Making Mina 2: Strings Attached by Tacie Graves Read Free Book Online

manage.
    “I’m sure you’re right,” she said, hoping he recognized her sincerity.  “But I  am  still the boss on this job and I shouldn’t have let myself get,” she paused and smiled ruefully up at him, “carried away.”  A flash of heat crossed Marco’s face and she wondered if he, too, was imagining sweeping her into his arms and carrying her into his bedroom.  It was a tantalizing thought, but one that had to be put on hold.  For now.
    Marco nodded at her and she would swear she saw pride in his gaze.  It was as if he knew she could be a good manager but she was proving it, even if she was being faced with unreasonable distraction.  Even more, he liked knowing he distracted her. He leaned forward, his voice smooth and seductive.
    “Dinner?  Later?”  He asked.  Mina gave it a moment’s thought and nodded.  “Yes, I’d like that.  Shall I meet you here?”
    Marco shook his head.  “No.  I have a few details to attend to.  I will pick you up.  Eight o’clock?”
    Mina appreciated that he was asking instead of ordering, and smiled. Maybe this could work after all.  She gave him a brilliant smile.
    “Sounds perfect.”
     

Chapter Five
     
    This was never going to work.  How could she ever have thought he was anything but an insufferable, arrogant bastard.
    “You did what?” Three tables of heads turned on a swivel to see what the outburst was about.  Mina grimaced in embarrassment, and lowered her voice to a hiss.  “You arranged to have my things moved? Now?”
    Marco pushed back from the table, a glint of amusement in his eyes, and slowly nodded.
    “You agreed to move in, I was just… helping.” Marco smiled lazily, enjoying her temper.
    “Helping?” Mina yelped.  “This isn’t helping!  This is the  opposite  of helping.”  Images flashed through her mind: strangers boxing up her under things, laughing at the box labeled  Ethan’s Stuff—BURN , and the thought of Ivy wondering whether she’d lost her mind—hell,  she  wondered if she’d lost her mind—and she shook her head, stunned at his nerve.
    “Cara,” Marco leaned across the table and covered her hand with his, “calm down. It is done.  Your friend, Dr. Fielding, said she would take care of your personal items, and everything else was basically still packed.  It was simply a matter of man-power, and I am quite capable of providing that.” 
    There was never any doubt of that.  Mina rolled her eyes and sighed. “You talked to Ivy?” She knew the answer even as she asked the question.  Of course he’d talked to Ivy.  And Ivy, insane friend that she was, probably agreed to his plan in ten seconds flat. For some reason she thought Marco was good for her.
     Marco nodded. “Yes. I spoke to her while you were getting ready. I explained that you’d agreed to the new living arrangements and she was quite happy to be of assistance.  She said something about being happy someone was “taking care” of you for a change.”
    He stroked lightly across the back of her hand, her fingers slim and delicate under his powerful palm.
    “I’m happy to be taking care of you,” he said and Mina was surprised at the sincerity in his voice. She looked at him, really looked at him, and was surprised again by the caution in his eyes.  He enjoyed getting her worked up, but he looked like he was ready for her to bolt any second, and he couldn’t decide whether to give her space or throw her over his shoulder and carry her to the nearest bed.
    A shiver ran up her spine as she imagined Marco’s caveman tactics, and interested eyes followed the goose bumps as they raced across her arm.
    His voice was low and gravelly when he asked, “Are you cold?”
    Mina couldn’t think of anything that was further from reality.  When Marco was around she felt like she was burning with fever, chills of excitement and desire racking her body, but never anything as mundane as cold