Her Special Charm by Marie Ferrarella Read Free Book Online

this looked as if it belonged exactly where it was. Resting against the hollow of her throat. Moving seductively with every breath she took. The blue of the background made her eyes seem even more vivid than they already were.
    He was mesmerized. It took him a second to get his bearings.
    â€œFine.” He bit the word off, wanting to get back to something that he knew his way around.
    Constance touched the cameo, as if to assure herself that it was really there. Welcome back, she thought. Her gratitude felt boundless.
    â€œAre there some papers I need to sign?”
    James shook his head. “This wasn’t official police business, so no, there’s nothing for you to sign.” He certainly didn’t require anything. “You can just go.”
    As quickly as possible, he added silently. Maybe if she went, the edgy feeling he was experiencing would leave with her. When she didn’t rise to her feet immediately, an uneasiness undulated through him.
    â€œI can’t go without giving you some kind of reward,” she protested.
    There were folders all over his desk, hard copies that went along with the series of robberies he and Santini were investigating. They had yet to make it into the computer. He nodded toward them. “Letting me get back to my work is reward enough.”
    â€œNo, really,” Constance insisted, leaning forward. Bringing with her a whiff of something sweet and stirring. And unsettling his gut, he noted darkly.
    The sooner she was gone, the sooner he could grab something to eat. “Yes, really,” he insisted.
    She knew ahead of time that he wouldn’t accept money or a gift. He wasn’t that kind of man. It didn’t deter her. “There has to be something I can do. At least let me take you out to dinner.”
    He remained firm, fully aware that other men in hisposition would have given in immediately. Having dinner with a beautiful, grateful woman, well, there were a great many worse things in life.
    But one thing always seemed to lead to another, ushering in unwanted complications. Even this. It had begun as a reluctant good deed on his part and wound up turning him into the center of attention in the squad room, a position he couldn’t have hated more if he tried.
    The adage about no good deed going unpunished whispered through his mind.
    His eyes met hers. “No need,” he repeat with feeling.
    Sensations rippled through her as she continued looking into his eyes. There was a need, a definite need, she thought.
    Something in his eyes just beneath the surface spoke to her. Told her she was in the presence of one of the walking wounded. Her mother had always said she had a knack for finding lost spirits and restoring them.
    Was that what had happened between her and Josh?
    No, it wasn’t, she told herself. With Josh it had been different. She’d been the one in need.
    But all that was behind her.
    The end result was what mattered. She hadn’t made the mistake. She’d followed those unsettling instincts that had kept nagging at her, refusing to allow her to sit back and let Josh take full control of everything the way he’d kept first hinting, then suggesting, and finally insisting that he do. He’d claimed that she couldn’t love him if she didn’t trust him.
    Truer words were never spoken.
    Feeling somewhat guilty, she’d had Josh and her mother’s accounts checked out by an independent third party. That had brought the truth home to her. That she’s been nothing more than a walking bank account to Josh. A rather sizable bank account. Of course, it wouldn’t have remained large for very long because, as it turned out, Josh Walker had lousy business instincts.
    She fingered the cameo at her throat. It already felt as if she’d worn it forever. Thoughts of Josh and the mistake she ultimately hadn’t made swiftly disappeared from her head.
    Instead, she concentrated on the man who had