Read Guarding Kelsey ((Books We Love Romantic Suspense)) for Free Online Page A

look embarrassed. He picked up her fork and began eating. The way he attacked the food, she wondered if the man had eaten in the last week.
    Wolf sent her a boyish grin. "I don't suppose you have any bread?" Flecks of gold danced in his eyes. He took a fiendish delight in annoying her.
    "Perhaps you'd like a nice Chardonnay to accompany your meal?"
    "No. Cappuccino and a raspberry torte will be fine."
    With a groan of exasperation, she stormed into the kitchen. The man hadn’t been content with ruining her dinner, he ate it as well. How was she going to survive the long nights with a disagreeable, overbearing, opinionated . . and thoroughly sexy man living under her roof? Damn! She needed to have her head examined. Handsome is as handsome does her father used to say. So far, the distracting detective had done nothing but annoy the hell out of her.
    She folded her arms on the butcher-block counter and rested her head down with a moan. At times like this, she missed her father so much. Whenever life became overwhelming she could count on him to cheer her up. God must have needed an angel because Kelsey could find no other reason why her father's life would have been cut short in such a tragic way. For one tiny second she thought she felt his hand on her shoulder.
    Her fantasy ended when the pressure on her shoulder became stronger. A breath caught in her throat, muffling her startled cry. She straightened and whirled around. It took her a few seconds to realize she was in no danger. At least, no physical danger. The man definitely posed a threat to her peace of mind.
    "Are you okay?" Wolf asked.
    "I'm fine," she gasped as she tried to get her breathing back to normal. The numbness of panic gave way to an uneasy relief.
    "Thank you for dinner."
    "Help yourself to anything in the refrigerator. If you are the only thing standing between me and death, I'd prefer you didn't pass out from hunger." Guilt washed over her from her ungracious offer. Her uncle was right. The man was here to protect her, whether he liked her or not.
    When he returned to the seat by the door, she experienced an odd sense of disappointment. Did she really expect him to entertain her? She’d lived on her own for a while and she had come to enjoy, even prefer the solitude. So why did she have this sudden urge for company. Not just any company, his company. And why did she feel slighted that he had no interest in hers? Perhaps her next research project should focus on why women were such fools when it came to men. She could start with herself as a case study.
     
    * * *
     
    At eleven o’clock Wolf made another sweep through the penthouse. The silence unnerved him. No television, no stereo, not even the hum of a computer broke the stillness. Had he unintentionally put Kelsey off of using anything in her home? When he had told her that two sets of ears listening was better than one, he hadn’t meant for her to take him so literally.
    As he entered the living room this round, he found her fast asleep on the sofa. Research books piled on the coffee table blocked his view of her face. He moved closer to get a better look. In sleep she had a sense of peace that sadly deserted her in a conscious state.
    The light scent of her perfume lingered in the air. Damn she was beautiful! Even in her worn fleece outfit and black rimmed glasses resting on the bridge of her nose, she out-classed any woman he’d known. She’d curled around a thick textbook on abnormal psychology. Hell of a thing to be snuggling up with, he thought. Although he wouldn’t mind having her wrapped around him like that.
    He groaned. His thoughts were way out of line. She was a job to him, nothing more. They might live in the same city but they came from two different worlds.
    He needed to get his mind off her killer curves and back on the psychotic killer. Bad enough he was responsible for her safety. Even when he’d focused, he’d managed to let one person down. He would be damned if he would