Keeping Her Safe by Mackenzie Myrna

Author:Mackenzie, Myrna [Mackenzie, Myrna]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2005-09-06T05:00:00+00:00

The evening had been a strain, and Natalie hadn’t found out much other than when Brad had told her that some of his clients were older and needed a lot of hand-holding. She had told him that she used to work in a retirement home, which was a lie, and she had entertained him with one or two made-up anecdotes, hoping he would reciprocate. Instead he had asked her personal questions. He’d asked for her phone number.

She’d considered giving him nothing, but there was always the possibility that he might tell her things on the phone that he would never say in person. Some people were that way. In the end, they had traded cell numbers.

“How did you all start coming here?” she asked Neil after she had returned from the ladies’ room and found him sitting in his usual corner.

“I don’t know,” he said. “People were coming here before I ever began at Starson.”

She nodded. “So you haven’t been there very long.”

He picked up a coaster and twisted it between his fingers. “I didn’t say that.”

“No, but The Ladder only opened a couple of years ago.” She smiled reassuringly, hoping she hadn’t embarrassed him.

She had. He blushed again. “Yeah, I guess I knew that,” he said. “Why are you talking to me?”

Natalie blinked. “Pardon me?”

“Women don’t. Usually.”

“Oh, well, maybe most women don’t look beneath the surface.”

“And you do?” He twisted the coaster again. It bent a little.

Natalie noticed that his hands were small, without the long, lean fingers Vincent had. Immediately, she felt angry at herself for having noticed Vincent’s hands. “I’m interested in a lot of things,” she said, managing a smile, “and people are almost always more interesting once you get to know them. Appearances don’t count for much.”

“So when men tell you you’re pretty…”

She squirmed slightly. Having Neil compliment her wasn’t like having Brad compliment her. Neil was painfully shy. She didn’t like taking advantage or making him think she felt something she didn’t feel.

“I don’t pay much attention. I’m not interested in being anything more than friends with any man.”

He frowned at that and continued twisting the coaster. Damn, she had probably blown this chance.

Then Neil smiled, just a bit.

“What?” she asked.

“I guess you’re not going to go to bed with Brad Herron, are you?” For a second, she thought she saw something orgasmic in Neil’s eyes, but then he quickly shrugged. “Never mind. He’s just a bit of a jerk. I don’t like to see him take advantage.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Want to play some pool?” he asked.

“Sure.” Maybe once he relaxed enough, he would tell her something of what she needed to know.

It didn’t happen. She had to cheat to keep from beating him at pool. Her brothers had taught her too well.

“You let me win,” he told her when they were done.

Uh-oh. She opened her mouth.

He surprised her by smiling. “I like that. I like a girl who knows how important it is for a man to win. I almost never win. Girls never even give me their phone numbers.

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