Page 19 of Deadly Attraction
His morning erection had been impressive, even when contained behind his zippered jeans. He’d looked the epitome of the morning after a night of debauchery, only she hadn’t gotten the benefit of that debauchery.
Her cheeks heated. Good thing they were standing in shadows.
Too long without a man. She really needed to get out more. Go into the city, grab a random guy and work out her sexual frustrations.
But thatsowas not her. She needed a connection with a man to be attracted to him.
So why am I attracted to the man next to me?Outside of disliking the holidays, they didn’t seem to have any connection.
Mitch stood watching Danika comb out and braid Twinkie’s mane. “That poor horse,” he mumbled under his breath.
Emma sent him a side-eye. “Poor horse?”
“You named him Twinkie and he’s getting his hair braided. Do you emasculate all the males in your life?”
Ouch. “He came with that name. I didn’t give it to him. He was a trick horse for a traveling show for nearly ten years, and then his owner got old and sick and couldn’t care for him properly anymore. Twinkie was getting up in years too, but he was perfect for a therapy horse. Besides, he’s butter yellow with a white center. He does resemble a Twinkie.”
“You should rename him.”
“Like what?”
“George, Carl, Dan, who cares? Just as long as it sounds manly.”
“Like Mitch?”
“Mitch is a good, strong name.”
Yes it is.
“Got a text from my boss,” Mitch said. “They had a spotting of Goodsman forty miles south of here.”
Her pulse did a skip. “That’s good news, right? He’s moving away from me.”
“Could be a false sighting.”
“Could be.” But she was going to hope it wasn’t.
Danika finished and they went inside. Officer Moses followed, staying downstairs as Emma led the way up to her office.
“I’ll hang down here,” Mitch said and Emma smiled at the way Carla’s face lit up.
“Help yourself to coffee,” she called to the guard. “And Agent Holden knows where the cookies are.”
The two of them disappeared into the kitchen and Emma felt a twinge of jealousy when she heard Carla laugh a moment later before she shut the door to her office.
Which was entirely ridiculous.
Focus on what’s in front of you.
“Who’s that man downstairs?” Danika asked. She stood looking down at the rumbled cushions on the sofa.
“He’s uh…” Emma snatched up the pillow Mitch had slept on and plumped it with her fists. His scent wafted up and she caught her breath. “A friend,” she settled on.
The girl sat on the couch, curling her feet under her and staring over the back out the window. “He a cop?”
Emma returned to her desk and set up her pocket tape recorder. The light on her phone was blinking. Six messages.
The media was all over Chris’s escape. She’d been expecting them to hunt her down, even though her number was unlisted. They were always after a statement. “He works for the government.”
