Hot Ice (A Hostile Operations Team Novel - Book 7) by Lynn Raye Harris Read Free Book Online Page B

tonight.”
    “Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” Flash said, holding out his hand.
    Grace didn’t move until Brooke nudged her. Then she took Ryan’s hand and murmured a polite hello. Flash left with a look aimed at Garrett. Then Garrett stood there with Grace and Brooke and didn’t quite know what to say. She was still staring at the TV, her face screwed up in a frown. He didn’t like the wounded look she wore at all.
    “Maybe you should cancel,” Brooke said, frowning.
    “I can’t.” Grace pulled in a deep breath. And then she smiled. He wasn’t fooled by that smile. He didn’t think Brooke was either. “It will be fine. I’ll be fine. Besides, I can’t miss it. Mother and Daddy are expecting me.”

CHAPTER FOUR

    SHE’D SAID SHE WOULD BE FINE, but the truth was she dreaded every moment. But that’s what you did when you had a political family—you smiled and pretended you were happy even when you were falling apart inside.
    “I have to get going,” Brooke said. “Call me if you need me.”
    “I will.”  
    Grace hugged her friend, and then Brooke disappeared, leaving her alone with Mr. Tall, Dark, and Deadly. He picked up the remote, and the television went black. She started to tell him to turn it back on, but she didn’t really want to see it anyway. All those people clustered outside Magnolia Labs with their signs and their misunderstandings about what Grace was doing.
    She shuddered. “That’s why you didn’t take me to work earlier.”
    He was looking at her with sympathy in his eyes. It was a different look for him, and she found it a little disconcerting.
    “That’s right.”  
    He tossed the remote onto the ottoman and moved toward her. He really was something else in his tuxedo, his dark hair cropped close, his tanned skin contrasting sharply with the whiteness of his shirt and the black bow tie at his neck. The tux fit him perfectly, its black silhouette making him seem somehow less menacing and more approachable than he had before.
    She knew it wasn’t true, but she liked the illusion. For the first time, she imagined herself arriving tonight on this man’s arm—and she liked the way that made her feel. A tiny bright spot in an otherwise disastrous day. The media would get plenty of pictures of her, but at least she wouldn’t be alone. He would be by her side everywhere she went, and for once she found that comforting.
    “Are you going to be okay tonight?”  
    His gunmetal eyes raked over her, and her body lit up in ways she hadn’t thought about lately. She’d been so busy at work that sex had seemed unimportant for a long time now. When was the last time she’d had sex anyway?
    Six months ago? Holy cow, more like a year, she realized. She’d had an on-again, off-again relationship that went permanently off when he’d decided she was too focused on her work and not enough on him. And that was the end of that. She’d seen him at a restaurant once with a date. It had hurt more than she’d cared to admit.
    “I hate crowds,” she said and then wanted to bite her tongue for admitting such a thing to this man.  
    “I won’t let anyone hurt you, Grace.”
    “It…it’s not that. It’s all those people, all the fakeness of it. I hate it. I’ve always hated it. I’d rather stay home with a pizza and a book—or a good movie.”
    She hadn’t intended to admit that to him either, but she didn’t want him to think she didn’t trust him to do his job.
    He looked surprised. “What’s your definition of a good movie? Romantic chick flick nonsense?”
    “Sometimes. And sometimes I like a good rerun of Die Hard .”
    “I like that one too. Anything with explosions. X-Men, G.I. Joe, Iron Man. ”
    “Those are good.”
    He grinned, and her heart gave a hard thump against her chest. “Let’s get you to that party. The sooner you get this over with, the sooner you can get that pizza and watch a flick.”
    He came and put a hand against the small of her back, ushering