A Summer Smile Read Online Free

shiver ran through her. The ferocity was no longer a touch but glittering sharp as a dagger in his face. Daniel Seifert was obviously a very dangerous man. For an instant she felt almost sorry for Hassan and his meji. Then she realized just how ridiculous that thought was. He was only one man, for heaven's sake. Clearly an extraordinary man, judging from his actions in the past half hour, but not invulnerable.
    "No," she said quietly . "I've caused enough trouble. I don't want you to put yourself in any more danger because of me."
    "My choice," he said tersely. "You don't have anything to say about it. I want them."
    "I do have something to say about it." Her green eyes were suddenly sparking. "I'm very grateful for your help, but I won't accept any more from you. I'll handle everything from now on."
    "We'll see about that," Daniel muttered.
    The glance she threw at him was exasperated. She felt as if she were beating her head against a stone wall. "I mean it, you know."
    He patted her knee affectionately. "I know you do." His smile was so warm and gentle, she could almost forget the harshness that had been there before. "You seem to think you can handle the whole damn world."
    She lifted her chin. "I can."
    He chuckled, his dark blue eyes twinkling. "Maybe you can at that. It will be fun to stick around and at least see you try."
    She frowned. "How did you do it?"
    His brow lifted inquiringly.
    "My rescue. It was quite spectacular." She shook her head in wonder. "Almost unbelievable."
    "I'm very good," he said with a roguish grin. "I've been known to boggle the mind on occasion."
    "You've certainly succeeded in boggling mine. It was like something out of a James Bond movie."
    "The fireworks were a little theatrical, I admit. I have a tendency to be somewhat flamboyant, but it doesn't make me any less effective. Clancy Donahue is also very fond of gadgets and indulges me."
    "You're one of Clancy's agents?"
    His expression hardened. "I'd forgotten how familiar you are with Bradford and his friends. I was one of Clancy's lieutenants, but I'm retired now. This is in the nature of a special mission." His grim expression dissolved into a reckless grin. "He offered me something I couldn't refuse."
    "It must have been very valuable to cause you to risk your life."
    "I think it may prove to be priceless." His gaze held her own for a long moment, and she experienced hat same bewildering sensation as when he had touched her lip on the plane. But he wasn't touching her now. she thought. Only with his eyes and that smile that caused an almost physical rapport. She hurriedly looked away. "You didn't answer me. How did you do it?"
    He shrugged. "I spent most of the night planting those charges and setting the timers. The only dicey one was on the fuselage of the plane. If Hassan's outside guard had been on the ball, he would have spotted me. There was no ground cover."
    "Was that a tear gas bomb you exploded on the plane?"
    He shook his head. "It was one of Clancy's chemical specials, created to affect the sinuses and the respiratory tract. It's far more sophisticated than tear gas, as well as much more painful. One good whiff and it almost completely incapacitates a man." His eyes darkened with concern. "Are you all right?"
    She nodded. "My chest aches and I can't seem to stop crying. Otherwise I'm fine." She frowned. "But how did you manage to stand it with nothing to cover your face?"
    "Nose plugs and contact lenses." He grimaced. "Together with that damned false ear I felt like the bionic man from the television series."
    "Oh, yes, the false ear." She shook her head and chuckled. "I nearly fell over when you tore your left ear off. It looked so real."
    "Nothing but the best for Clancy. He did give me a choice of which appendage I wanted to duplicate for the bomb. But there were only two choices, and the other appendage I refused to destroy even in effigy." He glanced casually at the gauges on the panel in front of him and his smile