Strip You Bare Read Online Free PDF Page B

you’re
such
a badass.” Her grin broadened.
    He released his hold on the doorframe and reached out, grabbing hold of her chin, holding her steady. Her heart was thundering hard, and for the first time she felt genuinely afraid of him. For the first time, she appreciated how large, how strong he was.
    She wasn’t accustomed to feeling out of her element. She was Sarah Delacroix, and wherever she went, she commanded the room. She kept to the beaten paths, her safe spaces. Dimly, she was aware that New Orleans was a city with a very dark underside. That she had been spared any darkness, her life a whirlwind of cotillions and garden parties. White gloves that never needed to get soiled.
    But now, right now, she had a feeling she was looking the city’s dark side in the eye.
    “I might be on a leash at the moment but don’t think I couldn’t bite you if I wanted to, baby girl.” He released his hold on her. “Come back inside.”
    Of course, now he was demanding it, so that she wasn’t the one getting her way. She wasn’t going to stand out on the street just to serve her desire to feel like she had some control in the situation. She had just found her control anyway.
    She walked back into the mansion, feeling somehow different about it now. Feeling like she really was a guest, rather than the lady of the manor. She hated that he’d made her feel that way. That he’d turned her over his shoulder and turned her whole world upside down along with it.
    She stood in the grand entryway, looked up at the chandelier that was thick with dust and cobwebs. She had vague memories of the place back when it had been maintained by the family. She’d been a little girl, and it had been kept fully staffed, constantly clean, for use of the family, guests, and parties.
    The Christmas parties her mother had thrown had been legendary. But all that had been demolished by Katrina, washed away, the same as her father had been.
    She’d wanted to recapture that, but now she was wondering if the cost was too high.
    She turned and looked back at the man still standing in the doorway of what had once been her family home. No, he would love it if she gave up. He would love it if she left. He didn’t want to be here any more than she wanted him here. And if her only recourse was to make his life a living hell, then she would do it. She would throw the grandest, most incredible Christmas party on record.
    And she would make him help.

Chapter 4
    Micah hung back while Sarah dealt with the contractors, and then the cleaning crew. He was feeling pretty pissed about the state of things. She’d realized that he wasn’t here by choice. Had begun to understand that he wasn’t acting of his own accord, and she was taking full advantage. Ajax had told him to keep tabs on her, and now he had to.
    She’d been sashaying around the manor all morning, her sweet little ass outlined to perfection by that tight, prissy dress she was wearing. He shouldn’t have thrown her over his shoulder and carried her outside. That was a throwback to the man he’d been. That was not how he dealt with women, not now.
    But it was a lot more than suffering a case of enlightened male guilt. Truth be told, no matter how much he altered his actions to fit in with his new life, he didn’t consider himself all that enlightened. No, it wasn’t the guilt so much as the fact that now he’d had his hands on her, he couldn’t stop thinking about getting them on her again.
    Normally, if he wanted a woman he went for it. But Ajax had told him not to go there. More than respect for Ajax, though, was the fact that he needed to see this task finished, and allowing any distractions to get in the way would only extend his stay in blue-blood purgatory.
    He was staying focused. He was going to find out exactly what the Delacroix connection was, and if it was relevant to figuring out who had killed Priest. He was not going to waste valuable time screwing a chick who was probably too