Read Online Midnight Promises by Lisa Marie Rice - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lisa Marie Rice
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light brown eyelashes tipped with gold and a straight, perfect nose. He saw the most delicate skin he’d ever seen, ivory and smooth as satin. Two delicate collarbones rose above the collar of his T-shirt, which gaped open enough to see the swell of two small, rounded breasts.
A pulse of blood shot through his groin and he stood up, fast, ashamed.
Metal had had problems with women all his life. He knew what he looked like. For some reason, Mother Nature had given him the looks of a thug. Any normal woman in an urban environment crossed the street to avoid him.
It was a source of sorrow to him because he liked women, a lot. He liked the sound of their voices and the way they smelled and the way they thought. But not too many women were willing to break through the barrier of his rough looks to find out what he was really like.
Suzanne and Allegra, his boss’s wives, they’d made the effort. And Claire Morrison, Bud’s wife. They treated him normally, smiling and teasing him. He loved it. A lot of women were instinctively scared of him and he hated that.
To compensate he made sure his body language was unthreatening around the ladies. SEAL training had taught him how to intimidate, how to threaten without words. He was good at that. But he also worked at looking harmless, though it was hard when he was taller and bigger than most people.
One thing he never did was be overtly sexual with women unless they were in a bedroom and it had been established that they were going to get it on. Certainly not with a woman he didn’t know.
Having his dick stir in his pants was the last thing he needed and was guaranteed to make Felicity scared. She was alone in the house with him, she was wounded, she was vulnerable and he’d rather slice his own throat than be considered a menace.
So he shut his dick down, fast. Shutting it down was harder than it should have been, because he controlled his dick, it didn’t control him but,
man
, the lady was so frigging beautiful, everywhere.
He snagged a chair and sat by the bed watching her eat, trying not to notice how sexy those lips looked when she put a piece of toast into her mouth, how delicate those long slender fingers looked holding the cup of tea. How his T-shirt hung off her neck, exposing pale smooth shoulders.
She was here, under his protection, and she was scared. He had no intention of making her even more frightened.
So he did the very best thing he could. He sat completely still and didn’t talk.
Stillness was a gift and he had it. Stillness was a subconscious signal to her. Violent or untrustworthy men couldn’t stay still.
Finally she finished the tea and the two slices of bread. She had more color back in her face, which pleased him.
They stared at each other. She swallowed heavily again. Not nausea, fear. Fear of betrayal. But she was going to have to trust him, no way around it. She trusted Lauren who trusted Jacko who trusted him.
A chain of trust. That was the way it worked. Otherwise you couldn’t navigate the world.
She opened her mouth, closed it. Sighed. “Did I lose my laptop?”
Well, that surprised him. Of all the things to ask about when you were wounded by a stranger and woke up in the home of another stranger, a computer wouldn’t be the first thing that sprang to mind.
He nodded. “It’s safe and it’s here.” He didn’t smile. “We had to pry your fingers from the strap. You want it?”
“Yes, please.” Her voice was polite, but shook.
Metal had it back to her in a second. He placed the case gently in her lap. She didn’t open it immediately, just rested her hand on the tough canvas case. “There was a key in my pocket. Did you find it?”
“Yeah, Jacko’s got the key. It’s the key to a vehicle. Where’s it parked?”
Earlier, after midnight, when Metal had taken Felicity back to his place, Jacko had driven around Lauren’s house, pressing the fob but didn’t find the vehicle.
“I parked—I parked as far away as I
A pulse of blood shot through his groin and he stood up, fast, ashamed.
Metal had had problems with women all his life. He knew what he looked like. For some reason, Mother Nature had given him the looks of a thug. Any normal woman in an urban environment crossed the street to avoid him.
It was a source of sorrow to him because he liked women, a lot. He liked the sound of their voices and the way they smelled and the way they thought. But not too many women were willing to break through the barrier of his rough looks to find out what he was really like.
Suzanne and Allegra, his boss’s wives, they’d made the effort. And Claire Morrison, Bud’s wife. They treated him normally, smiling and teasing him. He loved it. A lot of women were instinctively scared of him and he hated that.
To compensate he made sure his body language was unthreatening around the ladies. SEAL training had taught him how to intimidate, how to threaten without words. He was good at that. But he also worked at looking harmless, though it was hard when he was taller and bigger than most people.
One thing he never did was be overtly sexual with women unless they were in a bedroom and it had been established that they were going to get it on. Certainly not with a woman he didn’t know.
Having his dick stir in his pants was the last thing he needed and was guaranteed to make Felicity scared. She was alone in the house with him, she was wounded, she was vulnerable and he’d rather slice his own throat than be considered a menace.
So he shut his dick down, fast. Shutting it down was harder than it should have been, because he controlled his dick, it didn’t control him but,
man
, the lady was so frigging beautiful, everywhere.
He snagged a chair and sat by the bed watching her eat, trying not to notice how sexy those lips looked when she put a piece of toast into her mouth, how delicate those long slender fingers looked holding the cup of tea. How his T-shirt hung off her neck, exposing pale smooth shoulders.
She was here, under his protection, and she was scared. He had no intention of making her even more frightened.
So he did the very best thing he could. He sat completely still and didn’t talk.
Stillness was a gift and he had it. Stillness was a subconscious signal to her. Violent or untrustworthy men couldn’t stay still.
Finally she finished the tea and the two slices of bread. She had more color back in her face, which pleased him.
They stared at each other. She swallowed heavily again. Not nausea, fear. Fear of betrayal. But she was going to have to trust him, no way around it. She trusted Lauren who trusted Jacko who trusted him.
A chain of trust. That was the way it worked. Otherwise you couldn’t navigate the world.
She opened her mouth, closed it. Sighed. “Did I lose my laptop?”
Well, that surprised him. Of all the things to ask about when you were wounded by a stranger and woke up in the home of another stranger, a computer wouldn’t be the first thing that sprang to mind.
He nodded. “It’s safe and it’s here.” He didn’t smile. “We had to pry your fingers from the strap. You want it?”
“Yes, please.” Her voice was polite, but shook.
Metal had it back to her in a second. He placed the case gently in her lap. She didn’t open it immediately, just rested her hand on the tough canvas case. “There was a key in my pocket. Did you find it?”
“Yeah, Jacko’s got the key. It’s the key to a vehicle. Where’s it parked?”
Earlier, after midnight, when Metal had taken Felicity back to his place, Jacko had driven around Lauren’s house, pressing the fob but didn’t find the vehicle.
“I parked—I parked as far away as I
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