04 Naked Games by Anne Rainey Read Free Book Online Page A

I developed the tapping thing. Like a nervous tick, I suppose.”
    Dean could easily picture Catherine as a young girl. Cute red pigtails and light brown freckles dotting her nose and cheeks. It pissed him off when he imagined her being reprimanded by some incompetent teacher. “Sounds like your teacher had no business being around kids.”
    “Mama said pretty much the same thing at the time.” She propped her head on her fist and said, “I suppose for the most part Mrs. Clover was a decent-enough teacher, but she always made me so nervous.”
    “Are you nervous with me, Catherine?”
    “No.” She hesitated a moment before saying, “Yes.”
    He didn’t want that. He wanted her at ease. “You don’t need to be nervous around me, sweetheart.”
    She snorted. “You don’t like me very much. You’ve admitted as much. That tends to make a person nervous.”
    He shook his head. “No, I never said I didn’t like you. I said I don’t trust you. There’s a difference.”
    She rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair. “That doesn’t make me feel loads better.”
    “I’m sorry.” Dean wanted to reassure her, to tell her something that would put her mind to rest, but it’d be a lie.
    She pointed to him. “Time,” she said. “That’s what you need. Time to see that I’m not the devil you think I am.”
    She captivated him. Sitting across his table so determined to prove him wrong. He hoped she did, because then he’d be able to do more than look at her delectable siren’s body. The little green-eyed beauty had no idea how tempted he was in that moment. His bed wasn’t all that far away. Within seconds he could have her in it. But nothing had changed since the moment he’d met her. She was still a stranger attempting to insinuate herself into his family, and he still didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.
    Dean decided it was time to change the subject. “So, what do you and Gracie have planned while you’re in town?”
    She turned her head and looked at the time on the stove before answering. “We’re meeting later today to do some shopping. She wants to show me around the area a bit.”
    “That sounds like fun.”
    “It’ll be my first time to shop with my sister.” Her voice shook a little. “It’s a little surreal still.”
    “I can imagine.” He paused before adding, “And if I know Gracie I bet she has a whole list of things in store for the two of you. She’ll run you ragged if you aren’t careful.”
    She laughed, and Dean’s cock stiffened. God, she had a cute laugh. “Yeah, she’s already mentioned taking me to some nightclub tonight.”
    Every muscle in Dean’s body went rigid. “A nightclub?”
    She nodded. “The Pit, she called it. Gracie says it just opened recently.” She cocked a brow at him. “Have you heard of it?”
    For some reason the thought of Catherine at a nightclub bothered him. She’d be surrounded by men, and they’d all want to get in her pants. To hell with that. “Yeah, it’s a nice place, but are you sure that’s such a good idea?” he asked. “Two women alone and all?”
    “Oh, Wade is going with us. I think he likes to make sure Gracie’s safe. Gracie says he’s not quite over the stalker thing yet.” She swiped a stray crumb off her sweater. “I can’t blame him really. I wouldn’t be either.”
    Dean recalled the ugly incident several months ago. “They both landed in the hospital. It’s not something any of us will soon forget.”
    All the color left her face. “Oh, God. Gracie told me about some of it, but not that part. I suspect she glossed over the uglier details.”
    “What did she say?”
    “Only that some sicko had been stalking her.” Her brows scrunched together. “The creep broke into her apartment and trashed it. And before Wade could catch him, the guy kidnapped her. But Wade and Jonas saved her.”
    “They did save her, but not before Wade got shot and Gracie got cut up. Scared the daylights out of all of