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Embarrassment, an emotion she rarely experienced, caught up to her with a
vengeance. She’d lost her cool. Lost her edge. And that pissed her off. Losing the edge
made her feel too vulnerable. And she wasn’t going that route again.
Deciding to cut and run before she said another stupid thing, she hurried to pick up
her purse. “I’d better head out.”
“Leaving so soon?” His voice was dark velvet, sending warmth spreading through
her body in a tingling wave that settled low. “I’ll walk you to your car,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because my mother taught me right.”
“Uh-huh. That protective streak of yours again.”
“Sue me.”
Her plan had backfired. Sure, she’d wondered what would make him lose control. He
hadn’t.
“I don’t need a man to escort me everywhere.”
He crossed his arms. “Are you one of those women who thinks a man wanting to
protect a woman is Neanderthal?”
“Yes.”
His face went hard, as she imagined it would before an interrogation…narrowed eyes
and a tough-guy voice.
“Wait a minute,” he said. “Did a guy in your past overprotect you?”
“I’m not getting into my personal life.”
“Or maybe he did more than protect you; he used it to control you. To make you feel
inadequate and inferior. Maybe you had a boyfriend who verbally abused you?”
Her mouth dropped open. He’d hit far too close to the mark, and a tiny panic
blossomed inside Leigh.
“If you were in a relationship, would you still scoff at his protection?” he asked.
She hoisted her purse over her shoulder. “It’s time for me to leave. I’m not a criminal
and under your arrest, MacGilvary.”
She stalked toward the door.
He followed, and the implacable look on his face told her he wouldn’t back down.
Within a few seconds they were in the elevator.
Leigh stared at Craig, her tension ratcheting into the double digits as he met her gaze.
His protectiveness raised her libido higher even as it ground against her independence.
His eyes penetrated, demanded, searched with a searing attention that screamed sexual
interest.
No way. Arrogant, cold, uptight Craig MacGilvary was not sizing her up for sexual
conquest. At the same time, she wondered how she could be wrong about him. She hated
the confusion. She hated not knowing his intentions.
“What are you staring at?” His question came out specific, with a frosty, almost
belligerent tone.
She leaned back along the cool elevator wall and refused to look away. Yeah, he was
probably used to people cowering under that intimidating stare. Leigh had never lost a
staredown with a man. Never. She wouldn’t start now.
“I was just wondering why you believe you can intimidate me. Why you dislike me
so much,” she said.
His eyes widened only a fraction before narrowing, lips turning tight. “That’s
ridiculous. I don’t dislike you.”
She smiled, skeptical. Right buddy. Crossing her arms, she hooked one ankle over
the other. “That’s you liking me? Giving me icy, confrontational stares at every
opportunity? Running like I’m poison whenever I get within a few feet of you?”
He mocked her stance, his arms crossed. Eyes hot, he scanned her slowly. “You’re
mouthy.”
Not surprised by his admonishment, she grinned. “I haven’t always been that way.”
“What changed you?”
“I acquired a taste for it.”
His gaze traveled over her hungrily, and she soaked up the attention. Lingering on
her breasts, skimming down her legs, his interest gave no illusion. The man had a serious
male appreciation for her figure, even if he liked nothing else about her.
Time to call in the heavy artillery, as her sister would say.
She walked toward him, half thrilled, half scared to bits. After all, from her first
meeting with him, he’d given her an A-number one brush off.
The lights flickered wildly.
The elevator plunged.
Leigh’s life didn’t pass before her eyes. There wasn’t time for that.
Chapter Four
Leigh gasped, heart ramming into overdrive. She toppled, and two powerful arms
braced her against a strong, wide chest.
The elevator slammed to a halt. Craig fell, taking her with him. She sprawled across
his chest, his arms closing around her waist.
Lights flickered again. Sputtered.
Breathing hard, she lay stunned and supported by solid muscle.
His hard arms tightened. “You all right?”
“Yes. You?”
“I’m okay.”
“What happened?”
“Malfunction.”
She rolled her gaze. “I got that.”
She pushed upward and straddled one of his thighs. He shifted and that rock hard
thigh pressed between her legs. She sucked in a soft, startled breath as a shockwave
pulsed from that point. More than his thigh was hard. Her mons pressed against solid
man. Thick, erect, and…
Oh. My. God.
Did he get off on danger?
Of course he does. He’s a cop.
His hands clasped her waist, and her imagination flipped straight to him buried
inside her as she rode him stark naked with a capital N.
For a breathless moment, his eyes caught hers and held. She gulped as a heat wave
blistered her. This man could roast her Christmas goose anytime.
Aware she still straddled his thigh, she hurried off his lap and slowly stood. “Sorry.”
“For what?” His deep, almost raspy voice held gruff disapproval.
“For mashing you.”
“You’re light as a feather.”
His husky statement sent another spike of sexual awareness straight to her belly.
God, this was nuts. He made her feel more feminine than any other man she’d met. She
didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Embarrassment rolled over Leigh.
She hated the topsy-turvy way this cop made her feel, this out-of-sorts and off balance
predicament. Yet it hadn’t stopped her from goading him. Not so bright on her part.
The elevator groaned. “Oh, crap,” she said. “What’s that? Why did we drop like a
rock?”
The phone rang, and Craig grabbed it. From the conversation, she gathered that a
power outage guaranteed they’d be stuck here awhile longer.
When he hung up, his sigh held some exasperation, his eyes flashing. “They said it
could be at least thirty minutes.”
“That long?” She surveyed the elevator walls.
“Are you claustrophobic?”
“No. Are you?”
“Nope.”
“Was it another brown out from the heat wave?”
“Not this time. Security said a semi hit a transformer outside the building and took
some cars with it.”
She frowned. “I’m parked outside. God, I hope my car isn’t one of them.”
His mouth twitched, one of those quick and dirty Craig smiles that never quite
punched into full time status. “I doubt it.”
“Peachy.” She realized her shoulder bag had fallen off. She left it where it lay in a
corner of the elevator.
An idea sprang to life inside her, the epitome of the devil riding on her shoulder. No
matter how much she knew it was a bad idea, she went with it. Determined to see cool
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