, uh, hire you.”
He didn’t ask what for. It sure wasn’t to trim her hedges. At least, not any green ones. He’d begun to suspect she’d taken him for an escort...or even a gigolo. Why on earth this beautiful woman would need either one, he couldn’t say. But he was having fun trying to figure it out.
“I’m not desperate. I would never, uh, have sex with a, uh, professional.” Her voice falling into a mumble, she added, “Not even one with the finest male ass I have ever seen in my entire life.”
Leo was torn between indignation, laughter and lust. Right now, judging by how he felt about the way her assessing eyes belied every word she said about not wanting him, lust was winning the battle.
“You wouldn’t, huh?” He stepped closer, moving easily, slowly, almost gliding.
She did the same, edging closer, her bare feet sliding smoothly over the tile floor. “No. Never.”
They met near the end of the bed, both stopping when they got within a couple of feet of each other. She licked her lips, shrugged her shoulders, and said, “So, thanks for the effort, it was a, um, nice surprise. But I think you should go.”
“You’d like that, would you?”
Her eyes said no. Her lips forced out the word, “Yes.”
“I can’t do that,” he said, his voice low, thick.
He edged closer, unable to resist lifting a hand to brush a long, drooping curl back from her face, tucking it behind her ear. She hissed a little, tilting her head, as if to curve her cheek into his palm.
“Why not?” she whispered.
His tone equally as intimate, he replied, “Because you’re in my room.”
She froze, eyed him, then quickly looked around. Her gaze landed on his suitcase. She turned to peer into the bathroom, obviously seeing the clothes he’d let fall to the floor. Then back at him. “Your...”
“My room,” he said, a slow smile pulling his lips up.
“You mean, you’re a... You’re not a...”
“Right. I’m a. And I’m not a.”
She groaned softly, her green eyes growing bright with moisture. Those shoulders slumped again in pure, visible weariness and her mouth twisted. She didn’t look so much embarrassed as purely humiliated. Dejected.
“I’m so sorry,” she muttered.
She backed up a step, obviously not realizing how close she was to the bed. Her hip banged into the wooden footboard, and she winced, jerking away and suddenly losing her balance. She tumbled to her side, toward the hard tiled floor.
Leo didn’t stop to think. He lunged, diving to catch her as she fell, letting out an oomph as she landed in his arms. Her tall, slender body was pressed against his, fitting perfectly, her head tucked under his chin, her slim waist wrapped in one arm, her shoulders in the other. She didn’t immediately squirm away. Instead, she stared up at him, her eyes round, her mouth rounder.
Their stares locked and he found himself trying to identify just what shade of green those beautiful eyes were. Emerald? Jade? Jungle? Something like all of the above, plus they had a tiny ring of gold near the pupil, looking like a starburst.
She said nothing, just stared at his face. The moment stretched between them, long, heavy and strange. It was as if they were communicating on a deep, elemental level, no words being necessary, saying everything two people who’d just met would usually say. Like they wanted to get the preliminaries out of the way. For what, he didn’t yet know.
“Thank you,” she said, breathing the words across those lush lips.
If this were a movie, his next step would be to kiss her.
If it were a steamy one, the kiss would lead to so much more. He could suddenly see himself touching her, stroking the tip of his finger down the slick column of her throat, into the V of her blouse. Flicking it open, button after button, and pulling the fabric away from her heated skin.
In a moment as long as a single heartbeat, his mind had filled in all the blanks, seeing what it would be like to touch her, make love to her, without ever even learning her name. As if she were a present who’d landed in his arms just because he deserved her.
His body reacted—how could it not react?—but the position wasn’t awkward enough to make it incredibly obvious to her. But maybe she was aware, anyway. A pink flush had risen up her face and her lips had fallen apart so she could draw deep, shaky breaths. He could see the frantic racing of her pulse in her throat, and her body trembled.
Yeah. She knew. And judging by the warm, musky scent of woman that began to fill his every inhalation, he wasn’t the only one affected by the shocking encounter.
There’s one problem. This isn’t a movie.
Right. This was real life, she was a stranger and he, as far as he knew, was a nice guy. The woman was obviously confused, light-headed enough to fall when she moved too quickly. And she didn’t look like the type to have anonymous sex with someone she’d known for five minutes.
Time to end this, he knew. Time to put her on her feet, push her out the door and hope he ran into her again this week when she
