Read Online Barging In by Josephine Myles - Free Book Online Page B

the doors to look out.
    “Shit! Watch it! You nearly knocked me over,” Dan said, grinning as he hopped onto the deck. “Sorry about that. Just realised I’d left my kit out there where anyone could have helped themselves, but look!” He held up a rectangular pannier bag. “All here! I’m a very lucky man today.” Dan winked.
    Robin turned away to the kettle, flustered. His body tingled all over in response to Dan’s proximity. He tried to focus on Dan’s words to take his mind off it. What had he said? Something about the canal being risky. A typical outsider’s presumption.
    “Things are usually pretty safe down here. We’re not all thugs and criminals, you know.” Memories of some of the suspicious glares he’d received from the villagers nearby rose unbidden, and he slammed down two mugs onto the worktop before realising that Dan had already got some ready.
    “Hey, I know that. But this is an expensive bit of kit I’ve got here, and it’s my livelihood, so I can’t go losing it partway through an assignment.” Dan’s voice came from right behind him. It would take only one step back to bump into him, and a quick turn to have him pinned against the counter.
    But he wasn’t going to go there, was he? Not with a bloke like this. Not with someone who flirted with the confidence of a man used to getting whoever it was he’d set his sights on. Robin gripped the edge of the worktop and forced his mind back to the tea and whatever it was that Dan just told him. “Assignment?” He kept his eyes firmly on the water as he poured it out of the kettle, willing his hand to stay steady and his misbehaving body not to betray his excitement.
    “Yeah, it’s a good one. Mostly I’m just given the contract for the writing, but this time they want my pictures too.”
    Robin grunted in response, but after he’d slopped some milk into the mugs and given them both a quick stir, there was no excuse left to keep turned away. He found Dan leaning back against the sink counter, his legs planted wide and hips canted forward in a suggestive manner. God, did Dan always wear such tight clothing? He could see practically every muscle, every rib through his T-shirt. Dan might have been slight, but his physique gave the impression of great strength and agility. It was the kind of lean, lithe body Robin had always lusted after. The kind of body that made his hands itch to reach out and grab.
    Holding the mugs out in front of him like a shield, Robin suddenly remembered his manners. “Oh, ah, I forgot to ask if you take sugar.”
    “Nah, I’m told I taste sweet enough already, but I guess you’d know.” Dan’s cheeks dimpled as a particularly mischievous smile played across his lips.
    Robin really didn’t want to be reminded of the delicious warmth of Dan’s mouth and the way that tongue had tasted as it slid against his own. He took a big gulp of tea to distract himself, scalding his palate in the process. He winced. At least it should help to take his mind off that exquisite kiss. Rather than look directly at Dan’s face, he focused on a bit of leaf matter that had somehow found its way into Dan’s carefully styled hair, but rather than making Dan look less appealing, it somehow had the opposite effect.
    “So you’re taking photos of the canal?” Robin asked.
    Dan’s smile faded a little, then recovered. “A few, but I’m more interested in the people. You’re a fascinating lot, you know that?” And then the glint in his eye was back. “I spent an hour with your ‘girlfriend’ this morning, you know? Very interesting shoot, that one. Very informative.”
    The way Dan was smirking at Robin left him in no doubt that he’d been rumbled. Shit, he should have seen that one coming. Mel wasn’t really a gossip—she had too much goodwill towards others to spread malicious rumours—but she certainly loved talking. He could just imagine the two of them discussing him and all his hang-ups. He scowled down at his