Heart of Dixie - Tami Hoag (1) by Tami Hoag Read Free Book Online Page A

that silently begged him not to push her. He felt like a cad and a half already for deceiving her about his purpose here. It went against his code of honor to lie about anything, but he hadn't seen any way around it. Now her sermon on celebrities' rights compounded the feeling. He wanted to defend himself, but of course that was out of the question.

    He wanted to tell her that his job was to uncover all the secrets of his subjects, but he didn't go in for sensationalism. He wanted to tell her that he didn't do unauthorized biographies, that every word he wrote was approved by the person he was writing about. He wanted her to know he was a man of integrity, a man to be trusted. But he was caught in a trap of his own making. By lying to her about what he was doing here he contradicted what he wanted her to believe.

    He leaned back, breaking the sensual spell of her nearness, and looked out at the buildings strewn up and down the beach. Squares of butter-yellow light dotted the sides of two small cottages. The house they were in front of was much larger, its two and a half stories stacked like the layers of a wedding cake. Like the others, it perched on sturdy-looking stilts. The lower level was surrounded by a screened porch, and windows in the attic blazed with light. At the bottom of the steps that led from the ground to the front door, a weathered sign swung in the evening breeze. It read "Cottages for Rent."

    There would be plenty of time to work out the little snarl about his identity and his objective. And he didn't have to force a confession out of Dixie. If she knew where Devon Stafford was hiding he would be able to get the information eventually. As he listened to the sound of the ocean washing against the shore, the urgency to finish this job drifted away. He didn't need to storm Dixie's defenses. He had all the time in the world. After all, Devon Stafford had already been gone a year. What difference would another few days make?

    "Thanks for the lift," he said.

    He made the mistake of glancing back at Dixie, for he was hit broadside again by the overwhelming desire to kiss her. She looked so small and sweet, swallowed up by her bomber jacket, her hazel eyes watching him warily. She looked like a woman who needed kissing.

    He wasn't a man given to impulsive behavior, but there was just something about Dixie that wreaked havoc with his self-control. He leaned toward her, a roguish smile tugging at a corner of his mouth. "Thanks for everything, Dixie. You've been a real pal."

    The last word hit Dixie like a rock thrown by a taunting juvenile delinquent. A pal! A pal! First she was a good sport, now she was a pal! She reared back, sucking in a deep breath, temper unleashed, ready to tell Jake Gannon exactly where he could stick his labels. Pal indeed.

    But before she had a chance to cut him to shreds, his mouth settled firmly over hers and tongue-lashing suddenly took on a whole new connotation. The explosion of sensation was stunning, blocking any idea of resisting or responding. She merely experienced--the taste of him, the firmness of his lips, the sense of male power. It was a surprise attack on her senses and a darn successful one. She couldn't remember a kiss affecting her that way before. At the moment, she couldn't remember her own name.

    She let herself lean into him, her hands coming up to grasp the solid muscle of his arms to steady herself. If anything, her senses reeled further off the beam. The man was a rock of masculinity. It was all she could do not to throw herself against him and beg him to have his way with her. It wasn't how she should have felt, should have conducted herself. Every warning system she had told her Jake Gannon was trouble in a great big handsome package, but the warning sirens couldn't seem to penetrate the hot haze of sudden desire.

    It had been too long since she'd been held this way and too long since she'd been kissed. She couldn't even remember anyone kissing Dixie La