Shoot to Thrill Read Online Free PDF Page B

couldn’t quite muster the will. He gritted his teeth. “I. Don’t. Rape. Women.” He emphasized each word so she’d get it once and for all.

    After a few seconds she said, “Are you going to rob me?”

    He counted to ten. Twice. “No.”

    There was another pause before she whispered, “Kill me?”

    God damn it!

    “ No! ” He wanted to scream it at her, but managed to contain himself to a low roar.

    There was an even longer pause. “Then why are you doing this to me?”

    There you go. Another reason he didn’t do women. It was aaallways about them.

    He squeezed his eyes shut and took another deep, calming breath. “I just wanted to fuck you, okay? Willingly. Is that so hard to understand? And in the process, find a place to lie low for a day or two. That’s it. Sex and a bed. Nothing sinister.”

    She sniffed and he heard her swallow. “Why?”

    “Why do you think? Jesus freaking Christ, woman, you’re a walking hard-on in that dress. And frankly, you seemed more than interested.”

    She swallowed again, this time more heavily. “I, um , meant . . . why do you need to lie low for a day or two?” He could swear there was embarrassment in her voice.

    He cracked his eyelids and turned to look at her. Sure enough, her cheeks were bright red again. Hell, maybe she didn’t like crude language. Or maybe she was truly clueless and in denial about where that kiss had been leading.

    At least she wasn’t crying anymore.

    “You’re holding me against my will,” she said archly when he didn’t answer right away. “I think I deserve an explanation.”

    Possibly. Especially if he wanted her on his side before he lost control of himself and the situation. He glanced at the clock and briefly debated what to tell her. How much of the truth. Not about him, but the other thing. Because too much truth could put her in danger. Which was the last thing he wanted.

    “All right. It’s not real complicated. There are some people after me. I don’t want them to find me.”

    She worried her lip again. He really wished she’d stop doing that. He so didn’t need the reminder of—

    “What kind of people? What did you do?”

    He sighed. Damn, she really was nosy.

    “I quit my job. They didn’t like that. They want me back, but I don’t want to go back. I need a few days to get some stuff done before I disappear again.”

    She turned onto her side to face him, her expression sol emn as she digested that. “Again?”

    He willed himself not to look below her chin. “It’s not the first time,” he admitted. But he hadn’t taken them seriously enough, and they’d found him again. He’d learned his lesson. One reason he was here tonight.

    “They must really want you back.”

    “Yeah. They do.”

    “And they must be really dangerous people if you want to disappear.”

    “Yeah. They are.”

    “It’s, like, the mob, or something?”

    He let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah. Or something.”

    She studied him for a long moment. “When I first saw you, I thought you were a cop. Are you undercover?”

    He studied her back. “Why would you think that?”

    Her shoulder lifted. “You sure as hell aren’t a doctor. The only reason I fell for that Dr. Nathan Daneby ruse was because he’s usually described as being handsome but scruffy. Living in primitive Third World countries does that to you, I guess. Anyway, it seemed to fit, and—”

    But he wasn’t listening. He’d snagged back on the “handsome” comment. Yeah, and the fact that when she’d shrugged, her dress had slipped even farther down her breast, exposing a rosy sliver of areola.

    The temperature in the room spiked up. Among other things. He started to sweat again.

    Fuck.

    Fisting his fingers into a tight ball to prevent them from reaching out to touch her, he forced his gaze back up.

    She’d been watching him stare at her breasts. She was blushing again, this time all the way from her delectable décolletage to the tips