Personal Protector by Debra Webb

Author:Debra Webb
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2002-08-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Piper stood in her bedroom and contemplated facing Martinez this morning. She pressed her palms and forehead against the cool flat surface of her door and chastised herself once more for allowing that second kiss. She made a disparaging sound in her throat. “Right, Ryan,” she muttered. It wasn’t the kiss that had been so bad, it was the way she’d tried to climb right inside his skin.

Disgusted, she whirled and sagged against the door. There was nothing like making a fool of oneself to bring a girl’s self-esteem down a few degrees. She’d all but attacked the guy like a horny teenager. The only thing that had stopped her from really screwing up was the stinging reminder of her recent trip to the hospital. Reality had crashed down around her then. Big-time.

Piper straightened and squared her shoulders. It was simple. She’d just tell Martinez he had to go home—to Mr. Rizzoli’s—where he belonged. He couldn’t stay all night with her again. His being this close in the middle of the night would likely prove too tempting for even a saint. Anyway, she felt fine now. Just a little tenderness around the stitches, which was expected.

Except she was obviously losing her mind. It had to be that stupid diary entry coming back to haunt her. The memory of her and Darlene’s silly proposal of the necessary male qualities had obviously planted some silly notion in her subconscious. Between that and the fact that she hadn’t had sex in a year, she was vulnerable to Martinez’s numerous charms.

That had to be it.

The only thing she had to do was get rid of him.

Decision made, Piper took a deep breath and faced the door with the intention of putting her plan in motion. The telephone rang as she reached for the doorknob. Grateful for any sort of reprieve, however temporary, she hurried to her bedside table and snatched up the receiver.

“Ryan.”

“Miss Ryan—” the voice was male, and there was a slight hesitation “—this is Keith at the station.”

She instantly went into reporter mode. “What’s up, Keith?” She glanced at the clock on the bedside table and winced, 10:00 a.m. She never slept this late. She supposed she wouldn’t have this morning if she’d been able to sleep after that kiss. It had been almost 5:00 a.m. before she’d finally fallen back to sleep. Those tantalizing fantasies featuring Martinez had taunted her both before and after she’d finally dropped off into a fretful sleep. She had to find a way to get this guy out of her system. Piper never, ever had this kind of trouble staying focused.

“Look, I know you’re supposed to be off today, and Mr. Sullenger would probably have my hide if he knew I was calling you.” Keith fell silent then…as if realizing the truth in his own words.

Impatient, Piper frowned. “Don’t worry about Dave. What’s the problem?”

“Well, you know that open house Mrs. Carlisle is having to showcase the proposed new hospital wing?”

Piper massaged her forehead with the tips of her fingers.

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