Woman Of Innocence. Lindsay McKenna

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СКАЧАТЬ meet Jenny, your boss and teammate for this upcoming mission,” Morgan said with a genial smile.

      Matt halted in front of blond-haired Jenny. She could barely meet his gaze, she seemed so shy. What a tiny thing she was. He remembered her from the other day in Morgan’s office when he’d come to Perseus to receive his next assignment. Hell, she wasn’t a merc. Even now she was cowering before him and struggling to look confident. Her chin trembled, tearing at his heavily guarded heart.

      “Good to meet you again,” Matt rumbled, and he stuck out his hand. Jenny blushed at his reference to their earlier meeting.

      Morgan had warned him not to make waves or let Jenny know he really didn’t want this assignment with her. She was not a professional merc. She wasn’t even in the military.

      Jenny gathered her rapidly dissolving courage, lifted her chin and forced herself to stare up into those large, glittering gray eyes of Matt Davis. After all, he wouldn’t want a coward for a partner. His hand was so large! she thought as he enfolded it around her petite one. Nevertheless, she accepted his firm, yet careful grip. Cringing inwardly, she knew her own hands were cool and damp with nervousness. His flesh was hard and warm and dry. He wasn’t nervous at all.

      For a brief, flitting moment, Jenny saw an unknown emotion glint in his assessing eyes. What was it? Disdain? Did he want to curl his lip because she wasn’t really a merc? Not a military trained person, but a secretary fulfilling a romantic dream?

      Anxiously, she searched his face for some sign of his true feelings toward her and this mission. She saw nothing except that one flicker of emotion in his gray eyes, which were focused on her. As she shook his hand, the plate containing her cake slid off her lap.

      “Oh!” she cried. Leaping up, she instantly released his hand. In leaping, she misjudged the space and bumped into the table with her hip, tottering off balance. Strong, warm hands caught her by the shoulders, lifted her off her feet and set her down again.

      Gulping, Jenny couldn’t look up at Matt. He must be laughing at her. She was such a klutz! “Thank you,” she whispered, completely humiliated once more in his presence. As Matt released her, Jenny crouched down to begin the process of sweeping the cake and frosting off the tightly woven, wheat-colored carpet and putting it back on the plate. Her flesh tingled wildly where his roughened fingers had touched her. Heat swam through her, and she felt a bit dizzy after unexpected contact with him. Matt had lifted her up as if she were a feather.

      Laura came around the table and helped her pick up the rest of the errant crumbs. “Accidents happen, Jenny,” she whispered gently. “It’s okay. Let me help you.”

      “I’m so sorry,” Jenny breathed apologetically. “I’m so clumsy….”

      Chuckling, Laura said, “Don’t worry about it.”

      Matt walked around the two women and went over to the sideboard, where a pot of coffee was kept warm. He picked up one of the white mugs in preference to the flowery china cups. Giving Morgan a sideways glance, he saw his boss smile slightly. Matt knew that look and that smile. It was a nonverbal order for him to say nothing—and to be kind—and patient with Jenny.

      After pouring the coffee, Matt turned and stood with cup in hand and watched the two women clean up the mess on the carpet. Jenny was petite, like a fine-boned bird. He saw her hands tremble slightly as she got to her feet. Touching her flaming red cheek, she unwittingly deposited a splotch of white frosting on her face. Jenny reminded him of a rabbit—a creature without defenses, completely vulnerable. But then, Matt warned himself, no woman was defenseless. He’d learned that lesson the hard way.

      Jenny rushed out of the room and down the hall to the rest room, where she dampened some paper towels. Matt Davis was so tall, so strong and silent. She could feel him watching her every move. Oh, why had she wished for a mission? This was just awful. She’d embarrassed herself in front of everyone, when she desperately wanted them to think she was in command of her life and confident. Now she looked like the bumbling klutz she’d been all her life. Matt wouldn’t respect her for that. Not at all.

      Reentering the room, she saw that Laura had sat back down next to Morgan. She was smiling maternally toward her, and it made Jenny feel a tad better. But not much. Morgan gave her a look that said: relax. Matt was looking at her as if she was an alien that had stepped off another planet. She felt like a bug beneath his dark gray microscope gaze. What must he think of her? He had to be silently laughing at her.

      Getting down on her hands and knees, she scrubbed the frosting off the carpet. To her surprise, she saw a pair of thick, chino-clad thighs sink down very close to her—Matt, crouching beside her.

      “Here, you missed a spot.”

      His deep voice vibrated through her as Jenny rocked back on her heels to meet his gaze. Wet paper towels clutched in her hands, she looked up…up into warm gray eyes that made her feel suddenly weak and wonderful. When he used his callused thumb to brush away a smudge of frosting from her left cheek, she inhaled sharply, not expecting this kind of intimacy or care from him. A tender smile lurked at the corners of his mouth as he held up the offending frosting on his thumb.

      “Oh…dear…it’s all over me, too…” Great! She couldn’t even say anything intelligent, much less coherent. She sounded like a breathless, starstruck teenager who’d been touched by her Hollywood idol. Well, hadn’t she been? Hadn’t she had a crush for Matt Davis for the whole year she’d been here? Yes…but the three times he’d come to her desk for assignment details, he’d treated her coolly, without smiling. Certainly, he hadn’t recognized her as a flesh and blood person sitting behind that desk. And the other day she’d practically landed in his lap!

      Now, he seemed different. She saw the amusement, the warmth lingering in his eyes as he held his thumb up with the offending white frosting on it. Heat soared up her neck into her face.

      “That came off me?” How had it gotten here? Her mind whirled. She was blathering, something she did when she was truly stressed. She was making an utter fool of herself in front of her boss and Matt. Jenny wanted to disappear into thin air.

      It didn’t happened.

      “I admit you’re a beautiful birthday girl, but I don’t think you need this frosting.” Matt gave her a slight, one-cornered smile because he could see how mortified Jenny had become. She was as red as the worst sunburn he’d ever seen. Her blue eyes, luminous and huge, reflected fear, humiliation and embarrassment at his gesture. And where had his words come from? He wasn’t given to making compliments toward women. The sky blue of her eyes seemed to become dappled with gold flecks as his words registered with her. For the first time, Matt saw a tinge of hope mingle with the terror and humiliation in her eyes. It was just a simple compliment, no big deal. But he could see it affected her profoundly.

      Licking his thumb, he tasted the sweet frosting. Then he grinned a little to try and relieve her of her embarrassment. “See? All gone. Not bad tasting, either.” Getting to his feet, he held his hand down toward her. Jenny looked at it woodenly. She appeared frozen by his gallant gesture. When she lifted her chin and gazed up at him, he was once again struck by the childlike trust that emanated from her. Yet she was a twenty-five-year-old woman. And she’d always conducted herself with prim efficiency as Morgan’s assistant. Today he was seeing a completely new side to her.

      “I don’t bite.”

      Jenny grimaced. Her hand shot out and she gripped his callused fingers. With ease, he brought her to her feet. Instantly, she pulled her hand from his, as if burned. Gripping the wet, sticky paper СКАЧАТЬ