Cherished (Masters and Mercenaries #7.5)(9)

“So you don’t do married guys?”

She didn’t like the hardness in his voice, but she couldn’t quite figure out how to respond beyond the obvious. “No. I guess that would be a hard limit. I don’t date anyone attached to other people. I don’t date a lot at all.”

He wiped his hands off on a towel and moved around the bar. “I don’t either. Between work and moving, I haven’t had a chance and really, I’m not looking for anything serious.”

Well, at least he was honest. The one guy she was seriously interested in wasn’t serious at all. Story of her life. She nodded. “Understood.”

She put the wine glass down.

“Hey, I’m trying to be honest here, so why do I feel like I just became the bad guy?”

She shook her head. “Not at all.” It wasn’t like he’d offered himself to her. “I think it’s good to be upfront and open. You know I really should get to work. I didn’t get my word count in today.”

She was going to make a fool of herself if she stayed much longer. She liked him. She liked how he talked about his sisters. She liked that he could make a salad and kept making sure she had what she needed. It was a recipe for disaster.

“I thought you were staying for dinner.” He moved in, taking up all the space. This close, she could see that he had a five-o’clock shadow across his perfect jaw. She was a sucker for a square jaw. Damn it. Even his ears were hot. She kind of wanted to lick them to see if he was ticklish there.

“I think that’s a bad idea.”

“Because I’m not looking for anything serious?” Will asked. “Does everything have to be serious? Do you go into every relationship looking to get married?”

“No. I don’t think about getting married much.” Her parents’ marriage was so bad she often couldn’t stomach the idea. “But I’m getting too old to do the one-night stand thing.”

He moved in closer and she nearly forgot to breathe. He smelled so good. Clean and masculine. Sandalwood. He’d likely washed with it. All over. A vision of him soaping that body made her mouth water. “I didn’t say anything about one-night stands. I said maybe you shouldn’t take every relationship so seriously. Bridget, I want to spend time with you.”

And her nipples were hard. Yeah, they wanted to spend time with him, but her brain was still in charge. “My sister’s getting married in Hawaii.”

Oh, her brain was a traitor, too.

He loomed over her, his body inches away. His lips curled up in the sexiest grin. “Really? That sounds like fun. When is that happening?”

He was going to kiss her. His lips were going to touch hers and she had the sudden and deep fear that she wouldn’t be the same afterward. Still, she couldn’t quite seem to move, couldn’t get the will worked up to step back. She only managed to run her tongue across her lips to make sure they weren’t bone dry. “Soon. Next week.”

He sighed, his hands finding her shoulders. “Oh, I guess you’re going to be out of town then. I was hoping to see you while I was on vacation next week.”

She was mesmerized by his eyes. This close, she could see how green they were. His hands moved to her neck. “You could come with me. I need a date.”

Now she was kind of happy everyone else had turned her down. It seemed right to ask him, good to be here with him.

There was the sound of a phone ringing.

He shook his head as his hands sank into her hair. The way he was taking his time did something for her. The men she’d been with before had all just gone for it and would likely have already been pawing her boobs by now, but Will was moving with languid seduction. It was like a dance. “You need a date?”

The only thing pulling her out of the sensual haze was that stupid phone. Who had a landline these days? “I do. Shouldn’t you get that?”

His nose touched hers as his fingers ran along her scalp, sending pleasurable shivers through her body. “Don’t worry about it. The hospital requires I keep a house phone. And a pager. And a cell. If it’s really important, they’ll page me. This is more fun than answering the phone, don’t you think? Bridget, you know I won’t be able to keep my hands off you if we go to Hawaii together.”

She didn’t want him to. She was fairly certain she was going to fall into bed with him in the next ten minutes. Maybe he was right. Maybe she took everything too seriously and she should have some fun for once in her life. Maybe she could handle it. “Will?”

His mouth hovered right over hers, and there was no way to mistake the satisfaction coming off him. He wanted her. God, he really wanted her. “Yes, Bridget?”

“Do you want to come to Hawaii with me? We could have fun.” She would understand that it was temporary. Or maybe it was a way to get to know each other. Maybe to find out if they were compatible.

“Hey, Will. It’s Mitch. I couldn’t get you on your cell. I wanted to let you know that I talked to Jace and he has agreed to be conveniently unable to travel for the next couple of weeks. That’s the last of them and it should be smooth sailing for you. If Bratty Bridget wants a date, she’s going to have to come to you. According to the report my investigator did on her, there’s no one else she can go to unless she wants to call her loser ex-boyfriend.”

He reached over and picked up the phone and slammed the receiver back down.