The MacGregor Brides by Nora Roberts Read Free Book Online

subject.”
    “And smart, too. If we sit here and talk about law, we’re going to argue, because it’s something we come to from different angles. Why waste the time?”
    “I like to argue. That’s why I’m a lawyer.”
    “I like to dance.” He took her hand and stood up. “That’s why we’re here.”
    She stared at him. “You dance?”
    “Well, I never achieved my lifelong dream of joining the Bolshoi,” he said dryly as he led her toward the dance floor. “But I manage.”
    “You just look more like the type to go five rounds with the champ than to—” The words slid down her throat as he spun her out, then whirled her back until her body meshed intimately with his. “Oh, God.”
    “We’ll box later.”
    The heels brought her face-level with him so that eyes and mouths lined up. He guided her over the floor with smooth, intricate steps. She didn’t have to think to follow. Couldn’t have thought, with the way her heart thudded, the way the sax wailed, the way his eyes stayed focused on hers.
    “You’re very good,” she managed.
    “Dancing is the second-best thing a man can do with a beautiful woman. Why not do it right?”
    She had to moisten her lips. “You’ve had lessons.”
    “At my mother’s insistence. Which is why I can also go five rounds with the champ. In my neighborhood, if a guy took dance lessons, he either got the stuffing beat out of him on a regular basis or he learned to use his fists.”
    “That’s quite a combination. What neighborhood was that?”
    “South Boston.”
    “Oh.” Her head was swimming, her pulse pounding. “That’s where you grew up then. Did your father—”
    He dipped her, low and slow. “You talk too much,” he murmured, and closed his mouth over hers as he brought her back up. And kept it there as he moved with her, as the music pumped over them, as her hand slid over his shoulder to cup the back of his neck.
    She felt her stomach drop away, her knees turn to water, and murmured his name, twice, against his mouth.
    “Do you know who I am?” He waited until her eyes fluttered open and met his. “Do you know who I am now, Laura?”
    She knew what he was asking, and understood that every moment they spent together had been a dance with steps leading to this. “Yes, I suppose I do.”
    “Come home with me.” He kissed her again, tracing her lips with his tongue until they trembled. “Come to bed with me.”
    She didn’t care that the music had stopped, that the club was crowded. She poured herself into the kiss. “My house is closer.”
    “How do you know?”
    “I looked up your address.” She was smiling as she eased back. “Just in case. My cousins are out for the evening.” She slid her hand down to his, linked fingers. “Come home with me.”
    “I thought you’d never ask.”
    * * *
    He kissed her again when they stepped out into the chilly autumn evening. The instant they were in the car, they were diving for each other. “I didn’t think I’d be in such a hurry.” Gulping in air, she attacked his mouth again. “I’m in a hurry. Drive fast.”
    “Tell me what you’ve got on under that dress.”
    She laughed. “Perfume.”
    “I’ll drive fast.” He slammed the car in gear. “Strap in, and keep your hands to yourself. I want to live to make love with you.”
    She fumbled with her seat belt as he shot out into the street. She gripped her hands together in her lap. She wanted to use them on him, she realized. She wanted to use them to tear off his shirt, to touch, to take, to drive him crazy. She had no precedent for this wild animal lust snarling inside her.
    “Tell me something else,” she demanded. “Your family. Brothers, sisters.”
    “No, none.” He accelerated, coolly threading through traffic and zipping through a yellow light.
    “Your parents, do they still live in the old neighborhood?”
    “My mother moved to Florida with her second husband. My father’s dead.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “Line of duty.