Page 34 of Bride By Committee

Of course, in order to do full justice to her analysis, she’d have to insist the towel go, as well. Yes, indeed. She’d definitely have to make a few alterations to her blueprint of the perfect man. Somehow she’d forgotten to include all of—she examined Harry a little closer—this… this lovely masculine magnificence. It was an oversight she’d make a point of correcting at her earliest opportunity.

Harry snagged her chin with his index finger, forcing her gaze upward. “Talk fast or you won’t be able to say anything for a long, long time.”

“I won’t?” A fierce green light sparked in his eyes, affecting Madison’s breathing in the oddest way. Or maybe it had something to do with being so close to all those impressive tendons and sinews. “Why not?”

“Because my mouth will be in the way.”

Just like that, she flashed back on their rain-sweetened kiss from the previous day. She liked having his mouth in the way. Liked it too much. His kisses had the unique ability to untangle knots she’d spent a lifetime tying. And then, right when she thought every last one had come undone, new knots formed, the sort that made her acutely aware of the vulnerability that came from being a woman in the arms of a man she found irresistible.

The main problem with their kiss had been the aftermath. She’d been so close to surrendering to Harry. Even when he’d left, it had taken hours to scrape together a pinch of common sense about how to handle the situation—the sort of common sense that would keep her out of his bed. But stay out of it she would. She couldn’t risk the consequences if she allowed him to overrun her defenses. He’d already gotten too close to places she guarded with painstaking care, allowing him to catch a glimpse of aspects of her life that she preferred to keep buried. She couldn’t afford to reveal any further vulnerabilities.

She fought to infuse a business-like note in her voice with only limited success. “I didn’t come here so you could kiss me.” Despite what she mightwant.

“But that’s what you’ll get. Tell me why you’re here, sweetheart. Otherwise I’m going to make good on my promise.”

She puzzled over that. “Don’t you know?”

“Uh-huh.” He reached for his towel with pointed intent.

“Wait a minute!” She took a hasty step backward. “Maybe you should put on some clothes. Ithink it might help our discussion.” It would certainly help her end of the discussion.

“I have a better idea. Why don’t you shed a few?”

She shook her head with what she prayed was sufficient resolution. “I’d rather not.”

A brief debate waged in his eyes. Then he shrugged the shoulders she’d embarrassed herself by drooling all over. “Give me a few minutes to shower and dress. After that we’ll talk.”

“About business.”

He simply smiled. “Among other things.”

She watched him walk away with a growing feeling of unease. That’s what she was afraid of. She didn’t want to talk about the picnic or what happened afterward. He’d start asking questions about her background. About her mother and father and those terrible years when they’d divorced. And then he’d find out just how much of an Adams she really was. There were facts about herself she preferred to keep hidden in the darkest recesses of her soul—facts she hadn’t even told her family. Facts Harry threatened to pry loose.

The faint sound of running water distracted her, escaping from behind closed doors. She wished she couldn’t hear it. The mere thought of Harry in a shower cubicle was enough to cause her far-too-analytical brain to short circuit. Adelectable image of him popped into her head—Harry, stripped naked, streams of water surging in and out of all his various bulges and creases. He’d take up a whole lot of room in that shower. Why, if she were to join him, she’d be squashed tight as a bug between him and the tiled stall, their bodies, slick with soap slipping and sliding—

Harry snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Wake up, princess.”

The tantalizing image burst like a soap bubble and she stared at the fully showered, shaved, and dressed Harry standing in front of her. “What? You’re finished already?” Where had the time gone? She could have sworn only a scant minute or two had passed.

“Yes, I’m finished already. And you’re doing it again.”

She couldn’t seem to wrap her brain around his words. “Doing what again?”

He leaned in. “You’re looking at me in a way that makes me think I can get out of my clothes a hell of a lot faster than I got into them.”

“I’m just surprised that you managed to get so much done in such a short amount of time,” she muttered.

“I’ve been gone almost twenty minutes.” His eyes glittered with far too much awareness. “You didn’t realize it had been that long?”

She shrugged, snagging the first excuse that drifted through her head. “Blame it on work. Iwas considering the wisdom of whether to add more tech stocks to my portfolio or sell short on Biogenetics.”

“Are you asking my advice?”

“That won’t be necessary.” Excellent. She’d said all that without a hint of drool. “If you’re ready, Isuggest we get down to business.”

“And that business is…?”

Her brows drew together. “You asked for my help.” He fixed her with a stare curiously devoid of expression and a momentary doubt seized her. “The job you came here to do? Harley called and said to get to your hotel right away. Or—or did he make a mistake?”

---