Read Online Never Let Go by Sherryl Woods - Free Book Online

restaurant. Justin glanced up from his drink just in time to see her coming. She was wearing a sexy little dress that clung to her curves. Her dark hair curled softly and provocatively around her face. He studied that face and swallowed nervously. She didn’t look pleased to see him. In fact, she looked very much like a lady intent on mayhem. He was torn between trying to make peace and going on the defensive.
    “So,” she said amiably enough, sliding onto the bar stool beside him. He suspected the friendliness was deceptive, and he prepared to dodge the first blow. At least it was verbal.
    “Where’s your date?”
    Guilt and well-deserved embarrassment rushed through Justin. “She couldn’t make it,” he muttered tightly, clenching his glass until his knuckles turned white.
    “I’m sorry to hear that,” she said. There was not one whit of sincerity in her voice.
    He gazed directly into her eyes. She didn’t bat an eyelash. “Are you really?” he said. “You don’t sound like it.”
    “Oh, but I am. What was the problem? Flu? Pneumonia? A conflicting engagement?” Her blue-green eyes sparked with innocent interest.
    Justin scowled at her, then sighed in resignation. She already knew. He might as well admit it. “There was no date.”
    To his astonishment, shesuddenly smiled brightly. “Thank you.”
    “What on earth for? For making a fool of myself?”
    “No, for telling me the truth.”
    “You’d just have poked and prodded until you got to it. I figured I’d save us both the effort.”
    “Why did you lie in the first place?”
    As always, her directness unnerved him. “I thought it was for the best,” he murmured.
    Mallory rolled her eyes in disbelief. “Please. Not that again.”
    He toughened his attitude. “Why won’t you listen to me? It’s the truth. You and I…” He gestured helplessly. “It just can’t be. Accept it.”
    “Not on your life.”
    Suddenly he laughed at the incongruity of the situation. Here he was fighting like crazy to maintain his distance from the most attractive, beguiling woman he’d met in years. Maybe he should sleep with her and get her out of his system. Then go back to living the serene, if empty sort of bachelor life he’d had before she’d come along and turned his emotions all topsy-turvy. He looked into the depths of her clear blue-green eyes, saw the spark of humor, the intelligence, the bright flare of desire, and knew it would never end that simply.
    “Mallory, what am I going to do with you?”
    “I have some ideas.”
    “I’ll just bet you do. It’s probably best if you don’t discuss them here. In fact, it’s probably best if you sublimate them.”
    “Sublimation isn’t healthy, and actually, I was only going to suggest that you come join Rachel and me,” she said primly. He felt the oppressive mass that had weighted his chest since he left her in the park begin to lift, even though Rachel’s presence was a complication he hadn’t counted on. Damn it all, he wanted to be with this woman.
    “We’re not exactly havinga clandestine affair here, but in case you’re worrying about the hospital rumor mill, Rachel knows how to keep her mouth shut,” Mallory said, reading his mind. “She won’t tell a soul that you sat down to dine with a couple of coworkers.”
    He capitulated all too easily. “In that case, I’d love to join you.”
    The atmosphere at the table was so pleasant and relaxing that Justin found himself wondering why he’d deprived himself of Mallory’s company in the first place. Surely they could be friendly, have an occasional dinner, some casual conversation without it developing into anything complicated.
    Mallory reached across just then and touched his hand. He’d lost track of the discussion even before she made the gesture, but with her fingers resting lightly on his, he couldn’t think at all.
    Friendly? Was that what he’d been telling himself? Not in a million years. If he and Mallory Blake were to