Read Online White Heat by Cherry Adair - Free Book Online Page B

slender body. The early morning events had taken a toll on her. In the last couple of hours, she’d knocked a would-be assassin out cold and brought a highly trained T-FLAC operative to his knees. It wouldn’t take long for her to believe as he did, that her intruder had come to kill her.
    And while Max felt zero emotion over the death, accidental or otherwise, of Daniel, a man he’d never known, Emily had loved the son of a bitch. She was hurting, exhausted, and scared.
    And Max suspected it wasn’t going to get better real soon. He glanced away from the distracting glossy shine of her hair in the soft lighting above the table, the sparkle of the diamond studs in her ears, and the way her wide eyes looked weighted with sleep as she valiantly tried to stay awake.
    His pulse kicked. Beneath those jeans and sweater were three little dolphins waiting to be rediscovered.
    Christ.
    She rotated her head. Max wanted to run his tongue over the tendons and nerves there. He reminded himself that he wasn’t here for her. He was here because she’d called him. That was the only reason. Oh, yeah. Minor detail. And because someone had tried to kill her tonight.
    “God. I don’t know anymore.” she pushed her cup aside, her dark gaze drifting over him, and shifted away a little too quickly. “I need some sleep. Maybe we can think more cohesively in the morning.”
    She met his gaze. “I loved your father, and I love this villa. Not for the value, but for the history and beauty of the things it took him forty years to collect.”
    “Fine with me. If he didn’t leave it to you outright, you could pay me a buck, and all this Liberace-esque splendor will be yours.”
    Emily straightened. “You’re a Philistine, do you know that?” Max’s lips quirked. He’d been called much, much worse.
    EMILY WOKE TO FIND THE SUN SHINING THROUGH THE WINDOW TO warm her bare skin. She’d been so tired by the time she’d gone upstairs to bed that she’d stripped and fallen face-first between the lavender—scented sheets.
    She blinked open her eyes. The room was golden and toasty warm, tempting her to go back to sleep. She pulled the covers up to her shoulders, knowing she had to get up.
    For one thing she still had a plane to catch. If she was cleared of any dire disease. She also wanted to call Franco and let him know she might have to meet him in Pisa instead of having him pick her up at her palazzo.
    She didn’t want to consider the ramifications if she had to cancel her flight. She felt fine though. Better than fine. Surely if she’d contracted something god-awful it would have manifested itself by now?
    She smelled coffee and sat up.
    Uh-oh. The clothes she’d left on the floor were now neatly folded on a chair. Her suitcase, last seen in the trunk of her car, was now on the bench at the foot of the bed.
    Max had apparently paid her an early morning visit while she slept. She hoped she’d kicked off the covers after his visit. Her face went hot. Silly to blush like a teenager because Max might possibly have seen her naked.
    “It’s not like he hasn’t seen my naked parts before,” she reminded herself out loud, jumping down off the high mattress and heading for the en suite bathroom with its walls of mirrors. As she inspected her body—front and back—for anything out of the ordinary, she remembered the roughness of his jaw as he’d kissed his way up her body a year ago. The sensual memory solicited almost the same response from her body as the real thing. Her nipples remembered the wet heat of his mouth, and the exquisite sensation of his teeth scouring the tight buds.
    Get a grip.
    After a nice hot shower, she dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved, shocking-pink sweater with matching pink socks. Not bothering with makeup, she combed back her wet hair and went downstairs in her stockinged feet in search of coffee.
    The sun-bright kitchen was empty. But the coffeepot was full. After pouring a large mug and adding sugar, she went