Hot Secrets Read Free Page A

father’s,
not her own, and made it clear that everything he’d assumed about
her had been wrong. And until tonight when life had pulled them
together for all the wrong reasons.
    She was small and soft in his
arms, and nervous as hell no matter how much she denied it. And
while he didn’t want to make her nervous, he liked knowing he
affected her, though he
shouldn’t, because she was off limits. He had no business flirting
with her, no business wanting her, and he knew that. And yet, he
couldn’t seem to stop himself.
    She melted against him, her head
settling on his chest, the soft vanilla and honey scent of her
warming him inside out. He squeezed his eyes shut, despising his
reason for being here tonight, but incapable of regretting that she
was in his arms. Knowing she wouldn’t stay there long, that she
couldn’t stay there long. Because the minute he’d said ‘yes’ to this assignment , Royce
had said ‘no’ to Lauren.

Chapter Two

    Dancing with Royce Walker, there
was no denying the simple truth. He did it for her. And whatever it was, it had
her body tingling and her blood pumping at lightning speed. She not
only wanted this man, for once in her life she wanted more than the
fantasy of being more like Julie. For once, for one night, she
wanted to let go, she wanted to just let herself go where desire
led her, where this man would take her.
    His lips brushed her ear. “You
smell amazing.”
    Lauren’s lashes fluttered before
she looked up at him. There was something so powerful, so
provocative about this man. She liked to be in control, normally
resisted giving control away, which was one of the reasons the courtroom appealed to her.
There she was respected, in chargeand without her father’s
influence. Royce wouldn’t let her have control. She knew this
instinctively, but somehow didn’t care. Royce’s power was all his
own, not bought or jockeyed for, a lethal quality she found
alluring and sexy. A power he owned naturally, like a second skin,
that simply existed as he did. And she wasn’t going to let this
night with him escape because of insecurity.
    She swallowed against the
dryness in her throat. “You asked if you scare me.”
    His gaze dropped to her lips,
and lifted. “Actually, I asked if I was making you nervous, not
scared.”
    “Right. No. You don’t make me
nervous. And you don’t scare me.” She allowed herself the freedom,
the luxury, to run her hand discreetly across one of his broad
shoulders and then down his arm, loving the feel of his muscles. It
was bold for her to do so in public, at one of her father’s events,
yet all she was thinking about was how every inch of this man was
hard, male perfection. “But I think I might be scaring me.”
    His hands tightened on her waist
and his eyes narrowed. “Explain.” He pulled her a bit closer.
“What’s wrong, Lauren?” He stopped dancing and just stared down at
her with intense, probing eyes . “What are
you telling me?” Desire spiked between them, and then lingered, a
fine mist that seemed to travel over her entire body.
    His reaction overwhelmed her,
and sent a dash of uncertainty through her. What had made her think
she could pull off the coy, flirty thing? She wasn’t Julie. She
knew how to play the courtroom game. The bedroom variety was
another story. “Nothing. I… It was silly. Forget I said
anything.”
    Abruptly, Royce took her hand
and led her off the dance floor, forcing her to double-step to keep
pace in high heels. Too quickly, before she could gain her wits
back, Royce had her in a corner, where she leaned against the wall
as he rested a shoulder next to her. He was so close and so big
that she was successfully blocked from the view of the room.
    Looking up at him, feeling a bit
intimidated as he towered over her, and a lot nervous about his
reaction to her words, she questioned him, “Royce?”
    His voice was raspy when he
spoke, his eyes so intense she felt they might burn her skin, his
voice