Tempting Nora by A.M. Evanston Read Free Book Online

outside."
    "Mr. Fleas?" Gideon gave her an incredulous look.
    "My dog." She spared him a glance before returning her attention to Maura.
    "Right." Maura finally tore her eyes off of Gideon. "See you tomorrow."
    "Bye." Nora waved.
    When Nora headed to the door, Gideon followed her. She wasn't sure what was worse—the pouring rain outside or the fact that Gideon was her second shadow. She stopped just before heading outside.
    "You 're not following me," she said.
    "I'm just walking you to your car." Gideon bowed his head. "I'm trying to be a gentleman."
    Gideon was about as gentlemanly as a slap to the face.
    "I walked here," she said triumphantly. "You can't escort me to my car."
    "Do you have an umbrella?" Gideon looked her up and down.
    To her surprise, the man sounded concerned. It took some of the edge off of her annoyance. She wasn't sure what to make of him when he was showing some humanity.
    " No, I don't." She tugged at her shirt. "I'll be fine, though. I've walked home in the rain before."
    "I'm giving you a ride," Gideon said.
    "No, you're not." She glared at him.
    "Are you seriously being stubborn right now?" His jaw clenched. "I'm trying to take care of you."
    "I don't need you to take care of me." She'd never needed anybody to take care of her. That was how she'd survived so many years without parents. "I can handle myself."
    "I know you don't need me to take care of you." A vein throbbed in his jaw. "But I want to take care of you. Why would you make things harder on yourself?"
    For a moment, she didn't say anything. She couldn't. This side of him was new. She was used to the womanizing, perverted Gideon, not this. He obviously cared if she was cold and wet.
    And she wasn't sure what to make of that.
    Before she could digest the sudden change in him, Gideon swore and tugged off his leather jacket. He seized her arm and forced it into a sleeve.
    Nora beg an to protest, "I don't need—"
    "I know you don't need my jacket," he interrupted. "Take it anyway."
    Before she could jump away, Gideon zipped up the jacket. It was warm and smelled like sweet cologne and Italian leather. As she glanced at him in confusion, the man seized her hand. For a moment she was shocked by how warm he was—it was almost like there was a burning inferno inside of his body—but then he dragged her out the door before she could think more about it.
    The moment she was outside, she was hit by icy rain that burned her skin like acid. He started to run and she followed him. It felt like an eternity until he pulled her over to a black pickup truck. He unlocked the vehicle and opened the door for her. Teeth chattering, she hopped inside, her jeans already soaked through. She rubbed her hands together to try to make her skin warm. It wasn't doing her much good, but it gave her something to do other than focus on the chill.
    Gideon climbed behind the wheel. He started the truck and turned on the heater, but he didn't drive.
    "You okay?" Gideon faced her, his mouth thin.
    "Uh-huh." She nodded, despite the fact she was shivering.
    When he noticed she was rubbing her hands together, he seized them and warmed her fingers with his palms. Despite the fact that he'd been running in the icy rain too, he was still hot. She looked into his caramel eyes and saw concern. Strange. Very strange.
    Wait a second. He's touching me. I shouldn't let him touch me.
    She pulled back and straightened up.
    "I'm fine," she said. "I'm already warm."
    At first Gideon didn't say anything. Instead he just stared straight out the window.
    "You can't stand it, can you?" he finally asked.
    "Stand what?" She had a feeling she wasn't going to like where this conversation was headed.
    "The thought of somebody helping you," he said.
    Yep, she knew it. She hated these kinds of conversations.
    "That isn't true, " she said.
    " It seems true to me," he said.
    "I let Robert help me." She shrugged.
    "Hmmm." Gideon's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "I'm starting to feel jea