Protecting His Witch (Entangled Covet) (Keeper Of The Veil series Book 1) Read Free Page B

She’d had most of his clothes off by the song’s second refrain that night.
    She shot him a squinty-eye warning that communicated if she could slap him, she would.
    Shit. He hadn’t meant to say that. He’d finally found her and now he was blowing it. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long time since that night. I tried to find you, but you just disappeared.”
    She tensed and snapped, “You had a girlfriend. And, if memory serves, she wasn’t pleased to find me in your bed.”
    Yeah, he’d handled the after part of that night miserably. That nightmare was probably right now replaying in her mind. He caught the gaze of a reporter whose too-keen interest in Kat had him saying, “We’re just dancing. Lots of people are watching.”
    She glanced around and then smiled. “So…you don’t want a scene?” she asked in a soft, threatening tone.
    Fuck.
    “Kat…there are people here that will shred you. Please be careful. As long as you’re dancing with me you can avoid the sharks here tonight.”
    She muttered, “Then you must be a great white.”
    He managed to smile for their audience and twirled her around a few couples. There were too many eavesdroppers out here. Christ, he wished he could drag her away from all the scrutiny. To apologize for past pain and make new memories. Pleasurable ones. The hurt in her eyes made him feel as though someone punched him square in the chest. She’d probably hate that he’d glimpsed that vulnerability.
    In silence they glided through a verse of the song. She was so damned beautiful. A strand of dark auburn hair mutinously curled out of the elegant twist, bouncing against her pale, slender neck. That rebellious strand was the only hint of disarray other than her residual blush. It begged him to release all her hair from the hairdo, as if that small act would liberate the hellcat he remembered from years ago.
    The conservative, ankle-length, black dress she wore hid what he remembered had been a body designed to be touched. Her athletic figure filled out the dress in a way that pushed him to rip the thing off. And those long, tapered legs. He imagined pressing her against the nearest wall and driving into her. Those legs would be around his waist.
    Cool off. This insanity over her had to be the damned curse. It guaranteed that he’d find her irresistible. After a decade he was desperate for what he’d experienced with her last time, and for what her curse denied he find with other women—repletion.
    She cleared her throat and asked stiffly, “So, you own a corporation now?” Her body remained tight and she carefully maintained a few inches of air between them.
    “Yes.” He struggled to banish the Kat memory highlight reel currently playing in his brain.
    “What type of corporation? What does it do?”
    “We build parts for military operations around the world. We also build for drilling operations, especially underwater drilling.”
    “So you fuel the world’s desire for destruction.”
    “We don’t actually make weapons. Just the parts. It’s a technology corporation,” he answered on autopilot. Many hurled that accusation at him on a daily basis.
    With a twist, he prevented them from colliding into a couple that had moved too close in an obvious attempt to overhear.
    “Did you start this business on your own? It’s not exactly what I’d imagined you doing.”
    “I inherited it from my father when he died.”
    She leaned back to look upward and gazed deeply into his eyes. Her deep green eyes widened. Softly she said, “I’m sorry about your father. But you don’t like this work, do you?”
    She’d pegged that one dead right. How could this woman whom he’d bumped into less than ten minutes ago discern what people who’d known him for decades hadn’t guessed? Maybe her magical abilities extended to mind reading. He swallowed and smiled tightly. With a glance around he said, “I’ve turned Ryan Corp around since I started.”
    “Evasion. Okay.” She