Queen of Hearts: (Family Stone #6 Shelley) (Family Stone Romantic Suspense) Read Free

under wraps.
    “I—”
    “No games.” He didn’t want to waste time on some sexual dance that was half seduction, half innuendo, but all fake. He wanted to press up against her. Wanted to show her without words how much he wanted her. “I am insanely attracted to you.”
    She rolled her eyes. He could tell she was getting ready to blow him off. And God, for the first time in his life, the thought of begging didn’t fill him with disgust. He was ready to get down on his knees and plead with her to spend time with him.
    “I think you’d have better luck with your previous companions. I’m sure you can catch them if you run.” She dismissed him with a cool smile and feigned disinterest. Except the flush across her chest and face had deepened and her pupils had dilated nearly encompassing the bright green of her iris.
    His body seized with almost frantic desperation. She was trying to shut him down. His entire endorphin system was going haywire, as if an EMP had wiped out every cogent thought except one. Get closer to her.
    “I don’t want them.” If he didn’t get to touch her, he would expire on the spot. “I want you.”
    “Eeep.” She gulped down the martini, her lips pursed against the glass rim, and Ric’s entire body froze, paralyzed with lust.
    “I’m not bluffing.” The rough edge to his voice had her leaning back.
    “Um.” Her painted fingernails pushed the almost empty martini glass between them as if she could create a barrier to protect herself. But she couldn’t protect herself from her own body’s reaction to the pheromone cocktail that was making him dizzy and drunk on her.
    Ric’s heart thudded with an unrelenting sense of panic. He couldn’t stand it if she shut him out.
    “Problem here?” The bartender interrupted.
    Ric responded quickly, “No.”
    “Not at all,” she replied politely and shot the bartender a bland, half smile before turning to address Ric. “You certainly are direct.”
    “I’m old enough to know what I want and go after it.” Ric slid closer to her and yes! she didn’t back away. Her tongue came out and licked the sugar that dusted her mouth.
    “My,” she said faintly.
    She clearly wasn’t used to the honest approach or the fact that he considered her sexy. But damn, his body was on fire.
    “Have dinner with me.” He curled his fingers over her free hand, the one resting on her bare knee. “Let’s get to know each other better.”
    What he wanted to say was, Come back to my room with me. Let me feast on your curves and learn every erogenous zone on your delicious form. Let me worship your body and discover your secret places and subtle turn ons .
    But as skittish as she was, if he confessed what he wanted to do to her, she’d rabbit. And in this monstrosity of a hotel, he’d never see her again.
    “I have plans,” she said huskily.
    “So do I.” He threaded his fingers through hers. Her hand was cool to the touch but a fire burned beneath her prim dress and her lowered lashes. She was thinking about it. “But I’d rather make new plans.”
    He wanted to push harder. Being passive wasn’t in his nature. But instinctively Ric knew if he didn’t back off some he’d lose the opportunity. He hadn’t made O-6 pay grade because he’d been tentative or indecisive. He’d risen through the ranks of the Navy because he’d been a creative problem solver.
    “I’m sure you could find an easier…dinner companion,” she demurred. Still trying to deny their attraction.
    “I look at obstacles as opportunities.”
    She laughed breathlessly. Her fingers tensed under his, as he carefully stroked his index finger over the back of her hand. And he prayed that she’d throw caution to the wind and agree to have dinner with him.
    He was so close he could see the striations of green in her eyes along with her clear longing to leap. “No strings.”
    She raised one perfectly groomed auburn eyebrow as if to say, really?
    He kept up the honesty. “Didn’t