Going All Out. Jeanie London

couldn’t decide if Bree was flirting with him. She was a beautiful woman who would no doubt be used to men gawking, so he suspected she was charming as a matter of course. Her job as a hostess would demand that.

      But Lucas wanted to know more about what had brought her into his backyard tonight. Given the damage she’d endured to her person, she must have been very serious about getting away from whoever had been following her.

      He didn’t think this woman would frighten easily.

      “So what does a VIP hostess do?” He gently probed her skin, searching for debris. Finding her scratches pink and clean, he tossed the antiseptic wipe and went for the antibiotic ointment.

      “I’m guessing you don’t gamble much,” she said.

      “Some buddies and I head into Vegas every so often to make a weekend of it. I went to a wedding there once.”

      Her mouth pursed in a thoughtful moue, red, ripe and ready to be kissed. “In a nutshell, it’s my job to keep my guests happy so they don’t have to think about anything but spending their money at our tables. I arrange their meals and their schedules. I entertain their families while they’re gaming.”

      “Sounds demanding.”

      “Sometimes. What a man wants is what he gets.”

      There were so many places Lucas could take that statement. Of course, his supercharged libido conjured up images of her stretched out before him much in the way she was right now, thighs parted, breasts thrust forward.

      Wearing nothing but a smile.

      He knew what he wanted. “Lucky guys.”

      She only shrugged.

      Running a fingertip down her thigh, he traced the outer edge of a scratch. “We definitely need to cover this one. What do you think about your knees? I’ve got some bandages here that should do the trick.”

      Her eyes shuttered beneath thickly fringed lashes as she stared at the scratches, considering. “Please. I’d like to get home without all this greasy ointment on my dress. I’ve done enough damage tonight already.”

      “Take it off. I’ll get you a towel. We’ve got neighbors who’d like watching you parade through the court.”

      Tilting her head to the side, she sent a wave of glossy hair tumbling over a shoulder as she laughed. “Wouldn’t want to steal your thunder.”

      “Plenty of thunder to share.”

      “Gracious of you. But I’m just glad you weren’t asleep when I dropped in. My luck and you’d have awakened and called the police before I raised the white flag.”

      “I’m glad, too.” He met her gaze, drawn to the way those eyes flashed with humor, daring, excitement. Such expressive eyes.

      “So tell me, Lucas. Do you always shower so late at night? Or is this early morning for you?”

      “Late. I was working and lost track of time.”

      “Designing law-enforcement software?”

      He nodded. “A job perk. I work anytime, anywhere.”

      “Lucky you.”

      Lucas agreed. Especially when he got to touch her again, smoothing the antibiotic ointment up her thigh. Her skin was supple and velvety-soft beneath his fingers. Each stroke became an effort of will. He wanted to trail his hands even higher. His blood started a throbbing descent toward his crotch, and Lucas wondered what he’d been thinking when he’d put on these sweatpants. A tight seam right now would have worked.

      “What are the other job perks to writing law-enforcement software?” she asked.

      Hearing that slight breathlessness to her voice steeled his resolve not to let her see how she affected him, not when she worked so hard to keep him guessing about how he was affecting her. “Owning the company, for starters. I come and go as I please. I touch base with my office staff and my programmers a lot, but that’s what the phone, fax and Internet are for.”

      “So you’re a high-tech kind of guy. I’m a little surprised. Josie strikes me as very traditional.”

      After watching his sister pursue her new husband through the decades, Lucas wasn’t sure he’d go straight to traditional. “Josie’s more of a people person.”

      “Meaning you’re not?”

      He shrugged. “I spend a lot of time in the field, getting to know what’s happening inside various law-enforcement agencies. That’s how I learn what they need from their software and how to provide it.”

      “You get bored easily, don’t you? You like a challenge.”

      There was something in her voice, and he couldn’t pinpoint whether liking challenges was good or bad in her estimation. Either way, he couldn’t deny the charge. “I do.”

      “And the freedom of traveling.”

      He smoothed a strip of adhesive tape over her thigh, securing gauze over the cut. “Like I said, give me a laptop with a satellite uplink and I can work anywhere.”

      And frequently did. One particular bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean came quickly to mind. Then there was a national park where he felt like the only person on the planet. He could think better when his head was quiet, late night or early morning or during the day with nothing but the surf breaking on the cliffs or the wind rustling through the trees.

      He’d worked hard to shape his life to his wants, which was why he couldn’t understand when it had all become so routine. Work had been his only salvation from a growing sense of discontent, and when he came across a new interest, there was no avoiding how lifeless everything else had become by comparison.

      Bree Addison felt like a challenge.

      “Here we go.” He wrapped up his triage with a large bandage over each knee. “Feel good?”

      She nodded, sitting up to survey the result. “You’re very good with your hands. Thank you.”

      “All in a night’s work.”

      She laughed at that, a whiskey-rich sound that filtered through him with a lot more impact than a laugh should have.

      Lucas didn’t want to let her go yet. The idea of brewing coffee and greeting the dawn while continuing their conversation appealed, but he had no real reason to keep her here.

      He settled for retrieving her shoes, thinking it was sort of a sad commentary on what his life had become that he had to devise ways to keep a beautiful woman with him.

      “Allow me.” He reached for a shapely ankle.

      “Tell me, Lucas. What did I do to deserve all this five-star treatment? By all rights, you could have sent me downtown for trespassing.”

      “And let the police have all the fun of interrogating you? I don’t think so.”

      She treated him to that laugh again, a sound as dusky and sultry as the dark outside, a sound that shouldn’t feel physical but did.

      Dragging his hand down her ankle, Lucas explored the feel of her smooth skin beneath his fingers and hoped he wasn’t being too obvious. Bree had feet as delicate as the rest of her and as well groomed. Her toes boasted perfectly maintained nails in a subtle red shade that matched her manicure.

      He slid the sandal into place, then attempted to fasten the strap around her ankle.

      “Here, let me,” she said. “You might be very good with your hands, but this is a job for smaller fingers.”

      She brushed him away with a warm touch. Her hair swung forward in a silky wave as she leaned over, and Lucas stood rooted to the spot, inhaling a breath that was subtly spicy fragrance and all enticing woman.

      With a few deft maneuvers, Bree fastened the strap, then extended her other