Masked by Janelle Stalder Read Free Book Online Page B

the Red Lounge where she used to work as a dancer, they’d never touched to this degree. It was heady and felt disturbingly nice . She should step away, or do something to free herself, but instead she found her body melting into his.
    “Gottcha,” he whispered in her ear. Did he ever. He had no idea how his simple presence affected her. She both hated it and loved it. “Now what are you going to do?”
    Words were too difficult, so she simply shrugged within his embrace. He chuckled, his chest vibrating against her back. His arms dropped away. If she hadn’t known better, she would have sworn he seemed as reluctant to sever the contact as she was.
    They faced each other again. This time she paid better attention, pushing down her reaction to him and concentrating on what she needed to do. Bridgette would not let this man cloud her mind any more. She was here for a purpose, and no one was going to distract her from that.
    When he came at her the second time she was prepared. Moving lithely, she ducked under his arms, and stepped to the side, sending him barreling forward into empty space. She turned quickly, waiting for him to come again. His arms snaked out, but caught at nothing as she ducked and dived beneath them. On and on it went, Roman trying to catch her or land a hit, his arms, legs, hands all working to achieve even the briefest of touches – all of them failing.
    Bridgette moved faster than she had ever moved before. Her body twisted and turned effortlessly, most likely the result of her years of dance. What caught her by surprise was the speed in which she was doing it. Roman was by no means an unworthy opponent. Each attack was calculated and executed with precision. He wasn’t out to hurt her, but he was definitely out to win this little sparring match. Even though he was quick, Bridgette seemed to be quicker.
    After one attack, in which Roman tried to swipe beneath her legs to trip her, and that Bridgette easily avoided, she noticed an opening for her own attack. This whole time she had been concentrating on defense. It was time to go on the offense. As she jumped in the air, Roman’s leg met nothing as it grazed the floor beneath her. She spun, her left leg coming out and connecting with his side so forcefully that he ended up sprawled on the floor.
    What the heck? How had she just managed that? The whole thing felt like it was in slow motion, but it had been so quick it only lasted a second. She stood in shock for a moment before breaking out into laughter. It bubbled up so unexpectedly, there was no stopping it. She, Bridgette Hatcher, just knocked down the big and powerful Roman Adamson! She felt invigorated and unbeatable.
    Her laughter still filling the space, she jumped around in a victory dance, not caring that Roman watched her from his position on the floor with an amused grin on his face.
    “Are you about finished?” he asked.
    “Not even close,” she answered, jumping around like a child. “I won!” She laughed. “ I beat you, Roman Adamson. Ha!” She stopped, breathing a bit quicker now that she’d just danced around like an idiot. She stood with her hands on her hips, a ridiculous grin still plastered on her face.
    Roman watched her carefully, no longer smiling. “Take off the mask.”

    “No,” she said instantly, her body stiffening.
    He wanted to see her. Never once, in all the years he’d known Lottey, had he ever seen her act this carefree. Not only that, but she had actually managed to knock him on his ass. He was genuinely impressed, and then some. Her movements were faster than he’d ever seen. Lottey was never a good fighter, unless she used her mind reading abilities to hear what her opponent meant to do next. But he knew she wasn’t doing that now. She had promised a long time ago never to invade his mind, and he trusted her to keep that promise.
    What she was demonstrating now was simply skill, something he never knew she possessed. It left him in awe. If only