LEAD ME ON Julie Ortolon (mind reading books .TXT) 📖

armload of books and filtered light shining off her hair. She gave him a mildly challenging look.

He glanced back at the doll in his hands. “I have a niece who’ll expect a gift when I return to New Orleans.” Although Chloe would snort in disgust if he gave her something so “girly.”

He set the doll down as Allison turned her back to him to shelve the books, her movements jerky with anger.

“Rory took a few phone messages for you this morning,” she said. “But don’t worry, I’ve already tossed them in the trash for you.”

“Thank you.” He moved toward her, cautiously, since she reminded him of a kitten ready to hiss and spit at the household dog. If he got too close, he’d probably get his nose scratched. “Look, I, um, need to let you know I’m checking out early.”

“How early?” Startled, Alli whirled to face him. With the lawsuit pending, they couldn’t afford to lose the month’s rent he would bring. All thought of money faded, though, when she saw him at such close range. The fantasies of last night returned in a warm rush.

“Today, actually.”

“But... why?” The unbuttoned black shirt left his stomach and chest exposed: a remarkable chest, with swirls of black hair that tapered downward, dividing his hard stomach. She squelched thoughts of touching him and forced her gaze back to his face. “Is it something we’ve done?”

“No, of course not. I’m just...” He made a restless gesture with his arms that caused his shirt to gape even more. “I’m not finding this trip as relaxing as I’d hoped.”

She glanced at the window, toward the beach where Dr. Lovejoy had headed mere moments ago. Anger returned with the memories of how he’d shunned her for another woman, how she’d lain awake listening as they’d kissed in the moonlight outside her window. Then his words sank in, and she wondered if she’d been mistaken. Maybe the two of them hadn’t slept together last night. Confusion and relief struggled to break through the hurt. “Are you saying you’re leaving because one of our guests wouldn’t...”

“Wouldn’t what?” He raised a brow.

“Nothing.” She clamped her lips together. She would not add mortification to the other emotions battling inside her.

He studied her face, then laughed. Actually laughed, the toad! “If you’re thinking I’m leaving because Linda wouldn’t put out for me, you’re wrong.”

“Oh.” So they had been together! “I see.”

“See what?”

“That you— That—” She tried to hold her anger back, but after his rudeness yesterday, she saw no reason to mince words. “That you got what you came for, so there’s no point in staying. Well, we have a twenty-four-hour cancellation policy, so we’ll have to charge you for tonight whether you stay or not.”

He narrowed his eyes. “For what it’s worth, I didn’t ‘get what I came for.’ ”

“But you just said she didn’t turn you down.”

“She didn’t. Unfortunately, I seem to have developed an annoying quirk in the last few years where I have to at least like a woman before I go to bed with her.”

“I see.” The yo-yo emotions, spinning from jealousy to relief, left her dizzy.

“Look, before I pack, I um ...” He seemed suddenly unsure of where to put his hands and wound up resting them on his hips while he stared at his feet. Oh God. The shirt gaped wide, showing his trim waist above the black swim trunks. “I want to apologize for yesterday. I had no right to talk to you the way I did. It’s obvious you’re a woman who isn’t used to being spoken to so bluntly. If I offended you in any way, I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted.” She clutched the books to her chest, wrapping her arms tightly around them.

He tipped his head. “But you’re still angry.”

“Yes.” She swallowed hard. Hating him for being so attractive. Hating herself for wanting him so badly. “Because you have no idea how greatly you offended me.”

His gaze dropped back to the floor. “I don’t know what to say, other than I’m sorry.”

“But you’re apologizing for the wrong reason!” she snapped. His head came up and she wanted to slug him. “You stood there yesterday and told me you came to Galveston looking for a woman to ... to—”

“I know what I said, and I apologize for being so blunt—”

“—to have an affair, yet not once did you even attempt to come on to me.”

“What?” He drew back, blinking with a comical look of shock.

She should stop now, simply shut up and go back to shelving books, but the hurt wouldn’t let her. “I want to know why. Why didn’t you even attempt to find out if I was interested?”

“Because I... I didn’t want to get my face slapped, for one thing.”

“What makes you think I would have slapped you?”

“You’re not the kind of woman a man propositions for casual sex. If I’d asked you out, you would have assumed I was interested in something more.”

“Like marriage, I presume.” She nearly growled in frustration. “You men can be so stupid sometimes! You judge a woman by what you see on the outside without bothering to ask what she wants or expects. I’ll tell you something, Scott Lawrence. You’re only right about one thing. If you’d asked me out before yesterday, then yes, I would have thought you were interested in something more than casual sex—and I would have told you no.” She watched his eyes widen as she stepped toward him, her body shaking with fury. “I would have said no, because marriage, or any relationship that could even remotely lead to it, is the last thing in the world I want. If you’d taken the time to spell it out, to tell me exactly what you were after, you might have gotten a different answer.”

He stared at her, dumbfounded. “What are you saying?”

“That you offended me by treating me as if I were a—a stick of furniture. What is so wrong with me, I’d like to know?”

“Nothing is wrong with you.” He raised