Page 22 of Lawbreaker

“Here,” he said, going on one knee. He slid her feet into the high heels one at a time, and the feel of her skin against his fingers, even through the nylon, sent shivers of pleasure down his spine.

She was vibrating all over at that touch. His hands were big and lean and beautifully masculine. She loved the way they felt on her skin. She wondered helplessly how they’d feel higher up. She forced herself to stop thinking about it. “Thanks,” she said. Despite her best efforts, she was flushed, and her heart was going like an overwound clock.

Tony knew that, but he pretended not to see it. He stood up and gave her a hand to hold on to to pull herself out of the swing.

She came up close to him, too close. She could feel the warm strength of his body, smell the spicy, clean scent of him. She didn’t want to move. He still had her hand, and she tingled all over at just its touch. She wanted to move closer. She wanted to feel him against her, all the way up and down. She wanted his hands to go around her, his arms to go around her. She wanted...him.

He was feeling the same sensations. The room was quiet. Too quiet. He could hear his own heart beating. He could hear her quick breaths. God, she was beautiful, and that body was like something out of a fantasy. She was the most gorgeous woman he’d seen in his life, and he couldn’t, didn’t dare, even touch her. It would lead to catastrophe. He had to get a grip on his fraying emotions. Ridiculous. He could face down armed men without a hair out of place, but this young woman turned his knees to jelly and made him ache.

He let go of her hand and moved back. “You knew Rudolf’s name,” he said after a long, tense silence.

It broke the tension. “Yes,” she said, with a breathy laugh. “Stasia introduced us. He’s gorgeous!”

His eyebrows arched. “You aren’t afraid of snakes?”

She shook her head, her pale blue eyes twinkling. “John, my brother John, had an albino python when I was just about eight years old. He and I would take the snake out to the barn and chase poor old Billy Tanner with it. He was terrified of snakes! Dad caught us, and we had to give up video games for two weeks as punishment.”

“Video games. Snakes.” He shook his head. His black eyes twinkled. “You’re not what I used to think you were when Stasia brought you up to visit. I thought you were a snob.”

“Me?” she exclaimed.

His eyes narrowed in thought. “You don’t mix well, do you? You’re an introvert, and you’re shy. It makes you look stuck-up. But Connie’s wild about you.” He chuckled. “She called me from the airport. She’s got a brother, Angel, and he’s single. She said she wanted to bring Angel up to meet you because you’d be the most wonderful sister-in-law in the family.”

“Oh,” she exclaimed, beaming. “That’s the nicest thing anybody’s said about me in ages!”

“Not so much,” he replied, smiling. “Angel’s no pinup boy. He’s got scars and an accent thicker than yours, and he’s a semipro wrestler.”

“I love wrestlers,” she said. “I watch movies that the Rock is in, and I never missedMonday Night Rawwhen he was in the ring.”

“Damn!” he burst out. “You weren’t joking? You really like wrestling?”

She grimaced. “Well, there’s nothing wrong with liking wrestling,” she said defensively, even while remembering that he loved it. “Lots of women do. I thought Eddie Guerrero was a dish, and I bawled when he died. I loved the Hardy Boyz and Lita and Triple H...”

He was still trying to contain his surprise. “You like wrestling,” he repeated. He chuckled. He’d have to tell her about Big Ben’s background one day. “And those are my personal favorites. Especially the Rock. I’ve got all his movies. But my favorite isMoana.”

Her whole face lit up. “Mine, too, but I love it just as much for the music. The score is beautiful.”

He nodded. This was terrible. They loved the same things. He was getting in over his head and they hadn’t been talking more than ten minutes. He shook his head, as if to clear it.

“I was afraid Rudolf would scare you to death,” he said after a minute.

“I like snakes,” she said simply.

He just shook his head. “You are the oddest damned woman I’ve ever known,” he said slowly.

“I come from an odd family,” she pointed out.

“No, you don’t,” he replied. “Your people are down-to-earth and perfectly normal.” He studied her. “I’ll bet you were spoiled rotten in school by every teacher you had.”

Thinking about school broke her heart. She’d been so mean to poor Maddie Brannt when they were in the same class. It had taken a near-tragic wreck that she’d caused to patch up years of torment she’d given the woman, who was now her best friend next to Stasia.

“You closed up,” he said. “What did I say?”

“It wasn’t that. I was a bad girl in high school,” she confessed, looking at the spotless white shirt over his broad, muscular chest under his jacket. “I almost went to jail once.”

“You?” he exclaimed.

She looked up at him. “You never really know people,” she said. “I mean, you can be around them for years and talk and go places together, but you don’t really know them. People hide the dark places so that they don’t show.”

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