A MAN CALLED BLUE

A MAN CALLED BLUE by EC Sheedy Read Free Book Online Page A

Book: A MAN CALLED BLUE by EC Sheedy Read Free Book Online
Authors: EC Sheedy
The hurt in his words scraped her bones. Not that she cared.
    He ignored her question. "Come to think of it, there was a third promise."
    "I can't wait to hear it," she said, keeping her tone carefully dry.
    "I promised myself I would never work for a woman I wanted to take to bed, which is what I very much want to do with you." His gaze rested on her, true and unswerving.
    The man hadn't moved from the mantel. They were still at least three feet apart. How then could his words bump and careen through her senses with the force of a blindfolded elephant?
    "You don't like me, but you want to go to bed with me."
    "Yeah. It's a guy thing."
    Growing uncomfortable under his gaze, Simone stumbled on. "And that's all your promises?"
    He thought a moment. "Yup. That's about it."
    "You're nothing if not honest." She turned, took a step away, then turned back, determined not to let him see the effect his words had on her. "But I still want you to stay."
    Blue moved then, closing the distance between them and grasping her by the upper arms. "I know you do. I think you'd want me to stay if I'd just admitted to being a specialist in corporate embezzlement. The question is why?"
    He held her tighter now, and his nearness cut her breath. She labored to inhale air and calm. Her skin burned under his hands, and the last of her strength melted away under his eyes. Still his gaze questioned.
    "Why, Simone?" he asked, his voice low and demanding. "You scarcely know me."

 
     
     
    Chapter 4

     
    Struggling for the upper hand, and control of her unruly nerves, Simone calmed herself and answered. "It's not complicated. You're good at your work, have the experience I need, and Nolan recommended you. Isn't that reason enough?" She hoped the words came out strong and direct.
    "Anjana's a big organization, there must be a hundred ambitious whiz kids with computers who could do this job with their eyes closed. I repeat—why me?"
    She tugged away from his grip, turned her back to him, and walked four safe steps away. He'd asked a question that, if answered, would lay bare a cache of insecurities she chose neither to name nor acknowledge. Maybe she was held together by bailing wire, but a smart woman didn't display her weaknesses and needs to men—the sex most likely to trample them on their way to the quickest exit. And Blue defined the word man.
    Too much man, she thought, unable to deny his easy sexuality, or the primal undertow she found harder and harder to fight. She didn't have the energy for another battle. Battle? She came near to laughing aloud. Controlling Anjana may be a battle, and Josephine a trial, but Blue? Blue, to any woman in her right mind, shouted opportunity—hot and golden.
    She cut off that pointless line of thought. Blue was waiting for an answer, so she'd give him one. According to Josephine, business was about winning, and winning at the moment meant Blue staying—and not trotting out her personal ghosts and goblins to make him do it.
    She leaned against the pale yellow silk of the sofa, forced herself to calm. His hands were planted on his hips; much as they'd been when she'd first seen him standing on the tarmac outside her plane, a hank of hair covered half his forehead and shadowed the rest. His detective eyes, as she'd come to think of them, were also in shadow, their vivid blue lost in the night-shaded room.
    She took a steadying breath. "Okay, I'll level with you. I'm uncertain about this Hallam business. And you're right. There's no shortage of computer cowboys and bean counters in Anjana, but this project is—" She stopped, uncertain how to express herself, not wanting to explain her relationship with Josephine. How could she when she didn't understand it herself?
    Blue waited a moment, then picked up the slack. "Your baby," he stated, cocking his head and studying her. "Your first baby?"
    She nodded. "Josephine is leaving this entirely in my hands. The financial analysis is critical, but..."
    "But?"
    "I don't

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