Man about the House (Wicked Wraiths) Read Free

of his lungs as his cock hardened to full attention. God, he wanted her. Like right now. If he wasn’t so sure he’d get a glass where it hurt, he’d throw an obscurity cloak around them, boost her up on the counter and sink deep into her lush body.
    Now, do it now ! His cock jerked at the thought, and his balls drew up tight and aching against his body. Trying to be circumspect he rolled his hips, an attempt to readjust himself without using his hands. Risking a glance down, he winced. Another lesson learned, women’s clothing was so not designed to disguise a raging hard-on.
    “What are you doing?” She tried to yank the tray back from him. All she achieved was a new level of tray instability as the contents slid across the surface. “You’ll get me the sack!”
    Corvin tightened his grip, stopping the bottles before they started a lemming leap for the floor. “Then let go. I got this.”
    She ducked out from between his arms and gave him a look. It was another of those very female looks, one cold enough to freeze over all seven levels of hell. Corvin suppressed a sigh. He was doing real well with this one. First she’d run off and now she was pissed with him. Perhaps he should just call it a day here?
    Then her expression softened a little. “Well, come on, if you’re coming,” she said and turned to walk away. Tray easily balanced, Corvin followed her like a lost little puppy dog.

Chapter Two
    “You can put them down there. I’ll put them in to clean in a moment.”
    Janelle eyed the tall stranger over her shoulder as she led him through the back corridor and into the kitchen. He put the tray down and, to Janelle’s astonishment, began to unload the glasses right into the dishwasher.
    “Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”
    He looked over his shoulder and Janelle was pinned by that bright blue gaze. Even dressed in women’s clothing, there was no mistaking he was a male in his prime.
    “What does it look like? I’m loading glasses. You know, for such a pretty woman you do ask some dumb questions.”
    “Okay, now I know you’ve had too much to drink. Thanks for your help but I can take it from here.” Janelle snorted. Pretty, did he really think that washed with her? She brushed past him to start loading glasses herself. Used to the job, she was far quicker.
    “Huh. What? I haven’t had too much to drink at all.”
    Janelle looked at the multitude of glasses on the tray. They were all from his table. By rights he and his friends should be passed out insensible on the floor.
    “Yeah, right. You’ve had a skinfull and anything female will do. Now, I have a job to do and I really don’t need to lose it. So if you don’t mind, I’ll take it from here.”
    “You’re pissed because I called you pretty?” Astonishment rang in his tone as he turned to face her. “God, you must get pissed a lot then.”
    Janelle didn’t look him in the eye, steadfastly loading the remainder of the glasses. “And why’s that?”
    His chuckle rolled around the room, rebounding off the metal cabinets with a tinny sound. “Are you kidding me, lady? You’re gorgeous. I’m sure you get guys hitting on you all the time.”
    Janelle looked up as she slammed the dishwasher closed. “Yeah, mostly drunk idiots who see the ‘prettily plump’ –” God, she hated that phrase. “ — waitress as an easy mark.”
    He was still looking at her. She could feel his attention, the weight of that incredible blue gaze centered solely on her. She flicked a glance up. He had incredible lips, full and sensual, almost too feminine for such a masculine face. A small part — okay, a large part of her wanted so much to believe all this attention was real and not the drink. Compressing her lips, she ignored the heat blossoming in her lower belly.
    “What? Easy mark? I bloody wish! So far you’ve done everything but tell me to fuck off.”
    “Believe me, buddy, that’s an option.” Janelle’s voice turned chilly as she