Hot Secrets Read Free

shiftedthickened. The rest of the room
faded away, lost to a sudden, intense crackle of electricity. “I
think,” he said softly, “that I’d like to know more about you,
Lauren Reynolds.”
    Something wonderful, wild, and wicked stirred inside her with his
words, with the heat in his expression — something wild, wicked,
and oh so unfamiliar. This man didn’t fit that ‘safe’ profile she’d
gravitated towards because it was expected of her. There was
nothing safe about him, and a lot of that was exciting. But the
idea of acting on her feelings sent a rush of tension through her.
She bit her lip and cut her gaze to his chest. She might be
confident in a courtroom, but she wasn’t Julie ; she wasn’t a seductress who knew how to
bring a man to his knees. She had Royce Walker’s attention and she
didn’t know what to do with it.
    Royce leaned closer, the spicy
male scent of him flaring and filling her nostrils, and she fought
the unexpected urge to
reach out and touch him. “Am I making you nervous, Lauren?”
    Her chin lifted, her gaze fixing on his, shocked
that he’d read her so accurately. “You really do say whatever
you’re thinking, don’t you?
    “Is there a reason to do
otherwise?”
    She liked the answer. “You don’t
make me nervous.” And he didn’t. She was insecure in ways she
didn’t want to be, that she’d tried desperately to overcome since
her broken engagementnoeven long before that. But in the end, she
was left afraid to believe anything was authentic ever again,
especially this man, who felt more real than any she’d ever
met.
    He searched her face a moment,
and then offered her his hand. “Then dance with me.”
    Before she could think to
object, if she even would have, he was leading her toward the
center of the room, anticipation pulsing through her like a live
charge. She was going to dance with Royce Walker, to feel his big
body pressed close to hers, and she was pretty certain it would be
politically incorrect to melt into a puddle of warm, wanting
female, in the center of her father’s birthday party. She was also
pretty sure it was going to happen anyway .
    ***
    Easing through the crowd, Royce
repeated Lauren Reynolds ’ words in his head. You have no
idea how much I crave that day . She had no idea, all right.
No idea how much he craved her . How enticed he was by her gorgeous pale skin, how
enticed he was by the idea of stripping her naked and caressing it,
tasting it, feeling every inch of it, and her, molded against him.
Or how enticed he was by the way her eyes danced with little yellow
flecks of color when she felt strongly about something she was
saying. He wondered how they would look when she was aroused and
wanting. Would they be greener? Darker?
    They cleared the path to the
dance floor, and Royce eased Lauren onto the tiled circle where
random couples moved together to an orchestra number. He braced
himself for the impact of touching her, then pulled her into his
arms. Their eyes collided, the mutual attraction they shared, that
had passed between them in passing glances over the months since
he’d taken a public position, wrapped them in warmth. But he’d
known it would on some levelhe’d always known this woman would
impact him, that she would stir something inside him he wasn’t sure
he remembered existing or feeling since long before he’d joined the
FBI fifteen years before, when life inside the bureau had been
everything, and yet somehow nothing. There was no denying though, that since he’d taken a more
public role to promote Walker Security, the business he and his
brothers ran, he’d been drawn to her each time their paths had
crossed, no matter how casually or indirectly. Yet, he’d
resisted approaching her, all too aware that he didn’t fit into her
political world, that his step into the realm of politics was
merely a business endeavor, while hers was a lifestyle. That was,
until tonight, when she’d declared this world to be her