Dangerous Refuge by Elizabeth Lowell Page A

progress reports,” Kimberli said.
    “Of course,” Shaye said over her shoulder.
    She wondered which twin she was leaving the party with. If it was the rude one, she’d lose him in the parking lot.

Seven
     
    L ess than an hour later, Shaye was relaxed with the nice twin that had saved her from the party. “It’s a good thing Kimberli needs to stay on your sunny side.”
    Tanner made a sound that could have been agreement.
    Hard to tell, since he had a mouthful of burger. She took a delightfully sinful french fry from the container she held on her knees and wondered if he had the same fizzy feeling in his blood as she did.
    Maybe it was just escaping from a gala. Maybe it was Tanner, her unlikely knight in rented armor, rescuing her from a dragon in a red dress and making her wonder how it would feel to be thoroughly kissed by a man like him.
    Stupid teenage thoughts. But I can’t stop thinking them.
    Tanner’s eyes reflected the moonlight coming through the windshield.
    She shook her head. “You look like a wolf with a lamb chop. And Kimberli . . .” Shaye’s laughter bubbled up in the darkened car. “Oh, to have a picture of her face when you whisked me out of there. She’s too used to having men hanging on her every word.”
    “More like her cleavage,” he said, licking ketchup off the side of his thumb.
    Shaye tried not to agree, but it was impossible.
    Like being here, now, with Tanner. Impossible.
    Smiling, she savored another fry while he wolfed the rest of his burger and reached for another.
    “Good thing I wasn’t hungry,” she said.
    “I offered to share.” In fact, he’d like to share a lot more than a hamburger with her. She was surprisingly easy company, unafraid of either silence or conversation.
    “When I went to the gala, the last thing I expected was to be eating dinner overlooking Lake Tahoe with the mythical tall, dark stranger sitting next to me,” she said. “Especially since he could have scared off a dragon by looking at it last night.”
    “I said I was sorry,” he answered without complaint. “I’m different, not strange. And this is a greasy take-out snack. But I’ll give you the lake.”
    “Really? I’ve always wanted a place on the water.”
    He smiled and wondered if she’d bolt if he gave her the kiss he’d been thinking about since he first saw her at the party and wished he hadn’t been such an ass the night before. “I can see how you got around Lorne.”
    “I didn’t ‘get around him,’ ” she said instantly.
    “Relax. It was a compliment not a poke. You have an easy way about you, that’s all.”
    She sighed. “Sorry. It’s been a rough few days.”
    “The lawyer told me about the scavengers and Lorne’s body.” Tanner licked up another stray drop of ketchup. “Must have been a shock for you.”
    She just stared at him.
    “Look, when you’re a cop, you get used to poking at the grim and grimy details of life and having it not kill your appetite,” Tanner said. “Or you starve.”
    She opened her mouth, closed it, swallowed, tried again. “That explains the bedside manner. Do you . . . like the work?”
    “It’s complicated. And you swiped my fries.”
    “I was just holding them for you,” she said, chewing one, wide-eyed and innocent.
    “Prove it. Feed some to me.”
    She met his eyes. The dare and the male heat made her feel like she was sixteen again. She picked up a fry and held it in his direction. He took her hand and nipped the greasy bit of potato from her fingers.
    “You left some ketchup on me,” he said in a deep voice.
    For an instant she thought about cleaning his lips with her tongue. Then common sense kicked in. Flirtation was one thing, expected in a social setting. What was in his eyes was another thing entirely.
    Without a word she handed him a napkin and the rest of the fries. He ate some more as if nothing had happened.
    And licked his fingers.
    Is it crazy to find a man’s tongue sexy? she asked herself as