Spellbound in His Arms Read Online Free PDF Page B

defensive attitude.
    “I’m sorry…” she apologized. “The last twenty-four hours
have been really bad.”
    “I know,” he admitted. “They were rough for me too.”
    Silence stretched in the car and Michael struggled to
keep his eyes on the road.
    “I remember,” she whispered, and Michael turned to meet
her gaze.
    “I remember what happened last night,” she continued and
her lips pressed into a thin line. “I remember the car going off the cliff. How
come I didn’t die?”
    “You were a very lucky young lady,” he said softly. “The
car was stopped by a small tree, and I pulled you out just before your vehicle
plunged into the sea.”
    Jackie lowered her eyes and pressed her lips together.
“You know…I never thanked you for saving my life,” she said in an awestruck
whisper.
    He turned and looked at her—so adorable and so
vulnerable at that very moment.
    “Thank you, detective,” she whispered.
    “Michael,” he corrected her and swallowed hard, trying
to control the turmoil of his emotions as he saw desire burning in her eyes.
    Hearing her sensuous lips repeat his name, a hot wave of
passion shot right through his body and all he could think about was how he
longed to take her in his arms and make passionate love to her.
    What is the matter with me? He clenched his fists on the steering wheel frustrated. I can’t
do my job like this. I have to keep my distance . But taking another look at
her, he knew that wasn’t going to be easy.
    “Where are you staying?” he asked suddenly, realizing
that he was driving towards his hotel.
    He wasn’t surprised to hear they were staying at the
same hotel. It was the closest one to the harbor and that only convinced him
even more that she wasn’t here on vacation.
    She had a specific purpose and so did he.
    ***
    Later that evening, he went back to his hotel room after
escorting Jackie to hers. He had left word at the reception desk to notify him
immediately if she tried to leave the hotel.
    He sat down at the small desk by the window and called
his partner.
    “So, did you find anything?” Michael asked his partner
impatiently. He took notes of everything his partner told him on the phone.
    A few minutes later, he laid his cell phone on the desk
and sat there looking at his notebook thoughtfully. Most of the stuff he
already knew. But there were some very interesting new complications. He looked
at the names written down and frowned, Constantinos Demiris, Alexandra Demiris,
Maria Demiris. After a moment’s hesitation, he added the name of Andreas Demiris
on the list.
    When some years back, Andreas Demiris fell off the cliff
on his property on the Greek island of Corfu—the same cliff that Jackie’s car
had run off—nobody gave it a second thought. Andreas was an old man and
couldn’t see very well. And after all, accidents do happen. But now, Michael
wasn’t so sure anymore that his death had been an accident after all. He needed
to look into it.
    And what about Jackie? Where does she fit into all
these? His partner had told him she is an
investigative reporter who came from Atlanta two days ago and spent one day in Athens, visiting the office of a local newspaper. Maria Demiris was from Atlanta also, he
noted. His partner was going to contact the Atlanta Police Headquarters and
request some background information on Jackie and Maria as well.
    ***
    Jackie stood underneath the hot water in the shower. She
let it hit her body hard making sure that she didn’t get the bandages on her
head wet. She needed to relax her tense muscles and clear her head. With eyes
closed, she could still see Michael’s blue eyes staring into hers and felt her
pulse accelerating.
    He’s an unexpected complication, but I’m a professional and I know exactly how to handle
him...who am I trying to fool? I have no idea how to handle him . She’d never
met anyone like him before. He was smart, strong, and fearless, while at the
same time thoughtful and kind—not to