Free When Honey Got Married by Kimberly Lang, Ally Blake, Kelly Hunter, Anna Cleary Page B

herself together, “Brent is a very professional guy who would never break his code of ethics.”
    “Never?” His mouth quirked in disbelief.
    “ Never .”
    Unless, of course, a kiss could be counted. Tongues at midnight. Hands.
    “We—e—ell. If you say so.” Rainer pressed his lips together, then gave his bourbon a meditative sip. His mouth was really very stirring and expressive, the lower lip pleasingly cushioned, suggesting an arousing resilience if a woman happened to…
    She gave herself a mental shake. For Pete’s sake, she wasn’t thinking of kissing him . “Why look so doubtful, Rainer? Brent is a very focused person. Even if he felt strongly and irrevocably attracted to an employee, even if he longed to kiss her, yearned to caress her soft skin, itched to put his hand on her…on her…he wouldn’t dream of…”
    “He must have the resistance of a saint.” His voice was darker than the night.
    His glance met hers, sensual, bold, then slid down her throat to where her breasts were innocently longing to expose themselves. Against all the odds, her skin tingled as if singed by a naked flame.
    It threw her off-balance, if the truth be known. On the one hand there was Brent across the room, holding a piece of her heart in his hands, and now here was Rainer. Powerful, masculine, and entirely confusing to the senses.
    She couldn’t ever remember this degree of confusion before. Being held captive by the sheer force of a man’s physical aura. It was a whole new experience, and strangely exhilarating.
    Maybe it was the drink affecting her brain. She composed her face to appear more stern. “He didn’t need the resistance of a saint. I don’t know what you expect from your women em—”
    She’d meant to say “women employees ,” but before she could finish he cut in smoothly, his voice as deep and dark as the devil’s. “Loyalty undiluted and passion uninhibited.” He smiled.
    That smile reflected in his eyes with a message that was nothing short of bad.
    “Oh, please.” She gave a mocking laugh, but a sultry shiver slithered down her spine to the backs of her knees. It was hard to deny that the guy had impact.
    “I’m not criticizing you, Eve.” His wolfish gaze flicked to her throat, then drifted southward. In spite of their proud history of aloofness, against all the odds her nipples stood up and quivered shamelessly. “I totally understand. If two very attractive people are forced by circumstances to be together in close confinement, bumping into each other, hips occasionally touching, he accidentally brushes her breast, she grazes his thigh with hers, it’s only a matter of time before…”
    “But nothing did happen.” How she wished people wouldn’t always leap to conclusions. She’d been hung for so many sheep in the past, when she’d hardly ever done more than pet the woolly heads of the little lambs who’d pursued her.
    And purely out of kindness, so as not to hurt their feelings. “Well, nothing much,” she felt forced to amend.
    “Ah.” Rainer’s eyes lit with a knowing amusement that riled her.
    “Oh, what’s with that ‘ah’? Look—I freely admit, I admired Brent’s stance on environmental issues.”
    Rainer broke into a laugh. “His stance ?” It was amazing to see how a laugh lit up the man’s face and warmed his gray eyes. She could see why that Dixon cousin had gone so entirely overboard from the bridge.
    Rainer was a stunner.
    She swept her lashes down to block out some of the amazing dazzle. “For your information, Brent is very concerned about protecting the habitat of the Great Egret of Louisiana. You wouldn’t mock if you knew the research he puts in before he invests in a development. All those conferences we attended…”
    Rainer’s gaze sharpened with a wicked surmise. “Conferences?”
    She closed her eyes. Oh, why had she said that? Minna was right She was her own worst enemy. “Naturally, there were conferences. I was his assistant. I