Read Brody & Hannigan 02 - Grand Theft Lotto for Free Online Page B

away from his face, looking away when she saw the faint glimmer of hurt in his eyes. He pushed to his feet and started clearing their dishes from the table.
    "I'm not immune," she said quietly.
    "To my boyish charm?" he countered lightly, scraping the leftover soup into a plastic container for storage in the refrigerator. He was frugal for a guy who came from money. One of his boyish charms.
    "That and your smokin' hot body," she answered, smiling a little when he slanted a look her way. "It's just—working with you is the best thing in my life. Professionally, we're so well suited. So in tune."
    "And you don't want to risk that."
    "No."
    "I think it may be too late."
    She looked up sharply, alarm rising in her throat. "No."
    "I'm not as strong as you are. I'm not as controlled. I can't compartmentalize my life the way you do—you know I can't." He put the leftovers in the refrigerator, closed the door and leaned against the counter. "I have this picture in my mind of how good we'd be together, and sometimes, it's all I can think about."
    "You mean how good we'd be in bed."
    He took a deep breath, his expression deadly serious. "I mean how good we'd be in a relationship. A real one. More than just sex."
    She stared at him. "Since when?"
    "Since you told me to go home, and I realized I belong here. With you."
    "This is too fast." Restless energy pushed her to her feet, propelled her toward the kitchen window. Outside, nightfall had nearly reached completion, with only the faintest indigo glow backlighting the trees in her backyard. "Can't we slow this down?"
    "How?"
    She made herself turn to look at him. "Stay tonight. Hold my hand. Can that be enough?"
    He released a pent-up breath. "You tax a man's control, Stella Hannigan. But, yes. That can be enough." His eyes darkened with intent. "For now."
    When he looked at her that way, she found her own cautious nature slipping away, unleashing the impetuous side that wanted nothing more than to push Brody down on the table and finish what they'd started That Night at Magnolia Park Lookout.
    She reined it in and took his hand, leading him out of the kitchen into her front room. Releasing his hand, she crossed to the stereo and put on a mix CD she knew he liked. The Eagles started things off with "Lyin' Eyes," and she turned to find Brody on her sofa, patting the cushion next to him with a smile on his face.
    She couldn't hold back her own smile as she sat beside him, leaning toward him as he draped his arm over her shoulders.
    "Too fast?" he murmured.
    She shook her head. "This is nice."
    He rested his head against hers and fell silent, letting the Eagles fill the conversational gap. After the Eagles came Marshall Tucker Band and "Fire on the Mountain," followed by Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising." Tension slowly flowed from her limbs, and her eyes drooped shut.
    She was back standing in an alley suddenly, the brick walls closing in. And from nowhere, a frog gig was flying at her throat, too fast to evade.
    Too fast to miss.
    She jolted forward, her hand rising to her throat.
    Brody's arm tightened around her. "Hannigan?"
    She forced her breathing back to normal. "Dozed off."
    "Nightmare?"
    The image lingered. "Do you think Dwayne saw it coming?"
    "His death?"
    "The frog gig."
    "Oh. I don't know," Brody admitted. "Probably not. I think it happened so quickly he didn't know what hit him."
    She hoped so. She hadn't cared much for her cousin's life choices in recent years, but he'd been family. And, for a few years as kids, they'd been damned near inseparable.
    "Dwayne used to take me fishing," she said after a few more minutes of uninterrupted southern rock from the CD player. "Up on Sweetbriar Creek. One time, we caught this enormous bluegill—had to weigh close to a pound. It was as big as my daddy's hand, and he had a big hand. My brothers were so jealous."
    "Did you eat it?"
    She looked up at him with horror. "No. I took it back to the creek. We'd kept the poor