change into my clothes.'
His regard turned abruptly incredulous. 'You think I'm dallying so I can peek at you?'
'Of course not.' The suggestion was as absurd as he made it sound. He'd seen her naked hundreds of times, thousands possibly. She knew the shape of her body could hold no fascination for him.
'Because frankly, Annabel, I'm not that desperate—'
'I believe you,' she interrupted. A man like Luke would never have been desperate. A man who only had to walk into a room to have every woman in the place turn to look at him didn't even know the meaning of the word. The thought had never occurred to her. If she had suspected him of lingering, his motivation would have been clear to her. To make her self-conscious, certainly. Embarrassed, of course. Unbalanced, definitely.
Just as he was doing all those things by not leaving now. Turning her back on him, she stalked in her stockinged feet to her locker and, when he still didn't budge, hauled the metal door open.
'This is ridiculous,' she pointed out stiffly, gathering up her long skirt, blouse, jacket and shoes, her annoyance making her careless—despite the hours she spent ironing— of creasing. 'This whole situation is completely ridiculous. Why is it impossible to have a normal, simple conversation with you without it turning into an argument? Why does my making a simple little request for a little bit of privacy have to turn into some grand drama?'
She hugged her clothes against her and made for the shower cubicle herself. Regardless of how foolish scrambling around dressing in there was going to make her feel, it felt, right then, like a far lesser evil than trying to dress in front of him.
But he caught her arm as she stalked past him and sheer shock, as much as force, brought her swinging around to face him, the clothes she'd been clutching dropping soundlessly away from her to the tiled floor.
'Why are you getting so uptight about something as trivial as me maybe catching you in a bra?' he demanded. 'Have you turned just plain irrational, Annie, or do you think the sight of you in whatever sexy little scrap you've got on under that thing will drive me wild? Is that what you think? You think that after a divorce and six years you can still turn me on?'
'I'd slit my throat rather than try,' she snapped, hateful awareness of his strength and of the warm, freshly showered scent of his body sending her senses spinning and her temper flaring. 'I don't think anything, I just want you out of here.' But her struggles were just bringing her closer against the hardness of his body. 'How dare you... manhandle me, you madman? If you don't let me go right now, and I mean right, right now, I swear I'll scream the entire roof of this hospital down.'
'No, you won't. You're too petrified someone will catch us together.' It was true, although she hadn't realised it until then, but she opened her mouth anyway to frighten him. To her utter and absolute outrage, Luke calmly put his hand over her mouth and lifted her off the floor, holding her effortlessly against him with his other arm despite her best attempts at furious resistance. 'And I promise you I'd make it look good,' he murmured, his mouth warm against her ear, his tone so smooth and reasonable she knew the threat was real.
'You're suffocating me,' she yelled fiercely, although against his hand it only came out as a muffled rumble. 'I can't breathe.'
'That's because you're hyperventilating,' he chided, rocking her slightly. 'You always hyperventilate when you're wild. Stop kicking me. You're not hurting and you'll only break your toes. I'm not going to touch you. Not unless you keep fighting.'
When she still, panicking, fought him, he brought his mouth so close to her ear that the heat of his breath on her skin sent shocks tingling across her cheeks to her own mouth.
'Annie, be calm or you will turn me on and, I promise you, neither of us wants that to happen. Breathe slowly and quietly. Prove to me you're going
His regard turned abruptly incredulous. 'You think I'm dallying so I can peek at you?'
'Of course not.' The suggestion was as absurd as he made it sound. He'd seen her naked hundreds of times, thousands possibly. She knew the shape of her body could hold no fascination for him.
'Because frankly, Annabel, I'm not that desperate—'
'I believe you,' she interrupted. A man like Luke would never have been desperate. A man who only had to walk into a room to have every woman in the place turn to look at him didn't even know the meaning of the word. The thought had never occurred to her. If she had suspected him of lingering, his motivation would have been clear to her. To make her self-conscious, certainly. Embarrassed, of course. Unbalanced, definitely.
Just as he was doing all those things by not leaving now. Turning her back on him, she stalked in her stockinged feet to her locker and, when he still didn't budge, hauled the metal door open.
'This is ridiculous,' she pointed out stiffly, gathering up her long skirt, blouse, jacket and shoes, her annoyance making her careless—despite the hours she spent ironing— of creasing. 'This whole situation is completely ridiculous. Why is it impossible to have a normal, simple conversation with you without it turning into an argument? Why does my making a simple little request for a little bit of privacy have to turn into some grand drama?'
She hugged her clothes against her and made for the shower cubicle herself. Regardless of how foolish scrambling around dressing in there was going to make her feel, it felt, right then, like a far lesser evil than trying to dress in front of him.
But he caught her arm as she stalked past him and sheer shock, as much as force, brought her swinging around to face him, the clothes she'd been clutching dropping soundlessly away from her to the tiled floor.
'Why are you getting so uptight about something as trivial as me maybe catching you in a bra?' he demanded. 'Have you turned just plain irrational, Annie, or do you think the sight of you in whatever sexy little scrap you've got on under that thing will drive me wild? Is that what you think? You think that after a divorce and six years you can still turn me on?'
'I'd slit my throat rather than try,' she snapped, hateful awareness of his strength and of the warm, freshly showered scent of his body sending her senses spinning and her temper flaring. 'I don't think anything, I just want you out of here.' But her struggles were just bringing her closer against the hardness of his body. 'How dare you... manhandle me, you madman? If you don't let me go right now, and I mean right, right now, I swear I'll scream the entire roof of this hospital down.'
'No, you won't. You're too petrified someone will catch us together.' It was true, although she hadn't realised it until then, but she opened her mouth anyway to frighten him. To her utter and absolute outrage, Luke calmly put his hand over her mouth and lifted her off the floor, holding her effortlessly against him with his other arm despite her best attempts at furious resistance. 'And I promise you I'd make it look good,' he murmured, his mouth warm against her ear, his tone so smooth and reasonable she knew the threat was real.
'You're suffocating me,' she yelled fiercely, although against his hand it only came out as a muffled rumble. 'I can't breathe.'
'That's because you're hyperventilating,' he chided, rocking her slightly. 'You always hyperventilate when you're wild. Stop kicking me. You're not hurting and you'll only break your toes. I'm not going to touch you. Not unless you keep fighting.'
When she still, panicking, fought him, he brought his mouth so close to her ear that the heat of his breath on her skin sent shocks tingling across her cheeks to her own mouth.
'Annie, be calm or you will turn me on and, I promise you, neither of us wants that to happen. Breathe slowly and quietly. Prove to me you're going
Similar Books
