Free Bachelor Unclaimed by Brenda Jackson Page B

the door and couldn’t. It was locked.
    “It’s a good thing I locked all the doors, huh?”
    Ainsley jerked around. Winston was standing in the middle of the shower door shamelessly naked and grinning at her. She stared, chewing the insides of her cheeks, grateful it wasn’t her tongue. Lordy . She’d recalled him being built, but not this built. He hadn’t been ashamed of showing his body that night and he wasn’t ashamed of showing it now. Her gaze roamed all over him and came back to his middle each and every time. It was swollen. Hard. Fully erect.
    “Ainsley?”
    Licking her lips, she forced her eyes up when he called her name. “Yes?”
    “Something told me you couldn’t be trusted to do what you were told, so I locked all the doors.”
    She glared. “So what am I supposed to do while you’re taking a shower?”
    He chuckled. “Enjoy watching the rain.”
    He then closed the shower door, shutting off her view of him and his naked body.
    * * *
    Any hopes of Ainsley leaving anytime soon were dashed each and every time a lightning bolt rocketed across the sky, Winston thought, standing at the kitchen counter preparing sandwiches. He had made quick work of his shower after remembering how she had picked the lock to one of the gates yesterday.
    “Will Dr. Chambers be joining us for lunch?” she asked him.
    You wish . “No.”
    “Why not? He has to eat sometime.”
    “Yes, and he prefers eating alone and not with uninvited guests.”
    “I take it that means he knows I’m here.”
    Winston placed the sandwiches on a plate. “Yes, he knows. He was informed by Charley that we had an intruder the exact same time that I was.”
    She didn’t say anything for a minute and then finally asked, “Dr. Chambers really is a recluse, isn’t he?”
    He shrugged. “Is that what you heard?”
    “Yes. No one has ever met him and he’s never been interviewed. But his studies on the use of sea creatures for medicinal purposes are well documented. I checked out one of his books from the library a few days ago.”
    “Did you?”
    “Yes. I found his work fascinating. He’s a brilliant scientist.”
    Winston tried not to let her compliment go to his head and said, “He prefers to be thought of as a biologist.”
    “There’s a difference?”
    “Technically no, but a biologist’s duty is more clearly defined,” he said, walking to the table with their sandwiches and placing the plate there. “A scientist mostly deals with natural or physical science, whereas biology is considered a natural science. A marine biologist studies organisms that live in salt water. You might want to remember that, if you ever get the chance to talk to Dr. Chambers. He has a pet peeve about being referred to as a scientist.” He then turned to stroll over to the refrigerator for the lemonade.
    “I can’t wait until I meet Dr. Chambers.”
    Instead of opening the refrigerator, he turned and leaned against it. She sounded so sure of herself that he almost believed her. But he of all people knew the kind of meeting she was banking on was highly unlikely. He compressed his mouth as he watched Ainsley take a bite of the sandwich and lick her lips, his presence all but forgotten.
    Too bad he couldn’t say the same. She definitely looked out of place sitting at his kitchen table wearing a bathrobe. And he knew for a fact, there was nothing else under that robe. He had been there when she’d tossed all her clothing in the washer. And because they’d left behind her duffel bag, she was going to have to wait for her clothes to dry before she came out of that robe.
    Out of that robe...
    Now that was a thought he didn’t wish to entertain. It wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t know what she looked like, but because he did, he was having a hard time staying focused. Over the years he’d had his share of women, yet for the life of him, he didn’t understand why she was different.
    She was beautiful but then in his book all females were. But