Read Terms of Surrender for Free Online Page A

eyebrows. “I didn’t, not 100%. Not until you just confirmed it, anyway.”
    She slapped her palm against her forehead. “I can’t believe I fell for it. I should have pretended I had no idea what you were talking about.”
    “That might have worked, but, uh, I was pretty sure. Now, fess up…is that what we were really talking about earlier?”
    “’Fraid so.”
    Remembering everything he’d said before, he added, “So you thought I was offering to get in your car and, what, give you directions on how to pull up your own underwear?”
    “Something like that.”
    He snorted. “The day I need to use a line like that is the day I trade in my single-man-on-the-prowl club card.”
    Her smile might have faded the tiniest bit. “Are you?”
    “Am I what? Single?”
    “And on the prowl?”
    Knowing she was questioning her own instincts, wondering if he was some kind of sleazy on-the-make playboy, he answered her truthfully. “Yes and no. I’m single, but I haven’t been accused of prowling since I was ten and played my last game of Ding-Dong-Dash at old Mrs. McCurdy’s house.”
    “Ding-Dong…”
    “You know. Ring the doorbell and run? Didn’t you ever play that as a kid?”
    She shuddered. “I grew up on military bases. No doorbells. And not much of a sense of humor from most of the guys who lived behind those doors.”
    “Yeah, well, old Mrs. McCurdy didn’t laugh much, either.”
    One corner of her mouth went up. “You got caught?”
    “Uh-huh. She was pretty spry for being on the verge of mummification.”
    Tsking, she shook her head. “Couldn’t outrun an old lady. Bet your friends didn’t let you live that one down.”
    “Nope, even though they all bailed on me when she grabbed me by the back of the shirt and dragged me into the house so she could call my parents.”
    “Uh-oh. Sounds like the opening of a horror movie on the Chiller channel.”
    “Just about. Get this, while we waited for my folks to show up, she made me look at her poor, swollen feet to show me how horrible I’d been to make her get up to answer the door.”
    “Eww!”
    “Tell me about it. Old lady feet—is there anything worse to a ten-year-old boy?”
    “Bet you never rang any doorbells and ran again,” she quipped.
    He held his fingers up in a Scout’s promise. “Not once.”
    “She sounds like a smart old lady.”
    His lips quirked. “She was. I felt so guilty afterward I always brought her paper up onto her porch instead of tossing it into the driveway.” Then he added, “And she definitely taught me a lesson.”
    “About ringing doorbells?”
    “About feet. If you ever need something to kill a fleeting moment of happiness, or a glimmer of sexual interest? Just think of old feet.”
    “Noted. But for the record, I happen to have great feet and I don’t intend to let that change.” Her smile was bright and comfortable, as if she’d finally let down all guard, and was being completely herself for the first time since they’d met.
    “Great feet, huh? Most people wouldn’t claim that.”
    She shrugged. “Don’t ask what I think about my goofy-looking ears or my thin, flat hair, but I have supreme confidence in my feet. Even pedicurists compliment them.”
    He glanced down at the sexy, spike-heeled pumps. He’d like to pull them off and closely examine those feet. Then work his way up. Inch by devastating inch.
    He already knew he’d have to add her calves to the list of fabulous body parts. And he suspected if he kept going up those legs, he’d find quite a few more.
    Danny shook his head, hard. Jesus, this woman was turning him into some kind of hound dog. He never started immediately thinking about how sexy a woman was right after meeting her. If she was attractive? Sure. Smart? Yeah. But downright I-think-I’ll-die-if-I-can’t-go-to-bed-with-you-soon thoughts? Uh-uh.
    He knew why. It wasn’t just how attractive she was—he’d met plenty of attractive women. It was because of the sharp bolt of