Free Bad to the Bone by Debra Dixon Page A

his knuckles rubbing against her midriff.
    When Sully finished, he spread her shirt open in two quick sweeps of his hand. She imagined him looking down for the first time. Envisioned the expression on his face as he saw the derringer stashed in her cleavage.
    The idea that tortured her most was her absolute certainty that those incredible blue eyes took their sweet time as they roamed over her bra-covered breasts. Suddenly Jessica felt her nipples harden as the air-conditioning conspired against her to create a chill in the office. At least that’s what she told herself. The other explanation was unthinkable.
    “Well, well … what have we got here?” he mused finally. “A cross-your-heart-and-hope-to-die bra?”
    Sully’s joke fell on deaf ears. He didn’t expect a snappy answer. Didn’t really want one, but he needed the time to think. Truth be told, his mouth had gone dry the moment he dropped his gaze to her breasts. Jessie’s bra was all but transparent. Her nipples were clearly defined and … perky. Sully swallowed. Ah damn, were they ever perky and begging for attention he itched to provide.
    But there was the little problem of the gun. And the lies. And Phil Munro.
    The fog of lust that had clouded his judgment andblunted his instincts cleared as he stared at the small silver derringer nestled between her breasts. Some sort of elastic or Velcro sling obviously held the barrel and trigger guard in place. Only the edge of the grip peeked above the center of her bra.
    Her chest wasn’t exactly heaving, but her breathing was spectacularly erratic. Each breath rose and fell in an odd cadence that poorly imitated controlled breathing. Well, he allowed truthfully, it indicated her
attempt
to take long deep, smooth breaths of air. But all that careful control only served to amplify a chest that needed no amplification.
    Sully decided a moment of silence was in order.
    The quiet inspection began to grate on Jessica’s nerves. When Sully didn’t get it over with, she forced her eyes down and snapped, “What’s the matter? You’ve never seen a gun before?”
    “Lady,” he said as he redirected his eyes to the derringer, “that’s not a gun. That’s a peashooter.”
    “Yeah, well, it shoots hollow point peas.”
    Sully raised an eyebrow but not his eyes. “I am impressed … but not by the toy gun.”
    Horrified, Jessica felt the heat of a blush rise to her face and prayed it hadn’t started at her chest. But she knew it had. To make matters worse, she was beginning to lose the ability to distance herself. He had a way of dragging her back into the moment, back to the unexpected chemistry that existed between them.
    Sully could affect her with a simple sentence, and she didn’t like it. Somehow that felt more like a violation than the search, than being exposed. But she’d be damned if she let him know he could get to her. She’d spent her life making sure no one got close enough to slip inside her defenses. Wishing for the moon wasdangerous. Weakness was vulnerability. She couldn’t afford either of those.
    She’d made a mistake with Sully, and she was about to correct it.
    Forcing herself to remain pliant in his grasp, she let coldness seep into her words and into her eyes. “How delightful, but impressing you is not a life’s ambition for me. So why don’t you take the gun and let me go? While you’re busy drooling and being impressed, I could catch my death of cold.”
    “Darlin’, looking like that you could catch the Dallas Cowboys.” He smiled and drew the derringer from between her breasts without letting her arms go. When he slipped it in his back pocket, he added, “I think you look healthy enough to fight off a chill or two while I check for other weapons.”
    She bit her tongue, refusing to rise to the bait. This was a game with him. He patted her down with his free hand. He didn’t actually pat; he stroked, slow as molasses. Jessica trembled with the effort to control her