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pressed insistently against her bottom although for some reason she sensed absolutely no
threat from him. Exactly the opposite, in fact. Abby realized she had never felt safer than
when he held her, now or then. The though nagged at her, but she didn t want to explore
it right now.
"I missed you," he growled.
"I haven t missed you one iota," came the soft reply.
Although she couldn t see him, she knew he was smiling. "You re as bad a liar as your
father, little girl."
She wisely kept silent.
"Your father likes me."
A delicate snort was issued from just under his chin. "There s no accounting for his
tastes."
Dane chuckled outright. "Anybody ever tell you that having a smart mouth can get you
into trouble?"
"Only you."
They were quiet for several moments, then he said softly, but again, without any
movement, "I want you."
Abby sucked in a breath and went stiff on him. "You ve always wanted me."
"But I never did anything about it."
Like those other men did to her friends, was left unsaid between them.
"No, you didn t."
"I would never have forced myself on you."
She wasn t sure whether she believed that or not. "Instead you forced my own pleasure
on me. And you beat me."
He sighed. "Pleasuring you was one of the most satisfying things I ve ever done in my
life. And spanking you was another."
Abby levered herself away from him indignantly. "You abused me!"
"I wanted you."
"And that makes everything you did all right?"
"Would you have preferred that I kill you like Brittany s owner did?" When her eyes
filled with tears and she leaned as far away from him as his hold would allow, Dane
wished whole-heartedly that he could retract his words.
The spell was broken for Abby. "Let me up, please," she asked tonelessly.
To her surprise, he did as she asked; merely watching her attentively from the wing
backed chair.
Suddenly, Abby realized just how tired she was. It was all too much. Her shoulders
slumped and her eyes filled with tears; she knew she had to get him out of here before she
fell completely apart. The truth seemed like the most likely bet to work. "Listen, I m
bushed  "
Dane rose, cutting off her big speech. "I can take a hint." But he stopped right in front of
her. Abby hung her head deliberately, not wanting the imminent tears to fall in front of
him, but an insistent finger beneath her chin wouldn t allow her to hide from him as two
fat tears rolled down her cheeks. The sight of her in such despair ate at his conscience
like acid. "C mere." Taking matters into his own arms, he lifted her off her feet and
carried her out of the room, going up the stairs two at a time as if she weighed no more
than a pocketful of change.
"Put me down!" she squeaked, but not too loudly for fear of waking her father.
He tromped down the hall as if she hadn t spoken, growling, "Where s your room?"
"But  " She stopped at the look on his face, knowing that if she pushed him he wouldn t
hesitate to knock on every door. "Second on the left."
The room suited her to a T  all roses and creams and feminine warmth. Dane undressed
her with genderless efficiency while she protested ineffectually, then popped her into the
nightgown that was lying at the end of the bed and tucked her under the covers like he
had when they first met. He sat down next to her and stroked the hair away from her face
reverently. "Get some sleep, honey. You re exhausted." He bent down and kissed her lips
fleetingly before she had a chance to react, then strode to the door, throwing a parting
shot over his shoulder. "I ll be seeing you."
And he wasn t kidding. Benjamin had all but adopted him, Abby thought derisively
several weeks later, when Dane was joining them for dinner for the third time in less than
a week.
"Don t you have a job to do?" Abby queried less than subtly, interrupting the rampant
male bonding-fest the two were conducting.
Her father looked aghast at her gall, but Dane merely grinned. "No, actually, my job is
done on a consulting basis, shall we say, and I ve decided to take an impromptu
vacation."
"And a well deserved one," her father chimed in, raising his glass gleefully.
"And you decided to grace us with your presence? Don t you have any friends you could
impose on?"
"Abigail Madeline Sinclair!" When her father used her full name, she knew better than to
push it any farther. Abby had the grace to blush.
"Your father was gracious enough to extend an invitation to me to come and visit any
time. I decided to take him up on it."
Benjamin pinned his recalcitrant daughter with a stony glare, stating emphatically, "And
he is to be treated as an honored guest any time he s here, Abigail. Is that understood?"
Suddenly, she was seven years old again, and dangerously close to getting her bottom
tanned by her father. "Yes, Sir," she said meekly.
"Damn straight." Ben hated having to chastise his daughter but he didn t quite understand
her outright animosity towards Dane. His voice was softer and full of emotion as he
continued, "This man saved your life, Abby. I d hate to think what I would do if I d  if
I d lost you."
Abby patted her father s hand comfortingly. "Me, too, Daddy," she whispered around the
aching lump in her throat.
Dane felt a sharp stab of jealousy at their obvious love for each other. He d never had a
parent s love, and now it seemed he wasn t likely to win over the one woman in his life
he d fallen in love with. It was totally unfair to press such an obvious advantage, but
then, he was trained to fight dirty. "I d hoped to be able to take your daughter out,
Benjamin, but she s turned me down flat every time I ve asked."
Abby s eyes bugged out of her head. The slime!! It was dirty pool of him to get her father
involved. As far as Daddy was concerned, Dane walked on water. Now she d never get
out of going out with him, dammit!!
"Why is that, Abby? You haven t gone out at all since you ve been back. Do you some
good to get out."
Dane tried unsuccessfully to suppress a grin as Benjamin took up for him right on cue.
He snuck a look at how Abby was taking his ploy, and ran right into a threatening glare
from her that promised future retribution. He d enjoy the hell out of it if she tried, so he
merely winked back at her teasingly.
Recognizing that there was truly no hope for it, she acquiesced ungraciously, her fork
clanking down on the plate loudly. "Fine. When do you want to go out?"
Well, it was hardly the reception he d dreamed of, but at this stage of the game; he d take
what he could get until he was in a position again to straighten out her attitude.
"Tomorrow," came the answer. "I ll pick you up, and we ll go out to dinner."
"What time?"
"Seven."
"Fine."
Such enthusiasm, he thought. Well, hopefully he could get her to change her mind.
Abby was quiet while Dane drove to the restaurant, and still quiet when they sat down to
eat. "Are you going to sulk all through dinner, little girl?" he asked in a tone that said she
would end up in big trouble if that was the case.
She peeped over the big menu at him, amazed anew at how gorgeous he looked in a gray
double-breasted suit that seemed to be cut specifically to accent the breadth of his
shoulders. "No. I m not sulking. I just don t know what to say to you."
He considered her thoughtfully for a moment. "Tell me what you ve been doing since
you got back. Did Gig treat you all right?"
Surprisingly, he kept her talking and laughing all the way through dinner, not giving her
time to feel uncomfortable with him. They discussed a wide range of topics, some of
which they agreed on and some of which they debated hotly. Abby enjoyed herself
thoroughly, despite her reservations about the evening.
Dane dropped her off back at the house, declining a sincere offer to come in. He was
finding it damned hard to resist just sweeping her off her feet and carrying her to the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]