Read Online Love and Other Surprises by Robin Wells - Free Book Online

the story.” Matt gazed at the carpet. “Derrick offered her, um,
services
as ante in the game. He used very graphic terms—gave a personal endorsement. She left the bar in tears. I haven’t been able to look at the man without wanting to deck him ever since.” No point in telling her that’s what he tried to do at the time—and would have, too, if his work crew hadn’t restrained him.
    Ali’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, Matt. That’s horrible.”
    “Yeah. It was.” Matt looked at Ali. “So now you know. I just can’t stomach the guy.”
    “Did you know the girl?”
    “No,” Matt said, “but it wouldn’t have made any difference. No one deserves to be demeaned like that.”
    “What did you do?” Ali’s eyes were locked on his face.
    “I was going to offer her a ride, but I figured she wouldn’t want to get in a car with a strange man who’d just heard Derrick’s rude endorsement. So I paid one of the waitresses to take her home.”
    “That was kind of you,” Ali said softly.
    The praise rippled through him like fine scotch, spreading a feeling of warmth and ease throughout his chest. Matt realized his response was all out of proportion to her simple remark. He shrugged in what he hoped was a normal fashion. “Any decent guy would have done the same thing.”
    “No. Most people wouldn’t have gotten involved in someone else’s problems.”
    Ali’s eyes were large and bright and admiring as she looked up at him. Her face was tilted at a kissable angle and her lips formed a soft, parted temptation.
    What was he thinking? He was playing with fire. This was Robert’s little sister, for heaven’s sake—the scourge of calm and order and everything else he held dear.
    Matt looked around, suddenly anxious for a way to end the discussion. He was no Fred Astaire, but the band was beginning a slow, familiar tune he thought he could handle. “Would you like to dance?” he asked.
    “Sure.”
    Matt took her hand and led her into the ballroom. The moment he turned toward her, he realized the enormity of his mistake. The soft lighting on the dance floor made her lips even more inviting and cast enticing shadows between her breasts. He pulled her to him, irrationally thinking his heart would slow down if he held her so close he was unable to see her.
    Wrong! He drew a deep breath to calm himself, and once again inhaled the soft, herbal scent of her hair. It had driven him wild earlier and it hadn’t lost its impact.
    Maybe if he turned his face away he wouldn’t feel so intoxicated by it, he thought. He angled his head so that his cheek rested against her temple.
    But now he felt her breath on his neck. Prickles of pleasure ran down his spine, and he arched away from her so she wouldn’t feel the effect she was having on him.
    Dadblast it! How could dancing with a woman in a crowded room get him in such a state? The blood was pounding so loudly in his ears that it threatened to drown out the music. Matt was glad they were close enough to the bandstand that conversation was impossible; he doubted he could talk, even if he’d been able to think of anything to say.
    Concentrate on moving your feet, he told himself. Focus on your extremities. He suddenly became overly aware of his hands. One rested low on her back, so low he could feel the beginning curve of her derriere beneath his fingers. He recalled the view of her backside that had resulted in his fall that morning. The thought made him miss a step, and Ali stepped on his toe.
    “Sorry,” she breathed. She adjusted her body against his, somehow managing to align herself in an even more provocative fashion.
    Matt gritted his teeth. There are limits to what a man can take, he thought desperately. He had to move his hand; he was dying to crush her to him, and to do so in his present condition would only embarrass them both.
    Matt drew his hand around to the side of her waist. Now he could feel the swell of her rib cage above it and the swell of her