LITMIR.BIZ

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you see yourself as her … protector.”

      “That’s one way to put it. Sure.”

      “Like a big brother,” Stormy said.

      “More like an uncle. I’m too old to be her brother.”

      Stormy put a hand on his shoulder. “Lou, she doesn’t want you to be her uncle. You do realize that, don’t you?”

      He frowned at her. “Oh, come on. You’re not telling me you take all her teasing and flirting seriously, are you?”

      “Don’t you?”

      “Not on your life. She’s half my age.”

      “Twenty-six is not half of forty-four.”

      “Close enough.”

      “That’s bullshit. What’s the real issue here, Lou?”

      He met her eyes, then had to avert his because she was probing a little too deeply. “This is getting kind of personal, Stormy. If you don’t mind …”

      “Nope. Don’t mind a bit. I’m going up to bed, but I’m setting my alarm. I want us to get an early start.” She picked up his bag and swung it into his chest. “And just in case you didn’t notice, Lou, there’s room in this office for another desk. Hell, that spot over there almost looks bare without one. Don’t you think?”

      He looked where she was looking, at a large, vacant section of the room. “You’ll find something to put there.”

      “Or someone. ‘Night, Lou.”

      “Good night.”

      She left. Lou didn’t waste a hell of a lot of time wondering where she got her crazy ideas. Instead, he wandered through the vast house, crossing the dramatic formal dining room, heading all the way to the kitchen in the rear of the mansion. Maxie was sitting on a stool at the pink marble island, scarfing down a slice of cold pizza. For a second he marveled that anyone could look as good as she did while chewing. And then he stared a little longer, mentally contrasting her with her wisp of a sister. Where Morgan was whisper-thin, Max was curvy. He didn’t often allow himself to think about her breasts, but they were nice ones. Full, rounded, bouncy. Her waist was little, and the curve of her hips just right. She had a round backside that filled out a pair of jeans in the nicest possible way. Her skin was pink, and her hair thick and riotously curly.

      Her attitude matched her looks. She was feisty, impulsive, fun-loving, restless.

      Stormy was right. Two women couldn’t be more different.

      She turned and caught him looking, swallowed her latest mouthful and sent him a smile.

      “I’m going to get some sleep,” he said. “I’ll check the locks before I go up, make sure the place is all buttoned up. Thought I’d say good night.”

      She eyed the bag in his hand. “So you meant what you said to Jason on the phone? You’re sticking with us for this one?”

      “Looks like.”

      “I’m so glad.” She hooked her foot around the stool next to her own and pulled it out. “Sit. You want a piece?”

      “No thanks, I’ve had enough pizza.”

      “Who said I was talking about pizza?” She sent him her trademark smile, full of mischief and danger.

      He sighed, nodded. “Fine. I’ll sit. I need to talk to you, anyway.”

      “‘Bout what?” she asked.

      He sighed as he lowered himself onto the stool. “The truth is, kid, I want to go with you to Endover. I like working with you, and I’m scared shitless to think what kind of trouble you might get yourself into without me.”

      She rolled her eyes. “Your faith in me is overwhelming.”

      He lowered his head, searching for the right words. “The thing is, while I like working with you and I want to watch out for you, I don’t like some of the things you do.”

      She lifted her eyebrows. “You don’t?”

      “No. Now, don’t go getting all hurt and wounded on me, hon, but—”

      “Ooooh,” she said, drawing the sound out into a sexy purr. “I just love when you call me ‘hon.’” As she said it, she leaned closer, so her breath warmed his neck.

      Lou shot to his feet, slammed his palms on the marble. “Goddammit, Max, that’s exactly the kind of thing I’m talking about.”

      She jumped and stared at him, wide-eyed.

      “Look, this isn’t easy for me. It’s goddamn embarrassing, as a matter of fact, but I don’t know how to do this except to just come right out with it. I’m not a gelding, Maxie. I’m not a monk. When you play those games with me, I react, okay? My body—reacts. I’m a healthy, red-blooded man. I’m not too old to feel …” He let his words trail off, unable to finish the sentence.

      “Lou?”

      “I need you to stop, Max.”

      She blinked at him.

      He was sure he’d just fallen off whatever pedestal she’d placed him on. God, to confess to having sexual thoughts about her—sexual desire for her—it was mortifying. He wouldn’t blame her if she threw him out of here once she had time to digest his words, to understand what they implied. “I’m going to bed,” he told her. “I just … had to get that said.” He turned and walked away. “If you still want me to come with you in the morning, I will.”

      “Lou?”

      He stopped, but he didn’t turn to face her.

      “You’ve got it all wrong, you know.”

      “No, I don’t. Good night, Max.”

      Maxie paced her bedroom most of the night. Hell, she’d been nuts about Lou since her first year of college, when she’d taken a self-defense class he’d taught. But she’d kept her flirting minimal back then. Since he’d come back into her life, she’d turned it up several notches.

      But she hadn’t realized until now how her efforts were being received.

      There was a tap on her door. She hurried to yank it open, half expecting to find Lou there, ready to admit defeat and sweep her into his arms for a passionate kiss.

      Instead Stormy was standing on the other side, framed by an elaborately tooled, walnut-stained casing.

      She took one long look at Max’s face and said, “Lou talked to you, didn’t he?”

      “How did you know?”

      “Told me he was going to. Then I heard you pacing. Slamming doors or drawers or whatever. Figured I’d better come in before you broke something.” She smiled, a teasing sort of almost-grin. “So what did he say?”

      Max pursed her lips. “He claims to think I’ve just been teasing him, that I see him as harmless. A gelding. He actually used that word.”

      Stormy sighed, crossing the room and hopping onto the foot of the giant four-poster bed, where she folded her legs underneath her and sank into the softness of high-piled mattresses and bedding. “So, did you set him straight?”

      “I was just so stunned. I mean, he caught me off guard. I didn’t know what to say. Hell, I still don’t.” Max padded across the thick carpet to stand at the French doors, where she stared outside at the stars, twinkling from a velvet canopy of midnight-blue sky.

      “Well, clearly you have to tell him you’ve never thought of him as a gelding. I mean, if he really believes that, it can’t be good for his ego.”

      Max gnawed her lip for several seconds. “I know what I ought to do. I ought to put on that black teddy and march right into his bedroom and show him just

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