Read Prince of Air and Darkness for Free Online

my type?”
    She laughed. “No. I don’t think the two of your egos could fit in the same room at the same time.”
    He took the jibe with his usual good-natured humor, laughing as he reached out to rumple her hair. “Hey!” she cried, batting his arm out of the way.
    “You can’t mean to tell me you think I could do any damage to that unruly mess!” he protested.
    “Leave my hair out of this,” she grumbled. “I like it just the way it is. And you’re not a hairdresser.” She used her fingers to smooth out the curls as best she could. As a teenager, she’d tried unsuccessfully to tame them. Now, as a mature adult, she was determined to embrace them.
    Jackson pushed away from the desk and glanced at the screen once more. “Brilliant,” he told her again. “Absolutely brilliant.” He bent to plant a light kiss on her cheek. “Worth every cent I paid you for it. And more, I might add.”
    She’d refused to charge him full price for her services, despite his protestations. He couldn’t have afforded it, and besides, it just didn’t seem right to charge a friend full price. “If I ever have a dog or cat, you can sit for it at half price to make up the difference,” she told him.
    He sighed heavily. “If you weren’t allergic, I would feel much more comforted. Ah, well. I’ll find a devious way to pay you back, never fear.”
    “As long as that devious way has nothing to do with Hunter, that’s fine.” She recognized her tactical error the moment the words left her mouth, but it was too late to stuff them back in.
    “Hunter?” Jackson asked with a wicked grin. “His name is Hunter?”
    “Let it go, Jackson.”
    “But even the name sounds sexy. I’ve got to meet this guy.”
    “Go play with your kittens and puppies. I’ve got work to do.”
    “For Hunter the sexpot?”
    “Jackson, you’ve got one of the finest asses known to mankind, and it would be a terrible shame if I took a big bite out of it. Go!”
    With another laugh, Jackson finally withdrew, leaving Kiera to wonder if she should have kept her mouth shut. If Jackson took it into his head to play matchmaker . . . She shuddered to think just what kind of mischief her best and oldest friend would get into.
    ****
    A week after her first meeting with Hunter, Kiera dug his card out of her coat pocket in search of his email address. She’d finished the three design schemes and wanted to email the links to him, but to her annoyance, there was no email address on his card. Grumbling to herself, wondering what kind of business owner failed to put his email address on his card, she reached for the phone.
    Kiera found herself hoping he wouldn’t be home, that she could just leave a message and not have to talk to him. The less contact she had with him, the better. He was too tempting, and though she doubted his flirting was serious, she didn’t like how it made her feel, like she was simultaneously attracted to him and ready to run for the hills. She knew her disastrous love-life had left some scars on her heart—how could it not?—but she hadn’t realized how deep those scars ran.
    Of course, life was never easy, so Hunter answered on the second ring.
    “Hello?” His greeting was a sensual purr that made her breath catch in her throat.
    “Um, hi,” Kiera said a little too brightly. “This is Kiera Malone.” He probably has caller ID, you dope, whispered a voice in the back of her head. What was it about this guy that made her feel like an awkward teenager? “I wanted to email you some mockups, but your card didn’t have an email address on it.”
    “Why don’t we meet at the coffee shop and you can show them to me in person?”
    That idea was not in the least appealing. At least, that’s what Kiera told herself. “I’d rather just email you, if that’s okay.” Maybe she was being a bit rude, but she saw no reason she had to see him in person for this. Hell, she’d never even laid eyes on most of her clients.
    Hunter