Page 70 of Kiss an Angel

He pushed away the thought. He could train her not to flinch. His Uncle Sergey had trained him. Even when the show was over and the perverted son of a bitch was beating the shit out of him for some imagined offense, Alex had held himself completely still.

He’d mentally traveled the torturous path of his childhood too many times, and he had no interest in stirring up the muck again, so he pushed the old images away. There was another advantage to using Daisy as his assistant, one that was more important to him at the moment than simply sprucing up his act. This would give him a valid reason to ease her workload, a reason she couldn’t argue with.

He still couldn’t believe that she’d refused to let him make things easier for her. This morning when he’d started to insist, he’d seen something in her expression that had made him back off. Her work had become important to her, he realized, a survival test.

But regardless of what she thought, he didn’t intend to let her drive herself into exhaustion. And whether she knew it or not, performing in the ring with him would be a lot easier than hauling elephant manure and cleaning out animal cages.

As he rinsed his hands and reached for a paper towel, he remembered how fragile she’d felt under his hands last night. Their lovemaking had been so good it scared him. He wasn’t quite certain what he’d expected, but he’d never imagined that Daisy would have so many facets to her: sultry and tempting, innocent and unsure, both aggressive and giving. He’d wanted to conquer her and protect her at the same time, and that confused the hell out of him.

On the opposite side of the lot, Daisy stepped out of the red wagon. Alex wouldn’t be happy when he saw that she’d been making long-distance calls on his cellular phone, but she was more than satisfied with what she’d learned from the keeper at the San Diego Zoo. He’d suggested some changes she was going to try: adjustments in the animals’ diets, additional vitamins, alterations in their feeding schedules.

She walked toward the trailer, where she’d seen her husband heading a few minutes earlier. When she’d finished her work in the menagerie and gone to help Digger out, the old man had growled at her that he didn’t need her help, so she’d decided to grab the extra few hours and make a trip to the library. She’d spotted it earlier as they’d driven through town, and she wanted to do some more research on the animals. First, however, she had to get Alex to part with the keys to his truck, which, until now, he’d refused to do.

As she entered the trailer, she saw him standing at the sink drying his hands. A silly sort of giddiness passed through her. He looked too big for such small confines, and she decided those dark, brooding good looks were better suited to roaming a nineteenth-century English moor than managing a twentieth-century traveling circus. He turned and she caught her breath against the impact of his amber eyes.

“I’d like to borrow the keys to the truck,” she said when she found her voice. “I need to do some shopping.”

“Are you out of cigarettes already?”

“You must not have noticed. I’ve stopped smoking.”

“I’m proud of you.” He tossed the damp paper towel in the trash, and she saw how his T-shirt clung to his sweat-dampened chest. A grease mark cut across the sleeve. “If you wait an hour or so, I’ll drive you.”

“I’d rather go alone. This morning I noticed a laundromat next to the town library. I thought I could do the laundry and catch up on some reading at the same time. Is that a problem?”

“Not exactly. I just think it might be better if I drive you.”

“Are you afraid I’ll run off with your truck?”

“No. I just—it’s not really my t

ruck. It belongs to the circus, and you’re probably not used to driving anything like it.”

“I’m an excellent driver. I’m not going to wreck it.”

“You don’t know that for a fact.”

She held out her hand, determined to have her way in this. “Please give me the keys.”

“I wouldn’t mind a trip to the library myself.”

She gave him her steeliest gaze. “The keys, please.”

He rubbed his chin with his knuckle as if he were thinking it over. “I’ll tell you what. Unbutton your shirt and I’ll give you the keys.”

“What?”

“It’s my best offer. Take it or leave it.”

As she saw what passed for mischief glinting in his eyes, she wondered how someone so serious could have such a playful nature when it came to sex. “You actually expect me to . . .”

“Uh-huh.” He leaned back against the sink and crossed his arms over his chest waiting for her.

A flare of heat bolted through her as she saw the desire in his eyes. She was by no means certain she was ready for another sexual encounter with him, but on the other hand, what would be the harm in a little naughty foreplay? The dampness of her blouse reminded her she’d been working all morning and wasn’t any too clean. On the other hand, neither was he, and after all, they were just playing around, so what did it matter?

She looked down her nose at him in her best imitation of royalty. “I’m certainly not going to use my body as barter. That’ s offensive.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way.” He withdrew the keys from his pocket and, with exaggerated innocence, tossed them up and down in his palm.

---