Free Risky Business by Melissa Cutler

point, a lot. Here’s mine again. I’m not leaving. I’m not giving up. And I’m not selling Cloud Nine to you or anyone else. I’m not going to go bust my butt working double shifts at some low-paying job so Katie can be raised in day care. If you think I can be so easily swayed to do something that’s not in my child’s best interest, then you obviously don’t understand the determination that comes with being a mother.”
    Her words made his skin prickle. She had no idea how close to home she’d hit with that declaration—on multiple levels. Determination was only a positive attribute in mothers if what they wanted for their children wasn’t toxic, or if it wasn’t so overwhelming that the child didn’t self-destruct from the pressure.
    â€œIf you’re so determined, then walk down the damn stairs and let me show you around the boats.”
    He’d called her bluff and, by the look on her face, she knew it. “I’ll be inside looking through the files and the computer programs. If you won’t help me like I need you to, then I’m going to figure out this business on my own. That’s a promise you can take to the bank.”
    He muttered a prayer for patience, then before he could second-guess himself, he hooked his hand around her knees and swung her into his arms.
    She shrieked. Trembling, she lassoed his neck so tightly, she nearly choked him. “Don’t throw me in.”
    Man, she was terrified of water. Beyond normal fear. He almost asked her what happened to make her that way, but he already felt too much sympathy for her with the whole Lowell and Shawna affair.
    He started down the stairs, concentrating on keeping his steps deliberate, ignoring the way she felt clinging to him, the way her supple body felt in his hands. “I wasn’t planning to, but I also wasn’t going to stand there anymore. I wasn’t lying about how much I have to do today. I’ve got an engine to fix on one of the day-rental boats, then I promised Duke I’d help him with an electrical issue at the ice rink later this afternoon.”
    â€œTake me back to the office. Right now. I’m serious. You can’t handle me like this.”
    â€œFine. I’m stopping.” He was a “no means no” kind of man, so even though they were right in the middle of the floating dock, only a few feet from the boat he’d intended on setting her down on, he stopped and released her legs to the dock.
    She sagged into him, refusing to relinquish her hold on his neck. “I didn’t mean you should set me down here.”
    He knew she didn’t, but he wasn’t going to scurry around doing her bidding or stand around waiting for her to put up or shut up.
    â€œYou have two choices right now. You can trust me or you can trust yourself.”
    With her arm still around his neck and her other hand twisting his shirt with a death grip, she backed her face up from where it’d been burrowed against his chest and looked in his eyes. “You haven’t given me a reason to trust you. All you’ve done is make my life more difficult.”
    â€œ
Je pourrais dire la même chose à propos de toi.
” He winced, then repeated it in English. “I could say the same about you.”
    Which didn’t explain why he had his arms around her or why his heart was pounding so loudly that he couldn’t hear anything save for the rush of blood in his ears. It didn’t explain why he kept accidentally speaking in French to her without meaning to. Was that some kind of new nervous tic? He certainly hadn’t counted on nerves or embraces when he’d indulged in this half-baked plan to teach her a lesson.
    His gaze dipped to her lips, but only for a second because he got a grip, fast, and settled his attention on the water beyond the boats. “You have to get over this irrational fear of