Ain’t Misbehaving by Jennifer Greene Read Free Book Online Page B

lines, obviously encouraging their most risqué tales. On the other hand, Mitch gave away nothing about himself. He played his emotions as close to the chest as he played his cards.
    Finally, Stix stretched and yawned. “I give up,” he said lazily.
    Simultaneously, the other players tossed their cards on the table. “I didn’t realize how late it was,” Hailey said with a frown. “Mitch, you’ve got to join us on another Friday. Really enjoyed it.”
    There was a rush for coats. Hailey left first, once he’d found his glasses. John, after a kiss on Kay’s cheek, was the next to go. Barker went so far as to take his beer cans to the kitchen, then delivered his good-night kiss. Stix lingered a little longer, giving Mitch a sidelong glance as he tugged on his ancient cord jacket. “You want help cleaning up?” he asked Kay.
    To her credit, she didn’t faint from shock. “You’ve discovered dishes don’t miraculously wash themselves?”
    “Samantha’s taught me a thing or two. Don’t get sassy. I could help take down the table.”
    “We can take care of it,” Mitch drawled from the hall doorway.
    Still, Stix lingered a bit longer, taking endless care with every one of his coat buttons, eyeing Kay with a protective gleam that made no sense.
    “What’s wrong?” she asked.
    “Nothing.” He glanced at Mitch. “Coming?”
    Mitch moved forward with a half smile, his hand firmly extended for Stix to shake, exactly as he had done with the other men. “Appreciated the chance to get in a night of poker. I hadn’t done it in a long time.”
    “Anytime…” The two talked for a minute before Mitch dropped back, and Kay stepped forward with a perplexed expression.
    Stix’s genial grin was gone. Suddenly, all six feet six inches of him exuded irritability. Stix was normally so laid back that Kay was baffled by the change in him. She stretched up on tiptoe for her good-night kiss. Her lips met a very stiff cheek; Stix glared at her and then departed, as the others had, into a very dark, very late night outside.
    Kay turned back to find that Mitch had disappeared…and the card table was half cleared of debris. She snatched up the bowl of potato chips and two soda cans, carting both into the kitchen. There she spotted Mitch, who flashed her one quick, enigmatic smile on his way back to the living room.
    It was like playing tag. When she headed back to the living room, Mitch was striding toward the kitchen again. The entire house was restored to equilibrium in minutes.
    When she finally caught up with him, he was in the hall, pulling on his coat at the door. Kay stared at him from the kitchen doorway, astonished that he’d bothered to stay all this time…and was now leaving.
    “They’re good men,” he said flatly.
    “Old friends,” she agreed, bewildered.
    He crooked his finger in a beckoning gesture.
    Now there was the man she thought she’d spent the afternoon with. Chuckling, she went toward him. The wicked gleam was back in his eyes. It seemed he could turn it on and off at will, like a light. When there were no other people around, that light definitely glowed warmly. “Do you want a cup of coffee?” she asked him.
    “All I want is to tell you something.”
    “So tell me.”
    “You’re too far away.”
    Leaning back against the open doorway, he drew her arms around his waist until they were snuggled length to length. The web instantly woven around her was invisible, private and utterly male. The intimacy increased deliciously when his lips pressed into her hair. “You’re an affectionate lady,” he whispered.
    “ That’s what you wanted to tell me?” She tried to convince herself that she didn’t want him to stay. How could she possibly want him to stay? It was far too soon.
    His lips nuzzled farther, his chin brushing back her hair so his mouth could center on the soft skin just below her ear. “No,” he murmured. “I just wanted to tell you that I wish I’d known you a long time ago.