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“Oh, I know plenty about dia the tip of her nose with his finger as he sauntered inside without invitation, forcing her to take a step back “I’ve discovered they’re the gift of choice for women in your class”
She yanked her irlfriends Probably at someplace like the exclusive Van Cleef & Arpels, da-class South Boston, but, thanks to the multimillion-dollar security business he’d started, his bank account ell into eight figures these days He was quite the self-made tycoon
She slammed the door shut behind him and locked it “Make yourself at ho in her dark house with no coly evoked in her “I’ood ti ht”
“What ?” He peeled off his jacket and tossed it onto a nearby chair
She rubbed her chin, pretending to conte room and watched him flick on a lamp “Oh, I don’t know…could it be the fact that you’ve been sitting in a car across the street with the engine turned off for the last half-hour?”
She watched as he glanced around the living roo ones of her with fa Sao She felt vulnerable and exposed, her life on display in sosnapshots
She’dher condo last year Her best friend and sister-in-law, Liz, as an interior designer, had helped her decorate in an elegant style that fit ith the house’s old and patrician history
He turned back to her “Nice digs” He bent down and gazed at a picture of her in a bikini on a beach in the Caribbean, laughing back into the cales in her hands toward the water “You filled out nicely, princess, once you finally got through puberty”
She gritted her teeth Despite the fact that Connor Rafferty had practically beco with her oldest brother Quentin at Harvard, she’d never felt coht of him as a brother Impatiently, she asked, “Why are you here? Andoutside ht?”
He straightened and shoved his hands in his pockets, his jaw hardening “Did I scare you? Did you think I was that piece of scu you those nasty little love notes?”
“No!” She realized a second too late that the vehement denial sounded exactly like the bald-faced lie it was, but his e She supposed one of her brothers—probably Quentin—had
He quirked a brow, his tension easing a fraction “What? Never thought you’d be glad to see me instead?” His lips twisted in wry amusement
“Get real” In fact, she had been relieved it was hier had stepped in “And you’re evading the question What are you doing here?”
He walked over and leaned against the back of the chintz-covered couch, his legs stretched out in front of hi my job”
“Just—” She stopped as an unwelcoht intruded and her eyes narrowed
He cocked his head “You were always a quick study, petunia Though, I have to confess, it is fascinating to watch those wheels turn in that devious little head of yours I’ve always said that if you’d been born a redhead, the package would have been perfect Red hair to match that red-hot temper of yours”
“Get out”
She watched his eyes narrow and his lips set in a firuy who’s here to protect you?”
She strode into the rooot to the fireplace She couldn’t believe this was happening “I don’t knohichher arms “—and, frankly, I don’t care You may own the best security firot it?”
Pushing away fro as easy to move as a boulder up a mountain “Based on what I’ve heard, I’d say I’m definitely needed around here As to whether I’ed “—I’ve been asked to do a job and it’s going to get done”
Want Her mind zeroed in on that one word, then quickly backed away Whatever she felt for Connor, that certainly wasn’t an apt description
True, with hazel eyes fra, thick lashes and sandy hair cut conservatively short, he was model material except for the nose that had been broken a couple of ti his chin But in her mind that was all overshadowed by the fact that he was condescending and annoying Not to mention an untrustworthy snitch
She hadn’t seen hi a few h their paths hadn’t crossed much lately, he was as familiar to her as a member of her family He, on the other hand, hadn’t really had faotten to Harvard Instead, he’d spent most school holidays with the Whittakers
She placed her hands on her hips “There’s no way you can do this job if I’ you that you can’t”