No Time Like Mardi Gras Read Online Free PDF Page B

far from understandable or innocent.
    And while part of him wanted to believe that Jamie would want to cross that line, he wasn’t entirely sure the signals he was seeing weren’t just figments of a hopeful imagination. Hell, he was sorely tempted to press her up against the alley wall and offer to lick every drop of that drink off her skin.
    Maybe Fat Tuesday wasn’t the best day to meet someone new. At the same time, the clock was ticking. At best, she might be in town only a day or two longer—he’d have to ask—and the knowledge of a deadline only made the need to touch her more acute.
    The hand holding his was sticky, which was one of the main reasons he was taking her back to the Lucky Gator. They slipped in the back door, past a long line of people waiting for the restrooms, and stopped in front of a door marked Private.
    “Just stay here for a second.” Jamie looked bedraggled, but she nodded. It took a bit of time to make his way to the bar, where Teddy and his staff were moving at high speed to keep up with the crowd that now spilled out the doors into the street, and even longer to get Teddy’s attention. “I need your office keys.”
    Either Teddy trusted him or was simply too busy to care, because he tossed the keys Colin’s way without question or comment.
    Jamie was where he left her, doing her best to brush the worst off, and she looked at him questioningly as he unlocked the door. “We can get you a dry shirt from Teddy’s office.” Looking her over, he saw the slush ran down her leg into her shoes. That wasn’t going to be much fun to walk around in. “Not sure there’s much we can do about the shoes, though.”
    “It’s fine. I’m going to burn them tomorrow anyway.”
    At least this hadn’t dampened her spirit.
    The hallway was quieter as the door closed behind him, and he grabbed a couple of clean bar towels off the shelf. After wetting one in the mop sink, he handed both to her as he unlocked the office and led her inside. It was small and untidy, and Jamie looked uncomfortable being in there. “You can get the worst of it off with those, and I’ll see about finding you a shirt.”
    “Thanks.” Taking the wet cloth, she wiped it over her arms and hands, then closed her eyes and sighed in pleasure as she wiped her face and the parts of her neck not covered in beads. “Oh, that feels so good.”
    He swallowed hard as he watched her. Jesus, he really was on edge, if that simple action was enough to send his blood running south.
    Shirt. Find her a clean shirt. He rummaged through the boxes of Lucky Gator T-shirts under Teddy’s desk until he heard her curse quietly. Looking up, he saw her fighting with the huge stack of beads around her neck. “You okay?”
    “I suddenly feel like I’m being strangled.”
    “Here. Let me help. Lean forward.” She gave him a look, but then did as he said. “All the way.” He slid his hands along the sides of her neck, under the plastic strands and lifted them away from her skin. “Now just drop your head forward...more. That’s it. Now pull back.”
    The mass slipped onto his arms and Jamie stood up. “Oh, my God. I feel ten pounds lighter all of a sudden.” She ran her hands over her neck and grinned. “Overaccessorizing is a bad thing.”
    He dropped the beads onto the desk and went back to the box of T-shirts. “Let’s get you a dry shirt. You’ll have to wear a gator across your chest.”
    “Thanks. This one is beyond help.”
    “It’s probably going to be big on you...”
    As he turned around, the rest of the sentence died in his throat. Jamie was already matter-of-factly peeling her shirt up, exposing a flat stomach and a bra so barely there that he could see the dark shadows of her nipples through the fabric. As the shirt cleared her head, she noticed him staring. He expected her to cover herself, to turn around, but instead, her movement slowed to a crawl. He looked up, expecting to see shock, or even outrage, but her eyes