Enticing Interlude (Tempest #2) by Michelle Mankin
Authors: Michelle Mankin
gaze.
“You’re working too hard. You’re exhausted,” I said softly, brushing my thumbs across the silky smooth slightly rounded sun kissed surface of her cheeks.
“Can’t be helped.” She slid along the wall, moving out of my reach while her posture remained defensive. “Things have to get done, and I’m the only one to do them.” She was so feminine and yet at the same time trying so very hard to project a tough image. But it didn’t work on me. I wasn’t buying it, or maybe I was just getting better at figuring her out because in that moment I had never seen her look more vulnerable.
That unfamiliar feeling in my chest grew some more, along with a strong desire to come to her rescue and protect her.
“You need to stop being so stubborn and let people help you.”
“Who am I going to ask? Lace is stretched to the limit with school and work at Black Cat, and she and Bryan just got together.”
“Still…”
“Still, nothing.” She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, just like I’d seen Carter do. Only her lips were in much better shape and were sexy as hell, plump and shiny from the moisture of her tongue. I had to resist that voice inside my head that told me to kiss her. I settled for running my thumb along her jaw line instead of taking the taste of her that I wanted. “I can help if you’ll let me.”
She was quiet and motionless for so long I wasn’t prepared for the reappearance of her seething tone. “What do you want from me?” she asked, features hardening. “Honestly?” Her eyes took on an accusatory gleam that I didn’t like and that I didn’t feel like I deserved.
“The usual things a man wants from a woman who intrigues him,” I said softly, moving closer. “A chance to get to know you better, a chance to see where things might go between us.”
She shook her head. “You just want to sleep with me.”
Ok, now she’d gotten me mad. “For someone who doesn’t know me very well,” my voice went even quieter as I tapped down the anger swirling around inside of me, “you’re awfully quick to pass judgment.”
Her body jerked as if I’d just shaken some sense into her. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, her eyes skittering away as if she was unable to maintain her hold on my gaze. “I shouldn’t have said that. It’s been a crappy, stressful week. It’s an excuse, but it’s the truth. And you’re right.” Her shining eyes lifted. “I am really tired. Too tired to play these games with you, and not nearly naïve enough. Guys like you don’t go for girls like me.”
“Guys like me?” I wanted clarification. Who the hell knew what she meant by a statement like that.
“One’s with everything going for them. Talent. Looks.” She shrugged.
Ok that was flattering and not at all what I’d expected her to say. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Because of my past. Because of Carter.” Her eyes flickered, that shield of hers dropped and I got my first clear glimpse of how deeply she’d been hurt. “Guys don’t want a relationship with a woman who’s damaged goods, a used toy with too many complications and constraints.”
“That’s bullshit.” It made me angry to see how badly Bridget’s sense of self-worth had been affected by Carter’s father. Mad enough that if the guy had been around, I’d have found it difficult not to wrap my bare hands around his neck.
She stared at me, eyes brimming with doubts.
I was completely out of my element with her. I knew how to get women quickly in and out of my bed, but I didn’t have the foggiest clue how to get one to want to stay there. And that’s what I wanted with her. What I’d been thinking about since I’d looked deeply into her eyes when she’d stood in the hall in Black Cat proudly defending her love for her son and making me want, more than a little bit, to be on the receiving end of that kind of love and passion.
I was going to have to prove to her that I was serious
“You’re working too hard. You’re exhausted,” I said softly, brushing my thumbs across the silky smooth slightly rounded sun kissed surface of her cheeks.
“Can’t be helped.” She slid along the wall, moving out of my reach while her posture remained defensive. “Things have to get done, and I’m the only one to do them.” She was so feminine and yet at the same time trying so very hard to project a tough image. But it didn’t work on me. I wasn’t buying it, or maybe I was just getting better at figuring her out because in that moment I had never seen her look more vulnerable.
That unfamiliar feeling in my chest grew some more, along with a strong desire to come to her rescue and protect her.
“You need to stop being so stubborn and let people help you.”
“Who am I going to ask? Lace is stretched to the limit with school and work at Black Cat, and she and Bryan just got together.”
“Still…”
“Still, nothing.” She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, just like I’d seen Carter do. Only her lips were in much better shape and were sexy as hell, plump and shiny from the moisture of her tongue. I had to resist that voice inside my head that told me to kiss her. I settled for running my thumb along her jaw line instead of taking the taste of her that I wanted. “I can help if you’ll let me.”
She was quiet and motionless for so long I wasn’t prepared for the reappearance of her seething tone. “What do you want from me?” she asked, features hardening. “Honestly?” Her eyes took on an accusatory gleam that I didn’t like and that I didn’t feel like I deserved.
“The usual things a man wants from a woman who intrigues him,” I said softly, moving closer. “A chance to get to know you better, a chance to see where things might go between us.”
She shook her head. “You just want to sleep with me.”
Ok, now she’d gotten me mad. “For someone who doesn’t know me very well,” my voice went even quieter as I tapped down the anger swirling around inside of me, “you’re awfully quick to pass judgment.”
Her body jerked as if I’d just shaken some sense into her. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, her eyes skittering away as if she was unable to maintain her hold on my gaze. “I shouldn’t have said that. It’s been a crappy, stressful week. It’s an excuse, but it’s the truth. And you’re right.” Her shining eyes lifted. “I am really tired. Too tired to play these games with you, and not nearly naïve enough. Guys like you don’t go for girls like me.”
“Guys like me?” I wanted clarification. Who the hell knew what she meant by a statement like that.
“One’s with everything going for them. Talent. Looks.” She shrugged.
Ok that was flattering and not at all what I’d expected her to say. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Because of my past. Because of Carter.” Her eyes flickered, that shield of hers dropped and I got my first clear glimpse of how deeply she’d been hurt. “Guys don’t want a relationship with a woman who’s damaged goods, a used toy with too many complications and constraints.”
“That’s bullshit.” It made me angry to see how badly Bridget’s sense of self-worth had been affected by Carter’s father. Mad enough that if the guy had been around, I’d have found it difficult not to wrap my bare hands around his neck.
She stared at me, eyes brimming with doubts.
I was completely out of my element with her. I knew how to get women quickly in and out of my bed, but I didn’t have the foggiest clue how to get one to want to stay there. And that’s what I wanted with her. What I’d been thinking about since I’d looked deeply into her eyes when she’d stood in the hall in Black Cat proudly defending her love for her son and making me want, more than a little bit, to be on the receiving end of that kind of love and passion.
I was going to have to prove to her that I was serious