My Man Michael by Lori Foster Read Free Book Online Page A

minute. “Okay, lady, let’s get down to it. First, you said you had an idea on how I’d disappear without anyone getting too nosy about it. What’s the plan?”
    “You would tell your friends that you cannot accept being disabled.”
    “I can’t.”
    She softened. “You, sir, would adjust if there were no other alternatives. I have not a single doubt that you’d not only adjust, you would excel in a new venture that would allow you to grow as a man and would assist others in the process.”
    He tucked in his chin. “Got a little hero worship thing going on there, don’t you?”
    “You are a hero. You will be our hero.” Kayli pressed a fist to her heart. “I sense it.”
    “You’re getting nuttier by the second.”
    Knowing it was his discomfort at compliments that caused the insult, Kayli dismissed it. “They will believe you when you say that you’ve heard of a treatment in a faraway place, a procedure that is reputed to bring about miracles. You want to go there to explore the possibilities.”
    “I suppose I heard about this treatment from you?”
    “Yes.”
    “It might work. They’d buy that I wouldn’t give up easily.”
    “No, you wouldn’t.” Already she recognized him as a dedicated, and stubborn, man.
    “Okay, one more thing.” His eyes glinted at her, giving fair warning. “Before I commit, I want something from you.”
    “You can have anything that is within my power to give to you.”
    That vow brought about a toothy grin. “Glad to hear it. So Kayli, come here and give me a kiss.”
    She was certifiable, what with all her talk of vessels and transporting through time. But what would one kiss hurt?
    He had to taste her.
    If his legs and ribs weren’t fucked, he’d want more than that. But he knew his own limitations, and he wasn’t about to embarrass himself by starting something he couldn’t finish.
    Biting hard enough to bruise, Kayli caught her lush bottom lip in her teeth.
    Poor little girl. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “Is the idea of kissing me really so bad?”
    She didn’t move, barely breathed. “That is what you want before you’ll agree? Truly?”
    “Oh, trust me, sugar, I want more than that. But while the mind is willing, the body isn’t able.” Later, if she stuck around and didn’t seem a threat . . . no, that’d be taking advantage of the worst kind.
    And as she’d said, he was too honorable for that.
    As if weighing the problems of the universe, she paced away in deep thought.
    Mallet laughed. It hurt his ribs, his throat, but damn, he couldn’t remember the last time a woman had so thoroughly rejected him. It was sort of . . . refreshing. “You’re demolishing my ego, you know.”
    Mind made up, her shoulders back with grim, almost suffering resolve, she turned around to face him. “I’ll do it.”
    Such a lack of enthusiasm. The stoic way she presented herself, you’d think he’d asked her to throw herself off the side of a high cliff. Determined to figure her out, Mallet kept his grin at bay as he watched her. “You’re very brave.”
    “But first,” she said, ignoring his jibe, “you must alert your friends. I want to know that you’re serious, and that you will follow through with our agreement. I’ll have your word that you won’t renege once you’ve taken your toll.”
    “My toll ?” Would kissing him really be so awful that she considered it a debt to be paid?
    As if a thought occurred to her, Kayli lifted a hand. “In fact, to ensure your cooperation I will transport us during the kiss. Agreed?”
    What the hell? In for a penny, in for a pound. “Why not?” Mallet picked up the phone and dialed Simon. He got his answering machine. “Sorry, he’s not home.”
    “It would make things simpler if you left a note anyway.” Rushing around to the bedside table, she opened the top drawer and located a pad of paper and pen.
    She handed them to him.
    “You want me to write it all out?”
    “Yes. One of the