Read Online A Just Deception by Adrienne Giordano - Free Book Online

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    Oblivious to her staring, at least until he’d gotten the suit pulled to his waist, he glanced over at her just as she licked her lips.
    Their eyes met. There would be no denying she’d been checking him out.
    “ Again , Izzy?” he mimicked from the day before.
    Playing along, she thunked herself on the head. “I’m sorry! I’m a single woman, you’re a hot guy. It’s hardwired.”
    He cracked up and dropped onto the towel he’d spread on the sand. “Yeah. I’ve heard that before.”
    Grinning at him came too easy. Shoot . She liked him.
    “I see the alarm is in,” she said.
    “Yep. All hooked up. I’ll show you how to use it before I leave. Damn, this is a perfect evening. If every day could be this good, I won’t so much mind this month off.”
    A month? “Vic must love you if he gave you a month off.”
    For some reason, Peter grunted and continued to stare at the sky.
    Finally, he rolled to his side and propped himself on his elbow. “Vic put me on R&R. I was coming back for my brother’s wedding and Vic felt it would be in my best interest if I took a few weeks off. Speaking of Stephen’s wedding, I don’t have a date. What are you doing Saturday night?”
    “It depends.”
    “On what?”
    “On whether you’re asking me to your brother’s wedding.”
    He opened his mouth. Shut it again. “Guess I screwed that up.” He put his hand on her ankle and squeezed. “Izzy, would you like to be my date for my brother’s wedding on Saturday night?”
    The answer came to her immediately. When the hell had she turned into a flake?
    She should think about it. For no other reason than to get it straight in her head that what was happening between them could only be a physical attraction.
    “I’d love to. Thank you for asking.”
    So much for thinking about it. With him stretched out on that towel, that incredible body, the curly hair and the killer smile, how could she resist?
    “You’re welcome,” he said. “And thank you. It’ll be fun. Vic and Gina are coming in.”
    “Is Gina showing yet?”
    “It’s not quite a bump.” He grinned. “A pebble maybe.”
    She retrieved her forgotten, now tepid wine from the sand. “Why is Vic coming to your brother’s wedding?”
    “Steve’s been out to Chicago a few times and he and Vic became friends.”
    “Ah.” She sipped her wine, put it back down. “You haven’t told me why Vic put you on vacation.”
    “You caught that, ay?”
    She caught it all right. “You’re good at deflecting the things you don’t want to talk about, Peter. It’s your rotten luck I’ve been doing it for years and can spot it a mile away.”
    He dug his fingers into the sand and let out a breath. “My last assignment turned bad and I went a little crazy.”
    Her pulse kicked up but, deep down, she couldn’t picture Peter going off his rocker. He’d been the prince of cool during her ordeal the previous night.
    “What happened?”
    He frowned at a seashell he’d dug out of the sand and tossed it away. “I switched shifts with one of my teammates one morning. We were protecting a diplomat on a Middle East trip. I had the stomach flu and couldn’t walk two feet without puking. I asked Roy to cover the shift for me and, while they were transporting the big shot, someone opened fire. The diplomat lived, Roy didn’t.”
    Isabelle’s legs melted. And she thought being a lawyer was hard. “I’m so sorry.”
    He tossed away another shell. “He had a wife and two kids. He was my friend.”
    First Tiny. Then this. She could see why Vic forced him to take a vacation. She scooted off the chair to sit next to him. “You were sick. There was nothing you could have done.”
    He looked up at her, those dark blue eyes a little haunted. “Tell that to his family.”
    Silence hung between them until he finally turned toward the ocean. His damp hair pooled around his face, and she gave in and slid her hand through it. He inclined his head sideways, into her