Operation Saving Daniel (Entangled Covet) Read Free Page A

something not quite right in the smile she sent Lissa’s way. In fact, she’d seen pleasanter smiles on a crocodile.
    “Ms. Jackson, why don’t you join us for lunch?” Sophia turned to Daniel. “Family is so important.”
    “She’s not family,” he replied.
    The words hurt. Lissa hated that, but they did. A minute ago, she would have gladly left and reported back to Julia that he was a lost cause. But there was something not quite right here. The old Daniel would never have been so openly rude.
    The truth was, she’d fallen in love with him the first moment she saw him, when she was twelve years old and he a lofty fourteen. That had been the first summer holidays she’d spent with Julia’s family.
    Daniel was cool, gorgeous, and beyond her reach. In retrospect, she’d come to understand that was the reason she’d allowed herself to love him. He was like a crush on some unattainable film star: safe.
    She hadn’t been able to resist that night with him. She’d known she’d be leaving in the morning, going far away—all the way around the world in fact—surely, she was allowed the one night. So she’d taken it, and in the morning, she’d run. And she’d been running ever since.
    Should she join them for lunch? She glanced down at Spot, sitting quietly at her feet.
    Daniel followed the look. “She can’t come. She’s got a…” His brows drew together. “Dog?”
    Shit, now he was sneering at her dog.
    “She can leave the dog with the receptionist,” Sophia said.
    Lissa was almost tempted, if only to irritate Daniel. But she shook her head. “I can’t. Spot gets anxious if I leave him. He was my father’s dog. My father died recently and Spot misses him.”
    “Is that what brought you back?” Daniel asked. “I always thought you weren’t close.”
    She shrugged; she hated talking about her family. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of them, but they were hard to explain. “I’d returned anyway. My last contract was up, and I’d been ill. Look, I’ll leave you to your lunch. I just wanted to say hi.”
    She turned to go, but he stopped her with a hand on her arm, and at that first touch, she knew she’d been deluding herself that she felt nothing for him now.
    “Join us, please,” Daniel said.
    …
    Why in the name of all that was holy had he said that?
    The words had popped out of Daniel’s mouth without any conscious thought. Which was totally unlike him. He thought about everything before he spoke—he couldn’t afford not to. Especially not with his watchdog beside him. He’d been doing well up until that point. Or at least relatively well, considering the shell-shocked state of his brain from seeing Lissa again after so many years. His first reaction to hearing her name had been a wild instinctive delight. Followed swiftly by abject terror.
    Luckily, by the time he turned to face her, he’d gotten both emotions under tight control; it wouldn’t do for Sophia to realize that Lissa was anything other than a family friend.
    Still, he found himself holding his breath as he waited for her answer.
    She was thinner than he remembered, and her skin was tanned to a dark gold where before she’d been pale. As a teenager, he’d spent an inordinate amount of time attempting to work out what it was about her that fascinated him…
    Shit, he shouldn’t be thinking like this with Sophia standing right beside him. It seemed indecent somehow. He dug his sunglasses out of his pocket and slid them on so he could continue to study her and keep up his pretense of indifference.
    Her faded jeans molded her slender hips and the long length of her thighs; her thin T-shirt clung to her small breasts. Was she naked underneath? On her feet, she wore flip-flops. He couldn’t decide whether to be flattered or upset that she had taken so little bother with her appearance.
    As she considered his request, she chewed on her lower lip, her gaze switching between him and Sophia. “If Spot won’t be a problem,