Free Guarding Kelsey ((Books We Love Romantic Suspense)) by Kat Attalla

material clung to his body, outlining every muscle of his strong arms and legs. It had been a long time since a man had flustered her. She’d become so good at keeping a distance herself that she forgot how awkward new relationships could be. And to make matters worse she stood there gawking like some star-struck fool.
    She took half of the steak and put it back under the broiler. Her gaze remained on the oven. His smug snickers only added to her embarrassment.
    "Kelsey?"
    "Shut up.”
    "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen."
    "You got it," she returned. She spun on her heels and went to the dining room, calling back to him, "You cook."
    Which he did, quite capably. Within ten minutes he had dinner on the table. He put her plate down in front of her and moaned. "There you go, you little cannibal. Enjoy it."
    "I will."
    She sighed every time she waved a piece of the rare steak in front of his face and popped it in her mouth. She hoped to make him lose his appetite but she soon learned that nothing ruined his ability to enjoy food. She wondered if he put as much passion into everything he did. Imagining his technique in bed brought on a heat wave. She pressed her knees together tightly and squirmed in her chair. No doubt about it. She’d lost her mind. If she weren’t careful, her heart would follow.
    "Now, be a good little woman and clean up while I take a look at your research on the computer," Wolf said when they finished eating.
    Her jaw dropped. Wolf certainly knew how to break a romantic fantasy. He had better be joking or he would be wearing the dishes. "Your mother should have named you Porky; you're such a chauvinist pig."
    "Didn't your mama ever tell you not to bite the hand that feeds you?" he asked.
    "No. My mama told me to marry a rich man and consolidate our net worth. That’s my mother view of sound romantic advice."
    Wolf exhaled deeply. "Then I'm safe. I haven't got anything you'd want."
    His words cut despite his light tone. Would she constantly need to defend herself to him?
    “How do you know what I want from you? You haven’t stopped judging me long enough to find out.”
    "I don’t judge you."
    She cut off his denial. "Yes you do. You look around here and you make judgments on my lifestyle. This was my father's house. It reflects his tastes and values, not mine."
     
     
    * * *
     
    Kelsey collected the dishes and left Wolf sitting at the table with his mouth hanging opened. Had he made blanket judgments about her values based on her status? Kelsey Winston was way out of his league and he resented her. Right now, he had something her money couldn't buy. She needed his protection. But once the case ended, she could go back to life as usual. They might inhabit the same city, but they moved on two different social planes.
    He’d already seen what happened when his parents tried to bridge the two worlds. They not only made themselves miserable, more often than not, he’d gotten caught in the crossfire. Until the day he died, his father had been in love with a woman who had hated everything about being a cop’s wife, from the salary he made to the hours he worked. In fact, she’d hated the life so much she’d walked out on her husband without once looking back. Wolf had followed in his father’s footsteps career wise. He didn’t have to repeat the mistakes of the old man’s life as well.
    Despite Kelsey’s claims that the money meant nothing, that she wanted to make her own way, her values had never been tested. The simple truth remained that she had the money to fall back on for any whim her heart desired. How the hell could anyone compete with unlimited wealth? More importantly, why did he have the idiotic notion to try?
     
     
     
    Chapter Six
     
    After a restless night of tossing and turning, Kelsey was in no mood for a visitor. Thanks to Wolf , her nerves were tightly coiled, her thoughts scattered and confused. Men! Who could figure them out? First she'd found one who'd only