Her Gentle Giant: No Regrets Read Online Free Page B

would it be like the cigarette smoke, something that had to be washed off his skin and out of his hair.
    With his long, shiny black hair, Eli had been very different from the other men who came in the club, although that hadn’t seemed to deter him from fitting in and socializing well with the clientele and employees.

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    Later in the evening, after she’d gotten a load of that freaking-hot shelf bra that Grace had showed her and her sister, Charity, in the ladies’ room, the three of them had danced together to a Big & Rich song. Rachel absolutely loved to dance, and sometimes it didn’t matter if she had a partner or not, or if they were male or female, some songs she had to dance to. “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy” definitely topped her list of must -dance songs.
    Grace and Charity had evidently felt the same way. They’d gone out on that dance floor, and all three had shaken what their mamas had given them, leaving the men at Grace’s table slack-jawed and glassy-eyed with lust. It’d been almost comical.
    Rachel had thrown her head back and laughed from the pure joy of moving to the beat and happened to look over and had caught that handsome new bouncer staring straight at her with what she could only call intense interest. It had been obvious in his body language. She’d almost been able feel the heat of his gaze on her body. She’d glanced his way again as she’d turned, moving her hips in a sensual rhythm, and had seen that his eyes were still on her. Boldly, Rachel had danced the rest of the song for him, sliding her hands around her hips to her ass and then up her rib cage and into her hair. Unfortunately, the song had to come to an end.
    More groups had filtered in through the door, and he’d once again focused solidly on the job. The evening had ended abruptly, thanks to that crazy heifer, Patricia Ramirez.
    Rachel noticed his place was a little off the beaten path as she followed him down a dark, sparsely populated country road. Eli pulled into the driveway and parked next to his Harley. She parked behind the truck and popped her trunk. He immediately started to unload her belongings, most of which she’d hastily thrown in garbage bags. It was all a hodgepodge of clothing, shoes, papers, her laptop, and mementos she could grab in a hurry.
    There was also a box that she kept for such a purpose where she stored priceless old photographs, paperwork, and documents that would be hard to replace.
    After Eli had all her belongings unloaded and sitting on the living room floor, he gave her a quick tour. She recognized the difficulty right off. This duplex was a two-bedroom, one-bath unit. The smaller of his two bedrooms was set up as an office, with a desk and a loveseat, plus all the other junk ,
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    that usually wound up in spare rooms. His king-sized bed dominated the master bedroom, the sheet and blanket flung back in disarray from when he climbed out of it after getting the call from Mike. The comfy sofa in the living room was probably where she would bed down because the loveseat was not nearly long enough for her five foot-nine-inch frame.
    Rachel took a look at herself in the hall mirror and asked Eli if she could use his shower. She hadn’t saved anything from her bathroom at all. Not soap, shampoo, razor, or curling iron, and, dammit, her birth control pills had gone up in flames, too. Shit.
    He stood in the hallway with her, smiling tenderly down at her. She wanted nothing more than for him to fold her into his arms. “Of course you can take a shower, Rachel. Make yourself at home.”
    “I don’t have soap or shampoo or any of that stuff.”
    He reached into the bathroom and turned on the light. She followed him in as he opened the linen closet.
    “That’s okay. You can use mine. Here’s a towel and a fresh washcloth, too. You’re welcome to what I have.” When he said it, she had a distinct feeling it pleased him to provide those items for her use. “Whatever you need, you can use.