Never Dare a Tycoon by Elizabeth Lennox Page B

especially if it was one or all of her brothers. But she remembered they were all in church right now so she was probably safe for the time being. Assuming it was only her neighbor, Mrs. Winkler, who constantly ran out of one thing or another when she was baking and needed to borrow it from Antonia, she just walked to the door and opened it without looking through the security hole. If she had, she wouldn’t have opened the door.
Because there stood Brett, looking fresh and handsome in a pair of jeans, tee-shirt and light, blue jacket, leaning against her doorjamb.
    “What do you want?” she asked, wishing she could just slam the door in his face. That way, she wouldn’t have to deal with the embarrassment of her actions last night. But she knew he’d just get in the way of the closing door.
“You,” he said immediately.
     
Antonia hated the blush that crept up her cheeks. And she hated his deep, husky laugh that told her he noticed her blush.
     
“Well, since that’s out of the realm of possibility, what else?”
     
“Coffee?”
     
“Not possible either,” she said. “Why are you here so early this morning? Don’t you have a company to run or something?”
     
“Not on Sunday,” he said and moved forward, ignoring the fact that she obviously didn’t want him in her apartment.
    Then it hit her, the all important question and some of her belligerence left her. Turning to face him, she looked down at the floor so he wouldn’t see her blush again. “Um, did you happen to mention where I live to any of my brothers?” she asked, twisting the cap on and off of the bottle of aspirin.
Brett walked into the kitchen and set down a large brown bag. “Why? Do they not know where you live?” he asked, surprised.
     
Antonia shrugged as if his answer didn’t matter. “Not really,” she answered, watching him open cabinets, then finally finding the coffee and filters.
     
“Why not?” he asked, scooping coffee into the coffee machine and acting as if he’d lived here for years.
    “Look, just tell me if you mentioned it to them. Please!” she said, desperate now to know the truth. The idea that her brothers might show up on her doorstep, en masse or one at a time was too frightening. Because she knew they’d all have moving boxes in their hands. She couldn’t stand the suspense any longer.
“Not yet,” he said, coming over to where she was standing. “Do you not want me to?”
     
Antonia’s eyes pleaded with him. “No. I’d be very grateful if you could leave that bit of information between the two of us.”
     
Brett put his arm behind her against the wall and leaned closer to her. “What other information should I leave out of our conversations?” he asked.
    Antonia didn’t understand what he was talking about, but then, as she stared up into his half-closed eyes, seeing the sexual desire there, she put two and two together. Last night, Brett had taken her clothes off and put her to bed. With that realization, her face flamed red again and she couldn’t look him in the eye. “I’m sorry I fell asleep on you last night. It was thoughtful of you to carry me inside. I hope the elevators were working.”
Brett shook his head. “They weren’t.” He was so close, she could feel his warm breath on her cheek when he spoke.
     
“Oh,” was all she could say. She was so embarrassed that he had taken off her clothes, she couldn’t think.
    “You’re beautiful,” he said, leaning down and gently touching her lips. “And I didn’t see anything,” he lied. He eased his conscience with the knowledge that he hadn’t seen everything. soon, he promised himself. Not nearly everything he wanted to see. But soon. Very
“Oh,” Antonia said, instantly relieved. She took a deep breath and glanced up into his eyes. “Thank you.”
    “You’re welcome,” he said and pushed away from the wall. “Are you hungry?” he asked as he took the bottle of aspirin she’d been holding. He walked back into the