His Love Read Free Page B

cheekbones… those sensual lips… very nice indeed.
    From his khaki shorts, his long legs stretched out in front of him, pale and lightly dusted with dark blond hair. But his arms were smooth… there were slightly defined muscles in those biceps… Toni suddenly had an urge to peek under his red T-shirt and find out if his chest was smooth or hairy, muscled or not. Heat rose in her cheeks that she’d even had that impulse. You just met this guy! Jeez, down, girl! she thought. She hadn’t been with anyone in about six months… her hormones were just getting the best of her, that was all. It wasn’t hard to explain or justify; Gavin McKinnon was an extremely attractive man.
    Who was staying in her house for a month.
    Toni sat back and stared at him, because she could. She knew he didn’t have a girlfriend, Anna had told her so. So he was good looking, smart, and single. And temporary. He’d only be there for a month. Hmmm…
    Enough of this. Get a grip . She reached over and tried to remove his glasses as carefully as she could, without waking him.
    But he stirred, groaning as his heavy lids opened halfway. “What the…?”
    “Shhh,” Toni whispered. “You fell asleep on the couch. C’mon, I’ll help you up the stairs. You need to go to bed.”
    “Huh?”
    “Up to bed. You. Let’s go.”
    He nodded, still half asleep and out of it. “Right. ’Kay…” Slowly, he rose, weaving a bit.
    She stood quickly to support him, banding her arm around his waist. His lean frame was taut, rock solid. Doctor Hottie obviously spent some time in the gym.
    “C’mon, you,” she said, moving him towards the stairs.
    His arm went around her shoulders. “Thank you, Toni,” he yawned. He rubbed his face. “Jaysus, I’m wrecked.”
    “You’re exhausted,” she replied, charmed.
    He was adorable when he was sleepy. She supported him as they walked together up the stairs, then led him down the hall to his room. Lowering him to the bed, she placed his glasses on the nightstand. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow. She pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and put it next to his glasses, then covered him with the light blanket and closed the door behind her.
    *
    Sunlight sliced through the plastic venetian blinds, warming and brightening the white walls of the room. Gavin’s eyes opened slowly. Disoriented for a few seconds, he looked around. When his eyes set on his suitcase beside the dresser, he remembered he was in New York, on Long Island, in Anna’s house, by the beach… and his eyes drifted shut again.
    When he opened them next, the room seemed even brighter than before. He realized he’d fallen back to sleep and reached for his phone on the night stand. Ten minutes past eleven? Bloody hell, he never slept that late, or for that many hours. He scrubbed his hands over his face to wake up more, shocked that he’d slept like that. The travel must have caught up with him, and his body had needed the rest. He yawned, stretched his arms over his head, and sat up. He felt good. Well rested and comfortable. All he needed was a shower, a shave, and to brush his teeth, and he’d be fully human.
    Getting out of bed, he went to the window to peer out. He had a decent view; the house was half a block from the beginning of the beach, and he could see a sliver of the beige sand and dark ocean past the rooftops of neighboring houses. Blue, sunny skies… he couldn’t wait to get outside. All he wanted to was to eat something and get out there to be near the ocean all day.
    It was only when he threw back the covers and sat up that he realized he was still in his clothes from the night before. “How the hell…?” He glanced at his glasses on the night stand and images came back to him—Toni talking to him, walking him up the stairs to his room, helping him to his bed. He’d been like a zombie, shuffling along in a daze. He was grateful to her.
    Toni. A beautiful woman. And kind, too. Lethal combination.
    The