Brave Enough (Tall, Dark, and Dangerous #3)(3)

Damn.

I didn’t get as good a look at the rest of her. Once I spoke and she sat up, all I could really focus on was her face. Heart-shaped, pale skin, plump lips just the right shade of pink. And her eyes . . . God, those eyes could make a man beg. If that body, with its round breasts, flat stomach and smoothly shaved everything, wouldn’t do it, those eyes would. They’re a rich blue. Almost violet. They have an exotic shape to them that makes her look like she’s turned on all the time.

That, or she was turned on.

I grit my teeth.

Double damn!

Yeah, her arrival is definitely not going to make things any easier for me. Especially considering how she could play into my plans, plans I can’t let her find out about. But nothing worth having is ever easy.

And I’d be willing to bet having her would be worth a lot of trouble.

I saunter down the dappled path to the patio that surrounds the pool. Weatherly’s head snaps toward me the instant my boot hits the hard surface and alerts her to my presence. Her mouth drops open the slightest bit and, for a second, there’s nothing but steam between us. Hell, I’m surprised the pool water isn’t evaporating.

I don’t stop until I’m standing over her, my shadow shading her face. She pushes her sunglasses up into the smooth sheet of her straight, black hair and focuses those amazing eyes on me.

“I’m sorry that I interrupted your bath,” I say, pausing to inhale the decadent scent coming off her skin. “I’d have apologized at the time if I hadn’t been so . . . distracted.”

Her lips quirk, but just at the corners. “Distracted?”

“A bit, yes.”

“Hmmm, what on earth had you distracted?”

She likes to play. God, this is going to be fun!

“The local . . . scenery changed today. It became much more . . . dazzling. Took my breath away, in fact. Made it hard for me to think. My manners went right out the window.”

“That’s understandable. I was a little, um, preoccupied myself.”

“I thought you might’ve been. You looked deep in . . . thought.”

Her lips spread all the way into a full-on smile this time, making her even more striking. The only sign of embarrassment is the telltale pink stains that appear on her cheeks.

“I was definitely deep. In thought.”

The innuendo is as thick as the humid air seems to be. “Care to share what you were . . . wrestling with?”

“No, not yet.”

“Not yet?” I ask. She shakes her head, mouth still curved. “Well, whenever you’re ready to talk, I’d love to hear allll about it.”

“I might take you up on that.”

I nod. “Will you be eating in tonight?”

“I will, yes.”

“Is there something particular you’d like? I can let Mom know.”

“Anything that goes well with a Chiara red. I’m in the mood for red.”

“I see that,” I say, nodding to her red strappy top. “Anything else you’re in the mood for that I should know about?”

She shrugs her shoulders, drawing my eye to the crease of her cleavage. “A surprise. Surprise me.”

“Oh, I can definitely surprise you,” I reply with an enthusiastic grin.

“Will you be joining me tonight, then? You and your mother, I mean?”

“Isn’t it frowned upon to mingle with the help?”

“Nobody is here to care, is there?”

“Not a damn soul,” I say. “Seven?”

She nods and lets her head drop back. The way she’s staring up at me with that sleepy, sexy look on her face . . . the way her body language seems to be begging me to touch, to taste, to take . . . Holy God!

I nod and turn to walk away, only because if I stay any longer, I won’t be able to resist.





THREE


Weatherly

I got ready too early. I’m far too anxious. The only good thing I can say about that is that I haven’t thought about Dad and Michael even once. And that’s a miracle!

I head for the kitchen, thinking I should at least go down and speak to Stella. I downplay the fact that I secretly plan to grill her about her son until he arrives. I find her stirring a pan of red sauce that smells like heaven.

“Hi, Stella,” I greet loud enough for her to hear me over the overhead fan that’s sucking most of the fumes from the room.

She turns a somewhat haggard yet still beautiful face in my direction. “Weatherly, it’s been too long! Look at you, all grown up.”

I walk over and bend to kiss her pale cheek. She’s a tiny woman, probably not more than five feet or so. “It has been too long. How are you?”

Her hair is still mostly black and wound on her crown just like I remember, but her smile seems weaker somehow. Tired maybe. Of course, I guess it could be just that she’s aged. It’s been years since I’ve seen her.

“I’m fine, my dear. How have you been?”

I pause then shrug. “Okay.” No need to burden this poor woman with all my issues. The fact that I even considered it for a few seconds is probably an excellent indication of my level of distress. Or my level of aloneness in all this. The people in my circles aren’t the type of friends that I share with. At least not anything that matters.