Hero Unmasked: 3 (Heroes of Saturn) Read Online Free PDF Page A

offered, so don’t worry about her bothering you about it again.”
    “She didn’t pressure me. I want to go out with you.”
    “That’s okay. I get it. You and I don’t orbit in the same circles. It was sweet of you to try to make my aunt happy. You’re a nice guy, very popular. There are at least a couple dozen women you would have a better time with than me.”
    The more she talked, the faster she moved, mopping herself right out of the room. The salty-sour taste of her embarrassment coated his tongue. How could she think that he had to be persuaded to spend time with her?
    “Fiona, this has nothing to do with your aunt.” He followed her squeaky trail and caught up with her near the cleaning closet. “Why don’t you believe me?”
    “Because I’m me and you’re you, and I know she thinks I need to find a real man instead of fantasizing about the one I can’t have.”
    There was another? His breath caught at the thought. “Who?”
    She avoided the question by bending over to tilt the bucket of dirty water into the low utility basin. He lifted the container with ease and tipped it the rest of the way for her.
    “Whoa, you’re huge,” he heard her murmur under her breath.
    He looked down at her and realized how much smaller she was than he. This was the first time she stood before him without a counter or table between them. The top of her head reached him mid-chest and her eyes were as large as chocolate chip cookies as she stared up, way up at him and visually measured the breadth of his shoulders as he unintentionally trapped her in the corner.
    He stepped back so as not to overwhelm her. “I would like to know who this competitor for your affections is, especially if he is too stupid to have made a bid for your hand already.”
    A crooked grin touched her lips. “Are you for real? I don’t know anyone who talks like you do.” She took the bucket from him and retreated to the closet, releasing a small sigh once she increased the distance between them.
    “English is not my native tongue, and you’re avoiding the question.”
    “I don’t want to discuss this with you. It’s silly and you’ll think I am the stupid one.”
    “I will not think you are stupid.”
    “Why not? The man doesn’t know I exist and I know nothing about him. Nothing. Not even the color of his eyes or hair. I don’t even know if he has hair. How ridiculous is that?” She dropped her head and bit her lip as she swirled the mop across the floor. “But I can’t stop thinking about him, and until that stops, no one else compares. Not even you, who is like the second most gorgeous man in Cedar.”
    That made him smile. She thought he was good-looking? At least that gave him something to work with. “Second?”
    “He comes first. And your cousins are taken. I don’t crush on men in committed relationships, even in my imagination. Look, just forget I said anything. Please.”
    How is it she knew this man was attractive, yet so little else about his appearance. Oh-ho!
    If Amaryllis had been there, she would have smacked him in the head and shouted one of her favorite American colloquialisms, “Well, duh.”
    “It’s the Chameleon, isn’t it?” he asked, half afraid to hope.
    The pink flush racing across her cheeks was his answer. She busied herself by untying the apron around her waist and hanging it on its designated peg, arranging the fabric until it fell to her precise specifications.
    Why hadn’t he realized her desire for his alter ego had gone behind simple lustful appreciation? This was good. Maybe not exactly as he planned, but he could make this work in his favor.
    “I can see why you find him interesting. I think most of the women in this town think he’s fascinating.”
    “Don’t remind me,” she muttered.
    He leaned against the butcher block table with feigned casualness. “So what is it about him that keeps you up at nights? How do you know he’s worth your affections?”
    “Are you kidding?”