She's Got the Look. Leslie Kelly

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      So, there was the introduction. What happened next depended on how single he was and whether Melody decided her list was more than just a joke, like Rosemary had.

      Of course, she didn’t even know if he’d want to have wild, passionate, completely unexpected sex with her. She didn’t know if she’d want to.

      Liar.

      “So, what story did Rosemary use to get you here?” His voice was low, gravelly almost, but in a few drawn-out syllables there was an unmistakable Southern softness. A bit of twang that she liked a lot. And, she had to acknowledge, she didn’t like only the soft lilt in his voice, she also liked the way his mouth moved with every word he spoke. “I figure she made up some excuse for you to come down here and meet with a complete stranger.”

      Before Melody could reply, the waitress appeared beside their table with a mug and a steaming pot of coffee. She quickly served the newcomer, giving him a warm look. Mel waved her fingers toward her own nearly empty, rapidly cooling cup, but was totally ignored by the woman.

      For some reason, the smile on Nick Walker’s face after the waitress breezed away without a single glance at Melody really annoyed her. Cocky. He was cocky. She hadn’t seen that in his picture, though she shouldn’t be surprised. A man as handsome and as obviously brave would have a lot to be cocky about, right?

      But she didn’t like it…she’d never liked arrogant men. Which was good. Because she needed to find things she didn’t like about this man, and fast. She could start by amending the rules of the list, by adding a cocky out-clause. Otherwise, she could end up making a fool of herself by oh, say, asking him if he wanted to retreat to the nearest hotel.

      He stirred his coffee. “Judging by the look in your eye, I’d say Rosemary told you who I really am.”

      Melody closed her eyes and counted to three, clenching her fingers together in her lap. The man knew she knew he was the Time magazine hero. Meaning Rosemary had to have told him. But please, oh, please, God, she couldn’t have told him about the list. She wouldn’t have, right? Rosemary was her best friend. She wouldn’t have.

      If she had, Mel was going to die. Collapse right across the table and land face-first in his nice, hot, steaming cup of coffee and die.

      “I guess we didn’t get off to the best start, huh?”

      “I’ve always thought it was the finish that mattered,” she mumbled before she thought better of it.

      “Don’t tell me you’re leaving already.” With a boyish smile that suited the way a thick, dark lock of his hair fell over his brow, he added, “Can I confess I’m surprised you came anyway, despite my, uh, disreputable appearance the first time around?”

      “Disreputable?” Shock made her eyes widen. “No, you weren’t disreputable looking at all.” Heroic, admirable, determined and courageous were more like it. How could he possibly think a little dirt and some blood would make him look disreputable when he’d been holding three children whose lives he’d just saved?

      “Not at all,” she repeated, not wanting him to think he had reason to be embarrassed. Lord, there went the whole cocky out-clause, because the man obviously had no idea how amazing that picture had really been. Or how it had affected her.

      “You do know who I am, right?”

      She swallowed hard. “Yes. Sure. I mean…who doesn’t?”

      His brow shot up in surprise and his head tilted to one side. “Really? You think I’m that easily recognizable?”

      The man had been the hunk of the known universe six years ago on the cover of one of the most widely circulated magazines in the world. Of course he was recognizable! “Hate to break it to you, but yes, you are.”

      Her answer didn’t seem to make him feel any better. He rubbed a hand across his smooth jaw and muttered, “I must be losing my touch.”

      Goodness, he really was feeling bad about that. As if he wasn’t happy being recognized as a national hero.

      And suddenly, she thought she understood. Hadn’t she hated being recognized for one photograph that didn’t represent the real person she was inside? The journalist who’d taken this man’s picture and circulated it around the world had caught only one moment, one selfless act. There was a lot more man here to be seen. A lot more man.

      Like there was a lot more woman to Melody than was revealed in that horrid peacock-feather ensemble. Not physically, since almost all of her body had been revealed. But emotionally.

      “I think I understand,” she said, wanting to comfort him, to let him know he really wasn’t alone in what he was feeling. “We all project an image for the world to see. It can be a little disconcerting when someone sees the person behind the mask.”

      “Or the person beneath the dirty clothes,” he said with a rueful laugh. “For the record, I do bathe regularly.”

      Huh? He was embarrassed because he hadn’t been able to bathe in the middle of a war-ravaged battlefield? Good Lord, her first instincts had been way off base. Far from being cocky, this man had hardly any self-confidence at all!

      “You really don’t have to make any excuses to me, Nick.” Almost unable to help it, she reached across the table and touched the back of his hand. She’d meant to be consoling, comforting. That would have seemed strange if she were reaching out to the big, strong, larger-than-life man who’d been on the cover of the magazine. But she was reaching out to the nice, low-confidence guy she’d been speaking with.

      Somehow, though, she realized that the big, sexy stranger was the one she was touching the moment their hands connected. Because as soon as her fingers brushed against his skin, something snapped and sparked a reaction, surprising her. She suddenly got all hot and flustered, though the room was cool enough.

      He was so warm, that was it. The electric warmth of his skin had just taken her by surprise. But his next move nearly made her come right out of her seat. He turned his hand a bit, so he could scrape the tip of one finger on the fleshy pad of her palm, and the touch was so unexpected, so…personal, somehow, that she could barely remember to breathe.

      She finally pulled her hand away, reaching for her water glass in a stall for time. After swallowing, she admitted, “You should never make excuses for doing something heroic. Something wonderful. You stepped in and helped when others wouldn’t.”

      Looking at him, she noticed the confused expression on his face. As if he couldn’t quite figure her out. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, “It wasn’t that big a deal.”

      “Yes it was a big deal.” Hadn’t the whole world thought so?

      “I mean, it wasn’t like it was that heavy a load.”

      Three small children might not have weighed a lot in terms of pounds, but the responsibility for them must have been an enormous weight. “I don’t agree with you there.”

      He sipped his coffee. “I’ve lifted more at the gym.”

      “Well, of course you have,” she said, “but nothing that was so important. So critical.”

      He frowned and his jaw tightened. Suddenly he looked more the dangerous СКАЧАТЬ