Read The Greatest Risk for Free Online Page A

would be on her.
    When he looked back at her face she looked earnest and indignant, and Luke found he had to put a hand up to his mouth and bite on his knuckle so he wouldn’t laugh. It would be a mistake to laugh in the face of her earnestness.
    â€œAnd then,” she continued, “if I say to hell with what you think since you’ve already seen my skirt stuck around my hips—”
    She didn’t look like the kind of girl who used even mild curse words like hell very often. Dare he hope he was already being an evil influence on her?
    â€œâ€”and get the butter, maybe even double butter, then my fingers are covered in grease and if you try to hold my hand, not saying that you would, but—”
    He held up his hand to stop the flow of words, choked down the laughter that was trying to get out and gazed down at her, trying to discern if she was attempting to amuse him or if it just came naturally to her.
    It occurred to him that it had been a very long time since he’d been anything but bored with any woman, with the notable exception of Amber.
    Having tamed the twitching of his lips, he finally said, “Has anybody ever suggested you might take life a tad too seriously?”
    She nodded, sadly.
    â€œI mean that is just way too much effort put into thinking about popcorn.”
    â€œI know. I’m twenty-seven years old, and I have more self-doubt than I had as a teenager. It’s pathetic.”
    Uh-oh. If he was not mistaken, he heard a past heartbreak in there. What else took a beautiful woman’s confidence from her so thoroughly? Geez. Somebody should teach this girl how to have a little fun. Not him, of course, but someone.
    His voice of reason told him to wish her a polite good night and a nice life and get the hell back to his room. It told him heartbreak made women fragile. It told him he was the man least likely to be entrusted with anything fragile even for a few hours.
    His voice of reason pointed out to him that she was worried about whether they were going to hold hands, for heaven’s sake, and his mind was already conquering her lips and beyond.
    Of course, if he was any damned good at listening to his voice of reason, he wouldn’t be in the hospital for the seventh time in five years.
    â€œWhat do you say we downgrade?” he suggested after a moment’s thought.
    â€œDowngrade?”
    â€œYou know, from a date. We’ll just grab a cup of coffee somewhere.”
    She wanted to say yes. He could tell. But she didn’t.
    â€œI don’t think it’s a very good idea,” she said uncertainly.
    It was really beginning to bug him that she found him so infinitely irresistible that she was resisting with all her might.
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œWell, it’s just the popcorn question with a different backdrop. Maybe worse. We’d have to talk. I mean just stare across the table and look at each other and think of clever things to say.”
    Clever? Was she kidding? You told a few blond jokes, you talked about your job and your motorcycle, you found out she’d been a cheerleader in high school and owned a poodle. Maggie expected clever? It was his turn to worry.
    His voice of reason told him to bid her adieu, go back to his room and start a gratitude journal.
    Entry number one could be how grateful he was to have avoided any kind of involvement with a woman who didn’t know anything about flirting, dating or making small talk with the opposite sex. And also one who was so obviously a fresh survivor of a heartbreak.
    â€œSo, how do you usually get to know people?” his other voice asked. “Meaning men people?”
    â€œOh, you know. Shared interests. Work. Church.”
    Shared interests? Would that be the poodle or the motorbike? Work? He couldn’t even picture Amber on a construction site! And the worst one of all—church?
    Whoo boy, church girls were not on his list of potential dates. In his limited