The Heart Won't Lie. Vicki Thompson Lewis

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СКАЧАТЬ her. He’d planned on searching the internet to see what he could turn up, but asking her outright was really a more honest way to approach it. His questions might be considered intrusive, but if that would keep him from seducing his host’s housekeeper, he felt justified.

      She stepped into the bathroom and flipped on the wall switch. “Let’s see what I can find.” Walking over to the sink set into a carved wooden vanity, she began pulling open drawers.

      He leaned in the doorway. “It’s none of my business, but wondering why you left Baltimore to come out here and be a housekeeper is driving me crazy.”

      “It is?” She glanced up and understanding passed between them without either of them saying a word. His curiosity wasn’t the only thing driving him crazy, and they both knew it. “The answer’s pretty simple,” she said. “I ran away from a scandal.”

      “That’s not a simple answer.” And all it did was ratchet his curiosity up a notch.

      She gave him a wry smile. “No, I guess not.” Folding her arms, she propped one hip against the vanity. “I was at a New Year’s Eve party at a friend’s penthouse and the champagne was flowing. This cute guy and I were making out in a darkened corner when his fiancée showed up. I didn’t know he was engaged.”

      “That was the scandal?” He had a hard time imagining that would create enough gossip to make her leave town.

      “No. She threw a drink in my face, so I threw one in hers. She came at me, claws out, wailing like a banshee. My temper got the best of me, and…well, there was smashed crystal, imported caviar ground into the antique rug, a crack in a priceless statue…in other words, an unholy mess.”

      Michael tried not to grin, but she’d conjured up quite a picture. He’d only known her a short while, but he sensed the fire in her. She wouldn’t take kindly to being falsely accused. “And here I was impressed that you didn’t faint over a mouse.”

      She shrugged. “What can I say? I’m Irish.”

      He’d thought learning her secrets would make her less intriguing. Instead, he was more fascinated than ever. “Did you win?”

      Triumph shone briefly in her green eyes. Then she sighed. “I did. But in the end, I lost, because I became notorious as the New Year’s Eve Brawler. I couldn’t do my job without the subject coming up. That fight began to define who I was.”

      “What’s your profession?”

      “PR.”

      It figured that she’d be trained in the area that was currently the scourge of his existence.

      She pushed away from the vanity. “There you have it, the reason I came out here.” Moving to the other side of the vanity, she opened the top drawer.

      “But why be a housekeeper? Why not get another PR job?”

      “I just wanted to hide out for a while, do something completely different. The cliché for it is finding yourself. I hadn’t been all that happy with my life in Baltimore, anyway, so this was a chance to explore other options.”

      “You came out here without knowing a soul?”

      “Yep. That was exciting, in a way. I interviewed for the job here on a whim. I had no experience, but luckily Sarah and Jack took pity on me.” She rummaged in the drawer. “There’s a box wedged in the back of this drawer. It could be the liniment.”

      “For the record, Sarah’s thrilled with the job you’re doing.”

      “She said that?” Keri reached deep into the drawer and tugged at the box. It was more square than rectangular, which didn’t make sense for a tube of ointment, but she might as well haul it out, anyway.

      “She did. She’s very happy with your work, but she also expects you to leave.”

      “Which I will, but I’ll give them plenty of time to hire someone else before the boys descend on them next summer.” She yanked at the box. “Got it!” Holding it aloft, she looked at the label.

      Michael looked, too, and began to laugh. “That’s not liniment.”

      Without meeting his eyes, she tossed the box back in the drawer. “Nope, not liniment.” Her cheeks had turned a becoming shade of rose.

      Michael longed to walk over there and kiss her blushing cheeks, her full mouth and her delicate throat. Hell, he’d like to work his way through every tempting spot on her sweet body. Each piece of the puzzle that was Keri Fitzpatrick only made him want to find more so he could complete the picture.

      “I’ll keep looking.” She opened the door under the sink and crouched down to peer inside.

      “That’s okay.” God, he was a noble SOB. “I may not even need any. We should probably just forget about it and go to bed.”

      She gave him a startled glance. “What?”

      Oh, Keri. Lust slammed into him. He pushed it back. “Separately.”

      “Oh.” She blushed again. “Right.”

      “See you in the morning.” He walked out of the bathroom before he changed his mind and closed the short gap between them. Yes, he was nobler than he ever thought he could be.

      But once he was inside his room with the door closed, he reflected on what had been in that drawer. Fate had not only thrown the luscious Keri into his path, it had provided him with condoms.

      KERI TURNED OFF the bathroom light and retreated to her room. Once there, she flopped back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling until her head stopped buzzing and her heartbeat returned to normal. She’d given herself away. How embarrassing was that?

      A woman who wasn’t thinking about sex would never have reacted the way she had when Michael had suggested they go to bed. People said that kind of thing all the time—we should go to bed—and they only meant it was time to turn in. That’s all Michael had been saying, for God’s sake. She was the one who’d made it into something else.

      Sure, there was a sexual attraction between them. For the benefit of all concerned, they would ignore that attraction. No good would come of indulging themselves.

      Not true, a devilish voice taunted her. Lots of good would come. And you would, too, most likely.

      Her groan was spiced with laughter. She’d behaved like a nun ever since taking the job at the Last Chance. A woman living in her employer’s house couldn’t exactly invite guys up to her room. To be honest, she hadn’t met anyone she’d wanted to invite in. Until now.

      The whole setup was ridiculous. If she’d met Michael while on some business trip to New York and they’d hit it off this well, she would have considered a sexual relationship. Maybe not tonight, because that was a bit fast. Tomorrow night wouldn’t have been out of the question.

      But they weren’t in New York. They were across the hall from each other in the Chance family’s ranch house, where she was an employee and Michael was a guest. No matter which way she sliced it, that put him off-limits.

      So she should be patient. He would leave at the end СКАЧАТЬ