04 Naked Games by Anne Rainey Page A

the same once the night was through.

10
    D ean shut the front door behind her, and the sound echoed in the dark room. Every nerve in her body started a riot. She nearly leaped out of her skin when he flipped a switch next to the door and light flooded the room.
    “Don’t be so skittish,” he murmured as he helped her off with her coat. “I’m not the big bad wolf.” After he placed her coat on a chair by the door, he held out his hands. “See? No claws.”
    She smiled as his teasing managed to relax her a fraction. “Sorry, but the nervousness seems to be here to stay.”
    He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Then how about something to relax you? I make a mean hot chocolate.”
    She tossed her purse on top of her coat. “I don’t know a single woman on the planet who would pass that up.”
    “Hmm, chocolate cake earlier and now hot chocolate.” He winked. “I’m beginning to see how to get around your defenses, Miss Michaels.”
    His use of the word Miss sent a shiver down her spine. “Ew, don’t say Miss. Makes me think of that guy at the club tonight.”
    He turned toward the kitchen. “Yeah, he was a real pain in the ass.”
    Catherine pulled out a chair at the table and sat. “Actually, I had noticed him earlier. He’d been watching me. It felt weird.”
    Dean took down two mugs and placed them on the counter. Catherine became pleasantly distracted by the way his trousers molded to his buttocks and thighs, but the look he shot her over his shoulder sent her dirty mind into hiding. She frowned. “What?”
    “Why didn’t you say anything about that before?”
    “Uh, first off, it’s not a crime to look at a woman, Dean. Second, you don’t need to fight off unwanted suitors for me.”
    Dean shook his head as he went to another cupboard and grabbed a can of hot chocolate mix. “I should’ve kicked his ass anyway. As it was, I wanted to kick his ass. I was just trying not to make a scene your first night out.”
    She laughed. “I appreciate your restraint, truly.”
    As he went about making their drinks, Catherine went back to watching him move around the kitchen. Damn, the man was built. Every hard inch of him made her mouth water. As gorgeous as he was, Catherine couldn’t forget the fact that he didn’t trust her. Of course, now that they’d spent some time together, maybe he’d changed his mind. There was one surefire way to find out. Ask him. The coward in her couldn’t bring herself to form the question. She didn’t want to ruin the moment by bringing tedious things like reality into it.
    As he placed a steaming cup in front of her, Catherine hummed her approval. “This looks yummy.”
    Dean handed her a spoon. “Do you want marshmallows?”
    Catherine quirked a brow. “Do you have the mini ones?”
    He wagged his eyebrows, and Catherine nearly melted on the spot. “Yep,” he replied. “Whenever Deanna comes over she insists on them.”
    He went to grab them, and Catherine couldn’t help but wonder about Dean’s relationship with his twin. “What’s it like? Being a twin, I mean.”
    He placed a bag on the table between them, then sat down with his own cup. “I guess like any other brother and sister, only we share the same birthday.”
    Catherine helped herself to the marshmallows. “Really? There isn’t a deeper connection or anything?”
    She watched Dean plop several into his own mug and stir before answering. “I guess there is a deeper connection, yeah. There have been times over the years when we’ve known when the other was in trouble. Like a few months back, when Deanna was held at gunpoint. I could feel something was wrong.” He shrugged. “It sounds strange, I know, but I could feel her fear.”
    Catherine had taken a small sip of her drink, but the pain in Dean’s voice caught all her attention. She didn’t like the idea of him hurting. “From what I heard, Deanna is lucky to be alive.” Catherine remembered Gracie telling her about the horrifying