Pulled Under by Kelli Ireland

Author:Kelli Ireland
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-03-12T16:00:00+00:00

11

HARPER’S THROAT WAS still ferociously raw thirty-six hours after the fire. At least the emergency-room doctors had released her the same day she’d gone in via ambulance. She’d spent the majority of her time convincing Daniel to stall and give her a couple more days to wrap this case. Everything she needed to shut Beaux Hommes down was in her files and on her phone. But if Daniel showed up, it meant she’d have to turn Levi in. She wasn’t ready for that.

Speaking of Levi, he hadn’t been so lucky with the hospital staff. While Harper had suffered only minor smoke inhalation, the doctors were concerned Levi had damaged his lungs. The attending physician had insisted on admitting Levi for twenty-four hours of observation. Today he’d left her a voice mail saying he’d been released and wanted to see her.

She hadn’t called him back. Not yet, anyway. She had no idea what to say to him. What was the appropriate thing to say to someone who’d saved your life? Thanks would never be enough, and abject adoration would make her feel weird, no matter how appropriate it might be. She owed him more than simple gratitude, though. Without him, she’d have died in that building. The truth wasn’t lost on her, and no amount of gratitude seemed sufficient.

Then there was the matter of the kiss. She’d wanted to object when he’d moved on her, had wanted him to genuinely want her, not act solely out of compassion. But every protest she’d had dissolved the moment he’d cradled her face. That single tender act, so genuine in execution, had leveled her. Years of loneliness had worn her down like a predator with easy prey, and she’d wanted nothing more than for him to slay the unwelcome emotion.

And with a skill born of true compassion and heat betraying an attraction that wouldn’t be denied, he’d done just that. He’d coaxed her deeper into his arms until submission to his dominant will was as natural as the sun rising from the eastern horizon.

Then she’d panicked.

Before she could do anything about it, before she could kiss him and put herself back in the game, she’d smelled smoke. Rediscovering her passion had instantly taken a backseat to survival. And she still had a case to close—one that had become infinitely more complicated, and much bigger for her career.

For all her heart and mind understood that, she found herself craving the way Levi had made her feel sexy and desirable in that suspended moment, craving his attention, craving his companionship.

The first made sense. She hadn’t had sex in more than five years, and Levi was an exceptionally attractive man.

The second was understandable. She hadn’t had genuine male interest in a long time, not unless it was shallow and judgmental. And she neither wanted nor needed that particular type of attention from her lovers.

But the third... Over the past week, she’d come to truly like Levi, looked forward to seeing him every day and thrived on the nearly gregarious togetherness she experienced with him.

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