These Boots Were Made for Stomping by Julie Kenner

Author:Julie Kenner [Kenner, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Fantasy, General, Fiction
ISBN: 9780505527608
Google: S2Muy9i7epkC
Amazon: 050552760X
Publisher: Love Spell
Published: 2008-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

Morning came too early. Nevertheless, Joe dutifully opened his eyes only to see a white eyelet ruffle from a pillowcase that was not his own. Memories brought a smile, and his returning senses gave him her smell on her sheets and the sound of humming from her shower.

Clearly, she was one of those early risers. He grinned. Today he was prepared to forgive such unnatural behavior. He climbed out of bed and began his morning routine of exercises. He was stiffer than usual—a lot stiffer—but he didn’t mind one bit as he started working the aches out. He finished a set of deep squats, then dropped to the floor to begin his push-ups.

That’s when he saw it: one black shoe. It was the one he’d worn on his hand, the one with the Chinese character for love stitched in red on the top.

He wasn’t a man who accepted magic in his world. Not even the normal heart-fluttering, stars-in-the-eyes love kind. He’d long since categorized that as lust and chemistry causing a brain aneurism or something. But last night had proved him wrong—on both counts. What had happened with Micki hadn’t been just lust. Maybe not love, but certainly more than simple lust. And as for the sudden kung fu power? He had no answer, so he started doing his push-ups instead, glaring at the simple black velvet shoe all the while.

He was only halfway through his routine when she came out of the bathroom. He glanced up and was immediately distracted enough to blow off the rest of his workout. Pink skin barely covered by a towel, sparkling blue eyes, a shimmering fall of freshly blow-dried hair, and best of all, moist lips curving upward in a shy smile.

“Now that’s a sight to wake a man,” he said.

She blushed all the way down to her towel. “Good morning, Joe,” she said. Her tone was breathless and anxious, but she was smiling. He was smiling. And he was getting harder by the second.

Then her phone went off: a steady cascade of tones that sounded more like an alarm than a ringtone. She gasped and dashed to her dresser, her naked legs passing almost within touching distance. She grabbed her phone and thumbed it off.

“That’s the alarm,” she said breathlessly. “I have to leave for school in ten minutes.”

He frowned, wondered what time it was, then immediately decided he didn’t care. “Take the day off. Call in sick.”

She shook her head. “It’s too late.”

“No, it’s—”

“I don’t want to.” She looked up long enough to meet his gaze. “I want to go to work today.”

He understood the underlying message, at least in part. She wasn’t a woman who did one-night stands, and so this morning after left her feeling awkward and embarrassed. He could sympathize. And if it were just that, then he would happily let her run off to school where she could think and talk and do whatever women did when they were deciding about a relationship.

But it wasn’t just about them.

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