Leave Me Breathless Read Online Free PDF Page B

The sleeve of his jacket brushed against her and his scent filled her senses as he leaned with his mouth so close to her breast.
    Visions of being with him in a different time and place danced in her head. What he was doing was mundane. What his presence did to her deep inside could only be described as violent. She wanted to feel the hot rush of his breath against her. Shook with the need to run her fingers through his hair and watch as his head turned from the desk to her body.
    She inhaled through her nose, trying to calm her breathing and pull her mind back to the job. She had to at least pretend to be professional, but her heartbeat had taken off at a full gallop. In her head, she struggled to like Ben. To ignore his stubbornness and obvious need to control everything and everyone around him.
    Her body arrived at a very different conclusion about the man. He got close and she turned to pudding. Her muscles strained and her mind spun with ways to get him out of his suit.
    “What was your assignment before this?” he asked in a husky tone that broke her out of the sexual fantasy spinning in her head.
    “Why?”
    “It made you paranoid.” He stood back up holding a letter opener. “I’ll slice the top. You can hold the paper the entire time.”
    “I don’t—”
    “So that you’re clear for the future, that was a statement and not a request.” He held the very edge of the envelope and cut it open. “See? No need for a recon team.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    His smile fell. “What’s wrong with you now?”
    Other than the fact seeing the guy with a letter opener got her all hot and bothered? Nothing. “What does it say?”
    She read over his shoulder. Heard a gruff rumble hit his chest right before he swore. Tensed when he tensed. The big bold letters written in blue ink didn’t say much, but they said enough: It’s Your Turn .
    He slapped the desk before he backed up and paced to the window. “Son of a bitch.”
    “We have to get Mark.” She started to dial but Ben folded his fingers over hers.
    “No.”
    “Ben, this is a direct threat against you. Maybe the bomb had Judge Blanton’s name all over it, but this person, whoever it is, is dropping a not-so-subtle warning about the next time. It could happen in a minute or next week. We don’t know, but we have to be ready.”
    The idea of Ben being in that much danger sent a shot of anger spinning through her. She vowed to keep him safe. No one was going to kill him but her.
    “Callie.” He stepped in close, blocking out her view of the rest of the room. His palms brushed her upper arms in a gesture so intimate she froze.
    He leaned in until his body overwhelmed hers. This close she could see the mix of anger and sadness in his brown eyes. Could smell the shampoo in his still damp hair. She should have stepped back and insisted on a separation between work and play. Instead, her fingers fondled his tie.
    “Don’t ask me to ignore this, Ben. I can’t do it.”
    “I’m asking you to wait.” It was a whispered desperate plea.
    “Trust me on this.”
    This time she found the will to push away. Two more seconds with him right there and he’d be able to talk her into handing over her gun. “I’m calling Mark.”
     
    A half hour later Callie sat next to Emma Blanton on the sofa in Ben’s office. Rod and Elaine buzzed around on the other side of the door. Both judges had canceled their morning dockets after complaining for what felt to Callie like a month. Apparently their concession meant shifting cases and otherwise screwing up the entire courthouse calendar. For some reason, both judges viewed a schedule snafu as more important than a threatening note. Or they did until Mark overruled them.
    The scheduling clerks had demanded an explanation. Ben refused to offer one and hung up the phone without delivering his usual dose of charm. Callie could just imagine the e-mails shooting around the building as the courthouse’s female employees tried to figure