Just One Taste Read Online Free PDF Page A

her, even if it meant the kiss had broken abruptly.
    “Hey. I’ve never kissed anybody into a faint before.” He gave her a smug grin.
    “It’s not the kiss, you id—um, my heel broke.” Her first and last pair of expensive shoes, damn it. She waved him off, picked up the ruined heel and wobbled to one of the benches on the casino concourse.
    He sat down beside her, not a hair out of place, breathing normally, not red in the face as she must be. You’d never know from his expression he’d just kissed her senseless. Her face felt it like it was on fire, and her lips were tingly.
    “Can you fix it? With glue or something?”
    The thing is, she could. Or she used to have the skill. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
    “There must be a shoe repair place somewhere.”
    Not at Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino at eleven o’clock at night. Usually Alexandra had a pair of flats in her tote bag, but she’d been in such a nervous rush this morning, she’d forgotten.
    “I’ll be okay.” She tried to glare at him. “What was that all about?”
    His face was open. Innocent. “What was what all about?”
    “That—that kiss.”
    “It was just a kiss goodnight. You didn’t like it?”
    “You aren’t supposed to be kissing me. This is not a date.”
    Will shrugged. “As you wish, Princess. I guess I got carried away.” He stood up, and, without warning, scooped her up in his arms. “Speaking of carrying, I’m taking you to my truck, and then I’ll drive you to your car. Okay?”
    It was not okay. “Put me down!”
    “You can’t walk in broken shoes, and I wouldn’t let my dog walk barefoot in this place. Think of the germs.”
    Alexandra knew he was right, but felt like a ragdoll as he carted her through the casino to the parking garage. He didn’t seem to have any trouble hauling her around, either. Will Garrity was strong, had to be in his line of work. He probably tossed cabers for fun.
    For a fleeting second, she pictured him in a kilt. Bare-chested. But he was Irish. Did Irishmen wear kilts? They were all Celts, right?
    Proof that she read too much and lived too little.
    It was kind of cozy in his arms. To distract her runaway hormones, she struggled to find an innocuous topic of conversation. “You have a dog?”
    “Yep.”
    “What kind?”
    He was watching where he put his feet as they mounted the escalator. “ Not a purebred. You probably grew up with a French poodle, right?”
    Oh, he was so annoying. “I never had a dog. My mother is allergic.” Or said she was. Alexandra suspected she just didn’t like the mess and inconvenience.
    “Too bad. Dogs are fun. Well, Rocky is.”
    Rocky. Typical .
    “Don’t give me that look. I didn’t name him. He’s a rescue dog and came with it. Someone was overly optimistic. He barks backwards—you know, when someone comes he’s all noise and no action. Which is good, cause I wouldn’t want him to bite people. He loves kids. My sisters’ children are over all the time.”
    He sounded slightly winded. Alexandra had lost quite a bit of weight since the divorce, but still wasn’t a sylph.
    “Put me down on that bench for a while.”
    “Nope. I’m good. You’re light as a feather.”
    Liar.
    “How many sisters do you have?”
    “Three. All older. They gave me supreme hell when we were growing up, but it’s all good now.”
    Alexandra felt a stab of jealousy. As an only child, she’d always wanted siblings. Even when she was older and watched her friends have knock-down-drag-outs with their sisters or brothers, the idea of more than a three-person family had its appeal.
    “Nieces or nephews?”
    “Both. Seven of ’em, hellions all, even the four-month old.”
    The automatic door opened to the parking garage and the noise and bright lights of the casino were forgotten. Will carried her to the elevator.
    “Can you push three? My hands are full.” He looked down at her with his irresistible smile and Alexandra could do nothing but smile back and