Free The Expert's Guide to Driving a Man Wild by Jessica Clare Page B

knew just how to work her piercing . . .
    She sighed. Why did he have to be so stupid about sex?
     • • • 
    Elise rolled over on the leather couch and nuzzled deeper into her pillow, her eyes closed. She was in that lovely period of awake-but-not-ready-to-get-up-just-yet and no one had come to retrieve her, so she might as well sleep a little longer. She tugged the blanket closer and snuggled into the pillow, ready to get back to her dream.
    A shadow fell over her face and, after a moment, it registered in her sleepy mind and she opened her eyes.
    And gasped, sitting upright and scooting backward in surprise, clutching the blanket to her.
    A man—a stranger—loomed over the couch. He was tall, but not ridiculously so. Brawny. Big, muscular shoulders and corded arms bulging with strength. Barrel chest. It was the kind of build a bruiser would have, and it seemed at odds with his face, which was almost model pretty. Angular, with a square, perfect jaw and strong, firm nose, his eyes were vivid blue and surrounded by thick black lashes. His hair was cropped in a close trim against his skull.
    And he was pierced and tattooed everywhere. She saw a piercing through his nose. He had spacer rings in his ears, and a ring on the left side of his lower lip. His arms were covered in sleeves of tattoos. He was dressed in black, too. All of it combined to make him look menacing and unapproachable, if it weren’t for those inhumanly beautiful eyes. He was gorgeous and utterly wicked-looking, and yet so appealing to her.
    He was staring down at her, too, as if fascinated. Really staring, as if he saw her.
    And she wanted to touch her cheek and turn her face away, ashamed. What if he saw . . . it? Her fingers twitched with the need to pull her long hair in front of her face and hide as much of her as she could, but she couldn’t seem to move.
    “Sorry,” he said in a low, gruff voice. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I was looking for the person who placed this ad.” He raised the paper to show her. “I’m here to apply.”
    Elise stared at the paper, her gaze moving back to him. Her mouth worked wordlessly, the only thing coming out of her throat a soft squeak of distress. “I . . .”
    His mouth curved into a smile, and she was stunned by how gorgeous he was. Dark, tanned skin, those piercings, all those tattoos, and those heavenly eyes. He was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. And he was looking at her with interest, his gaze moving over her long, tangled hair and her face.
    As if she were appealing and not gross-looking.
    “I’m Rome,” he told her, his smile widening, and he extended his hand toward her to shake.
    She just stared at him.
    Those blue eyes studied her for a moment longer and then hardened. He pulled his hand back. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just here to apply for the job.”
    Hurt her?
Did he think she was scared? She should say something. Move.
Something
. Brenna would laugh about how ridiculous it all was, and then chatter at him in a friendly manner. Elise had only known her for a few hours, but she adored her already for being everything that Elise wasn’t. She wasn’t incredibly shy around men, wasn’t terrified of her own shadow. She wasn’t a hideous creature that everyone stared at or mocked. Elise swallowed and tried again. “I . . .”
    But her voice trembled and the words wouldn’t come out.
I’m not scared of you
, she wanted to say. But it was like her body refused to obey as long as he kept staring at her.
    His mouth thinned into an unhappy line, and she watched that fascinating lip ring move with it.
    The back door banged and Elise heard steps in the kitchen. “Hey, Elise,” Brenna sing-songed out from the other room. “You want breakfast or something? I can whip up a mean Pop-Tart.”
    Elise stared at the man, then back at the kitchen door. She should call out to Brenna. But her throat wasn’t working. It was knotted with tension, the presence of