To the Brink Read Online Free PDF Page A

tray of full champagne flutes.
     
    Manny snagged a glass for each of them. When he shoved one at Ethan, he took it with a glare.
     
    Manny laughed. "You have no class, my friend. It's a good thing you have that tall, dark, and handsome thing going for you or the ladies wouldn't give you a second look, you know? Those baby blues are only good for so much play."
     
    Used to Manny's good-natured slurs on his blue-collar preferences, Ethan tipped the champagne to his lips—and saw her.
     
    He simply and literally froze, the glass hovering near his mouth.
     
    She was, in a word, stunning. This slim, creamy-skinned redhead with Nicole Kidman beauty and grace and the most animated and wicked green eyes he'd ever seen.
     
    He couldn't help it. He stared, mesmerized, as she talked to a barrel-bellied Lima suit who leaned toward her and whispered something in her ear all the while trying to get a glimpse down her dress.
     
    It was some dress. A tight little black number. Sleeveless, a little low cut, and short enough to show sleek, slim legs and a whole lot of pale, silky skin.
     
    My God. Lust rolled through him like a fireball dragging a ten-foot tail. How long had it been since he'd touched a woman's skin? Heard a woman's sigh? Felt a woman's heat as he pressed deep inside her?
     
    How long since he'd seen a woman like her?
     
    Never.
     
    She'd taken the WOW factor to new heights.
     
    Her husky laughter as she shook back that amazing mane of long fiery hair and let her admirer down gently had Ethan calculating the blocks back to his hotel and the bed where he wanted to see her stretched out naked and gasping beneath him. Preferably tonight.
     
    "Who is she?" he asked when he caught his breath and his heart had dropped back into his chest.
     
    Standing beside him, Manny followed Ethan's gaze. "The redhead? I don't know. I've never seen her before, let alone met her. Now, however, would be a good time to change that, don't you think?"
     
    Manny took a step forward.
     
    Ethan's hard grip on Manny's arm stopped him. "No. Now would not be a good time. At least not for you. Go find your action somewhere else, compadre. That one's mine."
     
    Manny turned. Looked Ethan up and down. And must have recognized the warning in Ethan's eyes for what it was. Friend or no, this was a nonnegotiable issue.
     
    "So, another heart's going to break tonight, eh?"
     
    Ignoring the laughter in Manny's eyes, Ethan drained the glass, shoved it in the general direction of Manny's chest, and cut through the crowd toward her. "Don't wait up for me."
     
    He was waylaid before he got ten feet.
     
    "Lieutenant." Al Hayden—Ambassador Albert Hayden to those who hadn't grown up calling him Uncle Al—smiled with genuine warmth as he stopped Ethan. "It's wonderful to see you."
     
    "And you, Ambassador." Despite their closeness and in deference to his friend's position, Ethan addressed him by his title as Hayden shook his hand. Respect and genuine affection for the ambassador compelled Ethan to cool his jets where the redhead was concerned. At least for now.
     
    There were two types of U.S. ambassadorial appointments. Those bought by men via presidential appointments when they called in markers and sought the position for prestige's sake and those earned by the good guys, the ones who had worked their way up through the ranks and actually knew what the fuck they were doing. Albert Hayden was one of the good guys.
     
    "It's been a long time, sir," Ethan said, and noted the passing of years on the older man's face.
     
    Hayden was a tidy five ten. Ethan had about four inches on the diplomat. And like Ethan's father, Wes Garrett, a little gray had started to show at the temples of Albert's dark brown hair. His eyes were a clear, vivid gray. And they missed exactly nothing.
     
    "It has been a long time. Too long." The ambassador's shrewd gaze studied Ethan through a smile of affection. "You look well," Hayden decided finally. "I expected to be