Free Give Him the Slip by Geralyn Dawson Page A

Luke surprised her. Rather than lashing her with the usual
vitriol of angry fans, instead of asking about her parents and all the trials
and tribulations associated therewith, he focused his interest in a different
direction. "So, you've only had the one arrest."
    "Yes." Officially. There had been a few other close
calls, but her father had managed to buy Maddie's way out of those.
    "What about that incident at the Le Mans race?"
    That had been twelve years ago when she'd been with Rip. "I
was totally innocent. I didn't steal that car."
    Luke's eyes glittered like a cat's in the milky moonlight, his
gaze drifting down across her chest. "I heard the idea for that Super Bowl
halftime stunt a few years ago came from your wardrobe malfunction at the MTV
awards."
    "Mine was an accident." Liam, the blighter, had
gotten amorous in the limo on the way to the awards, and neither of them
noticed the torn seam. "I didn't get arrested for that."
    "Hmm... I seem to recall something else." He paused a
moment in thought, then snapped his fingers. "Bad checks. Didn't you rack
up some ridiculous amount of bad check charges a few years back?"
    Maddie tossed her head, sending her strawberry locks flying.
"That was a lie. A bold-faced lie. Tabloids didn't have anything to report
on me, so when they saw me shopping in London, they made it up. All of
it."
    "You didn't sue?"
    "What's the point?" Bitterness soured her tone.
"With my reputation, I'd look even worse. It's easier to let it go.
Frankly, Callahan, I'm surprised a DEA agent would lower himself to read
tabloid trash."
    "Hell, I once read a telephone book while sitting on a
stakeout."
    "Aren't you going to ask about Blade's drug addiction? His
next album? His hit single 'Baby's to Blame'?"
    "No, don't think I will."
    She studied him, a faint smile playing across her lips.
"You're not a rock music fan?"
    "I wouldn't go that far. I think the Swords' 'Honey' is one
of the best rock ballads ever written. I'm more a blues and Buffett guy. As far
as your father goes..." He shrugged. "Not to be insulting, but
celebrities don't interest me. I learned long ago that too much money tends to
get folks in trouble. I'll listen if you want to talk about your father and his
peculiarities, but to be honest, what I'm really interested in is you."
    He couldn't have said anything more perfect, and Maddie melted.
"Thank you," she murmured, then she leaned over to give him an
affectionate kiss on the cheek.
    Somehow, her lips landed on his mouth.
    He didn't let them leave.
    Maddie knew almost immediately that she'd made a huge mistake as
Luke took control of the kiss. Her pulse leapt, her blood hummed. Desire washed
through her like a warm summer rain. He tasted of moonlight and man, and he
made Maddie yearn. She wanted to press herself against him, to experience the
sensation of a firm, hard body molded to hers. She wanted to lose herself in
the magic of the moonlight, the mystery of the man, and the marvel of his mouth
that even now took control.
    So she did.
    At her surrender, Luke Callahan's kiss turned hot and hard and
merciless. He captured her head in his hands, sinking his fingers into her
hair, and drank from her lips like a drowning man. The intensity of his
reaction sent a giddy sense of power sizzling through her.
    Oh, how she'd missed this—the heat, the wonder, the delight.
Tension curled in the pit of her stomach and she shuddered with pleasure. He
muttered words against her mouth, but they sounded more like curses than
compliments.
    Suddenly, he shifted and she was under him on the hard deck, her
hair a copper halo around her, his hands impatient, sweeping her farther into
the madness.
    Madness.
    Oh, God. What was she doing? Had she lost her
ever-loving mind?
    It ran through her mind that she was completely within his power.
They were alone in a secluded spot. He was strong, much stronger than she. He
could take whatever he wanted and she couldn't stop him.
    A shameful part of her thrilled to the