Charmed and Dangerous by Lori Wilde

jealous,” she denied and her voice went up just enough to let him know he’d nailed her insecurity dead on. “Why would I be jealous of my twin sister?”
    “Because she’s not afraid to grab life by the throat and live and you are.” He undid the last button and now he was standing just a hand’s breadth away.
    Anxiously, she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth.
    Something about that nervous yet unintentionally sexy gesture gave him a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach.
    “Who says I’m scared of life? I’m not scared. I hopped on a plane and flew to Grand Cayman without a day’s notice, didn’t I?”
    “Yes, and it’s making you a nervous wreck.”
    “I’m not a nervous wreck.”
    “Then how come your thumbnail is gnawed to the quick and you’ve got a Rolaids wrapper dangling out of your purse?”
    Frowning, she tucked the errant wrapper back inside her shoulder bag and then jerked her ravaged thumb behind her.
    “Well, it doesn’t matter. You’re following Shriver and I’m following my sister so we’re always going to end up in the same place. Wouldn’t it just be easier for you to let me in on what’s going on?”
    He could tell she was trying not to look at his chest but every so often she would sneak a peek at the expanse of skin revealed beneath his open shirt. She raised a hand to her cheek and he saw she was blushing pink.
    Gotcha.
    “Are you trying to blackmail me?” he asked, stripping off his shirt and tossing it onto the bed.
    “No more than you’re trying to intimidate me.”
    “Am I?”
    “Aren’t you?”
    “Question is, do you like it?” he asked.
    The air in the room seemed miserably hot even though he’d twisted up the controls on the air conditioner when he’d walked in. Or maybe it was the heat of his blood rushing through his veins.
    “Nobody likes being intimidated.”
    “Don’t be so sure of that. Ever heard of a submissive?”
    “I’m not a submissive,” she denied. “Far from it.”
    “You sure? You entered a man’s room while he was getting undressed.”
    “That doesn’t make me submissive. If anything, I’d say I was dominant.”
    “You dominating me?” The notion was so foreign, so utterly ridiculous that David burst out laughing.
    His derision incensed her. She stabbed an index finger in his direction. “Maybe you’re the one who’s longing to be submissive.”
    “Oh yeah?” Swiftly he covered the remaining distance between them.
    She backpedaled until she ran smack dab into the wall. David grabbed both her wrists, pinned her hands above her head and swiftly shoved one knee between her legs, completely hemming her in with no way out.
    “This look like submissive to you, darlin’?” he growled.
    They were both breathing hard, their lips almost touching.
    “For your information I’m a third degree black belt in karate,” she said.
    “Bring it on. I’m fifth degree.”
    “You don’t threaten me.” She gulped, belying her own bravado.
    He saw the column of her throat muscles pump hard and he knew he’d succeeded in intimidating her, but still she held her ground. She might be scared, but she was too damned proud to run away.
    Dammit. Why did her bravery in the face of her fear turn him on so frickin’ much? He was one sick puppy.
    His gaze locked onto hers.
    She raised her chin. She was so close her body heat set him on fire.
    They stood there a long moment, neither of them blinking, neither wanting to be the first to back down. He forced himself not to think about how nice she smelled or how her chest rose and fell in cadence with his own raspy breathing or how much he wanted to kiss her at that very moment.
    If he kept thinking like this, he’d be rock hard in a matter of seconds. He was halfway there already.
    “Yep,” she said, “I’ll be out there on my own, no protection, no gun, a woman traveling alone. You know I’m gonna be pretty well defenseless.”
    “You’re about as defenseless as a porcupine.”
    But