Shut Up and Kiss Me Read Free Page B

appear solid, strong. Unapproachable. “I wasn’t disturbed. They’re my friends. I enjoyed every conversation. And I think they enjoyed your attention. I know Bo did. You’re the first woman who’s danced with him in three years.” Shala cringed as she remembered a move that brought back memories of the humping dog. He chuckled. “I would have paid to see that.”
    A sharp ringing pierced the night. Sky pulled a cell phone from his shirt pocket and answered. “Yeah?” Pause. “She’s here.”
    His gaze moved over her, up and then slowly down, as if to intimidate her. It worked, but she’d be damned if she’d let him know.
    “She is that.” He chuckled. The deep throaty sound somehow eased her fear but built her aggravation. He pulled the phone away and looked at her. “Bo says hi.” Then he refocused on the conversation. “Don’t worry, I can handle her.” He hung up, and his dark eyes settled on her again.
    “I’m not easy to handle,” she seethed.
    “I’m willing to give it a shot. But if you prefer Bo, I could call him back.” He smiled. Really smiled. That confident expression rubbed every bad nerve she had. And a few good ones she didn’t want rubbed.
    She let go of a deep breath. “I’m here about my camera. If you don’t mind—”
    “Is that all?”
    “All what?”
    “All you’re really here for? From the way you were looking at me at the powwow…”
    She blushed. “That’s all I want.”
    “Was it you that wanted to know if you could stuff dollar bills in my loincloth?”
    Shala felt her face heat. “No! That wasn’t me. I need my camera,” she managed to say.
    “If that’s all you came for, you discoed with Bo for nothing. I have nothing to say that hasn’t already been said. You were asked to read the rules before you bought the ticket. You broke the rules.”
    “I didn’t take a picture!”
    “The evidence says different.”
    “What evidence?”
    “Me. I saw you.”
    “You saw a flash. It wasn’t mine.”
    He stood up, and the porch swing creaked again. “Do you take me for a fool, Ms. Winters?”
    So, he knew her name. He probably knew why she was here, too. Chances were, he was one of the men who didn’t want her here. Was that what this was really about?
    He took a step forward.
    Fighting the temptation to reach for her Mace, Shala put on a brave front. “Maybe not a fool, but you are jumping to foolish conclusions.”
    “You think I didn’t hear you and your friends?”
    “Friends?” She took a step forward, angrier than embarrassed, angrier than frightened. “First, I wasn’t with anyone tonight at the powwow. Those women beside me were crude and obnoxious, but I had no part in it.”
    He actually appeared to be listening.
    “Second, the flash you saw wasn’t from my camera. It was from theirs. Third—”
    “But you had a camera, which is all the reason I need to take possession.”
    She clenched her jaw. “Third, you know who I am, so you obviously know why I’m here. So hand over my camera so I can do my job.”
    “Can’t do that.”
    Standing this close, Shala realized something wasdifferent about Sky Gomez. His hair, she realized. Either he’d cut it, or it had been a wig earlier.
    “It’s an expensive piece of equipment.” She took another step, moved so close she could smell his skin. Freshly showered, he smelled of spicy men’s soap and something she couldn’t put her finger on. Whatever it was, it made her inhale deeply. It made her long for a shower herself.
    “Come back in a week and ask nicely, and we’ll see if we can’t come to an agreement.”
    “I don’t have a week! I’m leaving in two days, and I—”
    “That’s a shame.” And just like that, he stepped to his front door and walked inside, shutting it and leaving her outside, alone in the dark. Alone and furious. Alone and—
    A deep growl filled the dark silence.
    Okay, not completely alone. “Good puppies,” she murmured. When the dogs didn’t attack or