The Santinis: Leonardo, Book 1 Read Online Free PDF Page A

almost undid her. “I can't open the door with you standing in front of it.”
    “Oh.” Her face heated as she stepped aside. He opened the door and paused.
    “I would love to take you out tomorrow.” She was formulating her excuses, when he continued. “But, my brother is only here for another day. How about next Friday?”
    “You're asking me out?”
    She didn't mean to shout the question but this was bad. Worse, she wanted to say yes, Yes, YES.  
    Oh, god.
    “I thought we should explore this...thing.”
    “Thing?” Great. She sounded like an idiot.
    “How about we call it breaking even? You made me dinner. I'll take you out for dinner.”
    She should say no. A man like Santini had heartbreak written all over him, but she could only say, “Okay.”
    He smiled as if she had given him some kind of gift.
    “Good night, Maryanne.”
    Then he slipped out the door.  
    “You need to lock the door, Maryanne,” he said through the door.
    “You’re not my keeper.”
    But she did lock it.
    “Goodnight.”
    She said nothing and leaned back against the door. The man was dangerous. Big time dangerous. Like get her into all kinds of trouble dangerous. And dammit, that excited her even more.  
    As a military brat, she had grown up around like men like him, and when she started dating, it was natural to gravitate toward military guys. She knew a lot of her friends went the other way, but she hadn’t, mainly because they didn’t expect her to be prissy. They accepted the fact that she could take them down like she did with Leo and still see her desirable. She could hunt and fish and be herself.   A lot of them liked rough and tumble girls like her.  
    After awhile though, being treated as their buddy with a side order of sex got boring. They always seemed to think she wanted nothing more than that.
    She sighed. Going out with Santini was a mistake. She liked him. He was hot, sexy and that one kiss still had her knees feeling like asphalt on a hot Texas day. She would have to come up with some kind of excuse not to go out with him. And that would be the end of it.  
    Really.

Chapter Four
    Leo straightened his shoulders before knocking on Maryanne’s door. He knew he was in for a battle tonight. She had called and left messages all week. His good sense told him she was trying to break their date.   He wasn’t about to let that happen. If he had to go in her apartment and dress her, he would do it.  
    Of course, that brought a whole new set of ideas to the forefront of his mind. Damn, the woman had him hotter than he could ever remember and just from that one little kiss. He hadn’t planned on doing that, but something told him he had to at least see what she tasted like. It had been worth getting crap from Vince about it later. Now, he knew she was definitely interested and he wasn’t going to let it go.  
    He knocked on the door. He heard some rustling and then the door opened wide. It wasn’t Maryanne. It was a man, as tall as him, with dark hair and a rather pissy look on his face. He had apparently been sleeping.  
    “What?”
    “Jackson Michael Johnson, is that the way you greet someone at the door?” Maryanne asked from behind the man. Of course, he could only hear her. He couldn’t see her with the massive roadblock in the door.
    “I was sleeping, MJ.”
    He saw a hand reach up and smack the man on the back of the head.
    “Damn, MJ, do you have to hit so hard?” He stepped aside.
    “Do you always cry like a little girl?” she asked.  
    When she stepped up beside the man, he saw the resemblance. Dark hair, blue eyes and that same stubborn chin.  
    “Leo, I tried to call and cancel because Jack here decided to drop in on me uninvited.”  
    He studied her and realized she was being truthful, but he also noticed that she dressed to go out. The cute little dress she wore wasn’t something a girl would wear around the house hanging out with her brother. And, thank the good lord, she wore her