When She's Bad Read Online Free PDF Page A

notice. Couldn’t tell a thing about the mouth since it was swollen and bloody. Broad shouldered, but lean with muscles. A runner, she guessed, or swimmer, looking at his shoulders again. She allowed her gaze to sweep past his thighs, down to his feet. Large feet. Oh, my.
    Sense of humor, good dresser, and he had a good soul. Interesting man. She wondered if a woman would be able to keep him in line.
    She met his gaze and felt a surprising punch. He knew exactly what she’d been doing. Well, damn. Intelligence could really ruin the mix.
    “I don’t think I’ve ever been strip-searched more thoroughly by a woman,” he said, sounding flattered.
    She almost felt embarrassed. After all, the man had just taken a beating. She shrugged and shot him a smile that she knew had knocked at least a few men off-kilter. “I’m nothing if not thorough. Lean back, I’ll get you something to drink. Hard or soft?” she asked, thinking it might be fun to get him hard.
    “Whiskey sounds good, but I’d probably better not mix the dentist’s meds with alcohol. Just water.”
    Sensible too, she thought, as she walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a chilled bottle of spring water. What an interesting man. She liked his voice. She liked the way he smelled. She liked the one eye that wasn’t swollen shut, but his intelligence would likely cause problems. Intelligent men were harder to control and Delilah liked being in control.
    “Here,” she said, unscrewing the cap on the water bottle and giving it to him. “I’ll get the phone. You can call the police.”
    “What’s your name?” he asked as she turned away.
    “Dee Montague,” she said, smiling to herself as she wondered what he would think of her given name. It never failed to provoke a reaction. “Delilah, actually.”
    He paused. “Delilah?”
    “Yes,” she said, glancing over her shoulder.
    “It suits you,” he said slowly. “So how do I thank you for saving me?”
    “I don’t know,” she said, dialing the number for the police. After speaking with someone, she returned with the phone to sit beside him on the couch. “Maybe we can put our heads together and come up with something later,” she said, pleased to regain her ingrained ability to flirt. “In the meantime, you should talk to the police.”
    “I’ll return the favor,” he said, surprising her with his solemn tone. “I promise, if you ask me for something, I’ll do it.”
    Delilah got a funny feeling in her stomach. She wasn’t accustomed to solemn promises from men. She wasn’t accustomed to believing promises many men made, but she had a strong sense that this one might keep his promise.
    She held the bag of peas against his eye while he reported the assault in the garage. Listening to him with half an ear, she tried to place his aftershave. A man had designed it, she decided. It was the kind of aftershave created to make a woman hungry and wet.
    “Benjamin Huntington III,” he said. “My address is Waterstone Towers, 533 Cary Street, unit 1428.”
    Dee frowned. Puzzled, she wrinkled her brow. Had she heard correctly? The back of her neck tightened. As soon as he turned off the phone, she took it from him. “Did I hear you say you’re in unit 1428?”
    He nodded. “That’s right,” he said with a half-smile that managed to be sexy even though half his face was pummeled.
    She could have pummeled the other half.
    Huntington. Unit 1428. Huntington. Unit 1428 . Delilah felt her chest tighten with resentment. The Huntingtons were one of Houston’s most prominent and wealthy families. Lilly was hoping to marry one of them. Delilah barely stifled the urge to shriek. On top of the trauma of the evening and everything else she’d been through during the last few months, this was just too much. She felt her composure begin to crack and pointed at him accusingly. “You’re my neighbor?”
    “Right next door.” He lifted the bottle of water to his lips.
    “And a Huntington,” she said