To Love and Protect Read Online Free PDF Page A

child? But then I held Natasha in my arms and I knew she was exactly what I’d been waiting for all my life.”
    “Sounds special.”
    “It was. Now I’m here for the second and final visit. Depending on how the process goes, I’ll be in Moscow for anywhere from several days to several weeks. Then I’ll bring her home with me.”
    “When does this all start?” he asked.
    “I’ll go to the orphanage the day after tomorrow. Until then I’m free.”
    He brushed his thumb across the back of her hand. “Is that an invitation?”
    She wanted it to be. “Are you interested?”
    His slow, sexy smile made her grateful she was sitting and didn’t have to worry about mundane things like staying upright and balancing herself.
    “Absolutely.”
     

    The next day David left his office shortly after ten in the morning. He’d gone in to handle a few pressing problems, then had taken the rest of the day off to show Liz around Moscow.
    She was trouble, he acknowledged as he took the stairs to the underground garage. Beautiful, seductive and not for the likes of him. Still, wanting and not having was a unique experience—one he was willing to endure for now.
    She’d shown up unexpectedly and the surprises kept on coming. Adopting a child on her own would mean a big change. Five years ago she’d been focused on her career. Apparently that was no longer the case.
    They were both different, he thought as he slid into his green Fiat and started the engine. He knew the past five years had changed him in ways he would never talk about. There were still dark places in the Russian Federation and he’d been to most of them.
    The drive to the hotel took less than twenty minutes. The five-story building stood on a narrow street, butting up against an apartment block and a private school. David parked, then surveyed the neighborhood. Not elegant, but safe.
    The lobby had seen better days. Once beautiful Oriental carpeting had faded until the pattern was little more than a shadow. The carved molding was cracked in several places, but the crystal in the chandelier was authentic and original. The clerk behind the registration desk noted David’s arrival but said nothing to him as he took the stairs to the third floor and knocked on Liz’s door. She answered at once, pulling back the door and smiling at him.
    “Right on time,” she said. “You’d warned me you might not be able to get away very easily.”
    “I was motivated,” he told her as he leaned in and kissed her cheek.
    She smelled of soap and flowers and female mysteries. Today she wore her hair down and slightly curled. Over her jeans she had on a yellow T-shirt that hugged her breasts in such a way that he knew he would be distracted the entire day.
    As he straightened, their gazes locked. That ever-present heat flared until all he wanted to do was push her back into the room, lock the door behind them and spend the day in bed. Naked.
    Instead he retreated to the relative safety of the hallway and stuck his hands into his jeans’ front pockets.
    “You about ready?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    Her smile told him she’d been more than aware of his dilemma, but not how she would have reacted if he’d given in to temptation. He liked to think that she wouldn’t have put up much of a fight.
    “So what’s on the agenda?” she asked.
    “How much of the city did you see last time you were here?”
    She checked her fanny pack for her key, then closed the door and followed him into the hallway.
    “Practically nothing. Between the jet lag and meeting Natasha, I barely functioned. That’s why I came in a day early this time—so I could get on Moscow time and be more relaxed.”
    He led the way to the stairs. “You’re adopting a child. How relaxed could you be?”
    “Good point. So basically I’m a tourist who knows nothing and has seen even less.”
    He took her hand in his. “Then trust me to show you Moscow. We’ll drive around to give you a general idea of things, then