An Unforgettable Lady(4)

"I'm sorry if I merely offended you," he said. "I meant to piss you off."

"Now why would you want to do that?"

"Because you're in my way."

"How so?"

Time was passing, the ambassador was getting closer, and the countess's tenacity was beginning to get under his skin.

Just like her proximity was. Staring down at her, he felt an urgency that had nothing to do with timing.

And everything to do with hunger.

Wrong woman, wrong place, he thought. Get rid of her.

"Tell me, countess, do you always beg for attention like this?" His voice was cold, disdainful.

"I'm not begging you for anything," she said smoothly.

"You pick the only man who has no interest in you and follow him out of the party. You think that's standoffish?"

He was itching to be free of her but there was more. His reaction to her, the strength and inappropriateness of it, made him wary. She was like standing in front of a fire.

And he was a man who had no intention of being burned.

He was surprised when her lips lifted in a slight smile. Instead of getting the reaction he'd banked on, some kind of huffy disapproval, he was being eyed with tolerant censure.

And then she shocked him by nailing the truth.

"You," she said decisively, "are threatened by me."

Smith was stunned and recovered with a jolt of anger.

Who did this blue-blooded Barbie doll think she was? He was in the business of saving lives and she paraded around in fancy dresses at parties. He dealt with murderers and thieves and psychos for a living. He was threatened by her? Screw that.



"You've got a hell of an ego there, Barbie," he said laconically, "if you think you're scary."

"And you seem increasingly antagonistic. I wonder why?"

Smith jabbed his thumb in the direction of the door.

"You better go on back to your friends out there in la-la land. You'll be much safer with those Ken dolls than alone with me in the service corridor."

In response, she had the gall to smile widely at him.

Didn't she understand he was a dangerous man? An armed man, for Chrissakes.

And did she have to smell so good?

The countess shook her head ruefully. “You know, I really thought you were someone different."

Different? She got that right. "You bet your sweet ass I have nothing in common with you."

"Out there, I thought you were really in control, in charge of something."

"Honey, I'm in charge of the whole world."

"Really? So why are you so upset? We're just talking."

“We’re not doing anything. You're wasting my time."

She shrugged, an elegant lift of her shoulders. "You came back to me. No one is keeping you here."

As he towered over her, she raised her hands, the picture of innocence.

She turned back to the door and looked at him over her shoulder. "You also aren't very savvy."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?”

"Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Some simple rules on human conflict. If your opponent is angry, irritate him." She shot him a glance from under her lashes while putting her hand on the doorknob. That big, relaxed smile of hers goaded him. "The instigation technique works particularly well, even with tough guys like you. Maybe especially with tough guys like you."

That did it.

In a surge of movement that had nothing to do with his conscious mind, Smith reached out and snatched her against him. She'd driven him to the brink of his self-control.

And one inch past it.

The amusement left her face as she braced her hands against his chest. "What are you doing?" \

"Too late to go back now, Countess," he growled. "You pushed the wrong man, too far."

He took her lips in a punishing kiss, his arms contracting and holding her so tightly, he could feel every inch of her. The sensation of her body against his was a total shock. Her soft contours fit into his hard angles seamlessly and a wave of lust burned through him. She was like harnessing pure lightning, like nothing he'd ever felt before.

As he slid his tongue between her lips, a moan drifted up through her throat and into his mouth. He felt her grip his shoulders as she stopped trying to shove him away and began to kiss him back.

And then his earpiece went off. The ambassador's car had pulled up.