Bride On Loan. Leigh Michaels

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      THE pillows supporting Caleb’s knee slid, and the shaft of pain that shot up his leg made him wince and look hopefully at the clock. But there was another hour to wait before he could have the next dose of pain medication, so he swore under his breath, lay back as best he could, took a couple of deep breaths and tried to distract himself by studying the woman who stood beside the sofa.

      Under normal conditions, he decided, she could take a man’s mind off almost anything. Of course, these weren’t normal conditions. His knee was a constant reminder that she was not only pleasant to look at but damned dangerous to handle—and that was something he had no intention of forgetting.

      He’d noticed her as soon as he’d walked through the front door at Tanner Electronics yesterday, just as he noticed any extraordinarily pretty woman who happened across his field of vision. His optic nerves were hard-wired for that sort of observation, so in the first split second he’d automatically assessed the basics—she was tall and slim, with hair as sleek as black satin and green eyes set at an exotic tilt in a porcelain-fine heart-shaped face.

      Then she’d pasted him to the floor, and suddenly he hadn’t been in the mood to study her any further. He already had enough of a mental picture to let him identify her in a police lineup or to avoid her on the street, so what else could he possibly need to know?

      But that had been yesterday. Since then, he’d had an unpleasant evening in the emergency room, a long and almost-sleepless night and an almighty frustrating morning. Now here she was again—and it occurred to him that he might be able to put Cat Woman to good use.

      Though…it was mighty convenient of her to show up just now. Suspicion flickered through him. Was it possible she had some sort of agenda of her own?

      He surveyed her through narrowed eyes and decided that she looked far too ill at ease to be plotting anything. Relieved, he dismissed the idea and settled back, letting his gaze linger on her face.

      His initial assessment might have been lightning-fast, but it had been absolutely on target, he concluded without surprise. Where pretty women were concerned, he never missed.

      Today the satiny hair was pulled into a subdued knot at the nape of her neck, and instead of the slinky black cat costume she was wearing a soft tweed pantsuit in a color that made him think of the pine forests that lined the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Neither change did anything to diminish her attractiveness. They simply added an air of efficiency and capability.

      Which just went to show, Caleb thought, how very deceptive appearances could be.

      “Sit down,” he invited, and waved a hand at a nearby chair.

      She set the small shopping bag she carried on the floor near the couch, laid the sheaf of flowers on the coffee table and sank onto the edge of the black leather seat. To watch her, Caleb told himself, one would think she was the most graceful creature on earth.

      “I brought you a few magazines,” she said. “I hope they’ll help pass some time.” She seemed to be having trouble making her voice work right. “I understand your knee’s not broken, after all, just sprained.”

      “Technically, they called it a strain.” He saw the tiny quiver of relief go through her and added maliciously, “Of course, the doctors tell me a bad strain’s almost worse than a break. It’ll certainly take longer to heal completely, and it’s far more likely to be reinjured in the future if I’m not extremely cautious.”

      “Oh.” Her voice was very small.

      “Yes. I’m looking forward—if you want to put it that way—to as much as two weeks in this contraption.” He gestured at the immobilizer. “And even after that, I’ll still be on crutches for a while. It will likely be months before I’m back in top form.”

      She’d turned white, he noted. Encouraged, he pressed on. “That means I can’t easily go up and down stairs. I can go to work, but only if I install a recliner or a hospital bed in my office to keep my leg elevated. And of course, that’s assuming I can get there—I couldn’t drive a car even if I had one, and I certainly can’t ride my motorcycle.”

      “If you’re trying to make me feel bad, Mr. Tanner—”

      “Not at all,” he said, not even trying to sound candid. “I’m only telling you the circumstances of my life. The very much changed circumstances.”

      “I’ve already said I’m sorry.”

      He pretended not to hear. “You know,” he said sadly, “I was scheduled to go skydiving this weekend.”

      Her eyes, he noted with interest, looked like turbulent storm clouds when she was angry.

      She said, through almost clenched teeth, “Would you knock off the pity party?”

      He stared at her and did his best to look wounded. “If you think I don’t have a right to feel sorry for myself, Ms.—”

      “Oh, you’ve got a right. I just don’t think that’s what you’re doing at the moment. If you’re hoping to scare me into offering you some sort of settlement—”

      “Not a bad idea,” he said thoughtfully.

      “For the damage I’ve supposedly done to you—”

      “What do you mean, supposedly? This immobilizer isn’t exactly a figment of my imagination.”

      “There’s still the question of who’s really at fault, you know.”

      “But there’s no doubt at all about who’s been damaged.”

      “Nobody made you grab hold of that tank.”

      “What? You asked me to lend a hand!”

      “I didn’t suggest you pretend to be Hercules. At any rate, I should warn you that I don’t have much in the way of financial resources. So if you are hoping to collect from me, I’m afraid that you’re not going to have much luck.”

      Caleb shrugged. “Money I have plenty of. But there are other ways of settling scores, you know. The kind of damages I want to collect, you’ll have no trouble paying.”

      Her eyes turned to arctic ice. The effect was almost enough to make him shiver.

      “I see,” she said. “Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time a man has leaped to the conclusion that because I’m not exactly hard on the eyes, it would be worth his while to try to manipulate me into bed, but—”

      He grinned. “You think sex is what I have in mind? When the moon turns to liverwurst, maybe.”

      She colored a little and said in a small, tight voice, “I do apologize. How conceited of me to assume you might find me attractive in that way.”

      So the lady had a vulnerable spot, he thought with delight. “That wasn’t what you assumed,” he said easily. “You jumped to the conclusion I’m the kind of guy who wouldn’t hesitate to blackmail a woman for sex whether I found her attractive or not.”

      Her gaze dropped to her hands, folded in her lap.

      “Not a very СКАЧАТЬ