Free The Player Next Door by Kathy Lyons Page B

So she folded her arms and leaned back against the wall in the exact mirror of his position.
    “I’m attracted to you but I don’t want a permanent fixture in my life.” She shuddered at that. Edward had become like a heavy antique desk in her life. Too big to move and too expensive to throw out. Not without burning down the entire house. Which is basically what she’d done when she’d moved here.
    “So you’re looking for someone temporary.”
    “Aren’t you? I saw an interview that said you don’t intend to settle down with a woman until after your career. Is that wrong?”
    He didn’t answer that question exactly. Instead, he shifted his feet to stand more upright off the wall. “I’m not looking for anyone at all, Tori.”
    Oh. Shit. “I, um, I thought with the kisses and everything that you were interested. At least on a just-for-now basis. Which is basically where I live, especially in the summer, so I thought it would work.” She sighed, unaccountably depressed. “I guess I’ll just find someone else. Thanks anyway.”
    She started to move away from him. In her mind, this humiliating conversation was over, but before she took more than one step, he was suddenly right there in front of her. Practically looming over her.
    “Mike?”
    “How are you going to find this someone else?”
    She shrugged. She hadn’t really given it much thought. Her mind had centered on him. But there were all the usual places. “Bars, I guess. Someplace downtown. I know too many people in Evanston to shop here.”
    She felt a sudden flare of tension in him. A silent anger that hit her uncomfortably on a visceral level. “You can’t just pick up guys in a bar.”
    Actually that was something she definitely knew she could do. She looked at him, making sure her thoughts were clear on her face.
    He sighed. “I mean, obviously you can, but you shouldn’t. It’s dangerous.”
    “I’m tired of this conversation,” she said rather than argue with him. God, she hated it when people told her what she could and couldn’t do. Since he was blocking access to the kitchen, she spun around and started for her bedroom. “It was an idea. If you don’t like it, no problem. I’ll just—”
    “Do what you want anyway,” he said. He grabbed her arm, and this time his hands weren’t as gentle as before. They were big and hot against her body, and they held her in place as surely as iron shackles. “Tori, listen to me.”
    She stopped, startled that the idea of shackles with this man was intriguing. She had no objection to being restrained and pleasured, but would he let her chain him up? Would he—
    “You are the oddest woman I’ve ever met,” he said.
    She smiled. “I count my novelty as an asset.”
    “Yeah, I can tell.”
    She laughed. Not many people realized she cultivated her air of odd insouciance, especially around new acquaintances. If they didn’t flow with her from the start, she saw no reason to invest time in building a friendship. It was the rare person who enjoyed her odd sense of humor. And no one besides him realized she acted this way on purpose. Or at least she exaggerated her natural tendencies on purpose. Some things slipped out of her mouth even when she was trying to be on her best behavior.
    Meanwhile, he was studying her face again. She got the impression he did that with all his opponents. Narrowed his eyes, tilted his head slightly, and looked at them with an intensity that she should find uncomfortable. Instead, she found it rather thrilling. Who in her life had ever looked at her that closely? No one. And—
    “Aren’t you afraid I’ll break your heart?” he asked. “Come fall?”
    She laughed, which probably came out more insulting than she intended. His face hardened, and she rushed to explain. “Look, we have nothing in common. I find you fascinating now, but not many things — even people — hold my attention for long.”
    “You’ve got a PhD. Doesn’t that take years? So that