Man of the Hour Read Online Free Page A

looking for complications.”
    She started to turn away, but his lean, strong hands were on her waist, stilling her, exciting her.
    “Your honesty, Mary Margaret, is going to land you in hot water one day.”
    “Why lie?” she asked, peering over her shoulder at him.
    “Why, indeed?” he asked huskily.
    He drew her closer, resting his chin on the top of her blond head, and her heart raced wildly as his fingers slid slowly up and down from her waist to her rib cage.
    “What if I give in to that last bit of provocation?” he whispered roughly.
    “What provocation?”
    His teeth closed softly on her earlobe, his warm breath brushing her cheek. “Your bed or mine, Meg?” he whispered.

2
    M eg wondered if she was still breathing. She’d been joking, but Steve didn’t look or sound as if he were.
    “Steve…” she whispered.
    His eyes fell to her mouth as her head lay back against his broad chest. His face changed at the sound of his name on her lips. His hands on her waist contracted until they bruised and his face went rigid. “Mouth like a pink rose petal,” he said in an oddly rough tone. “I almost took you once, Meg.”
    She felt herself vibrating, like drawn cord. “You pushed me away,” she whispered.
    “I had to!” There was anger in the silvery depths of his eyes. “You blind little fool.” He bit off the words. “Don’t you know why even now?”
    She didn’t. She simply stared at him, her blue eyes wide and clear and curious.
    He groaned. “Meg!” He let out a long, rough breath andforcibly eased the grip of his lean hands and pushed her away. He shoved his hands into his pockets and stared for a long time into her wide, guileless eyes. “No, you don’t understand, do you?” he said heavily. “I thought you might mature in New York.” His eyes narrowed and he frowned. “What was that talk about some man wanting to keep you, then?”
    She smiled sheepishly. “He’s the caretaker of my apartment house. He wanted to adopt me.”
    “Good God!”
    She rested her fingers on his arms, feeling their strength, loving them. She leaned against him gently with subdued delight that heightened when his hands came out of his pockets and smoothed over her shoulders. “There really isn’t room in my life for complications,” she said sadly. “Even with you. It wouldn’t be wise.” She forced a laugh from her tight throat. “Besides, I’m sure you have all the women you need already.”
    “Of course,” he agreed with maddening carelessness and a curious watchfulness. “But I’ve wanted you for a very long time. We started something that we never finished. I want to get you out of my system, Meg, once and for all.”
    “Have you considered hiring an exorcist?” she asked, resorting to humor. She pushed playfully at his chest, feeling his heartbeat under her hands. “How about plastering a photo of me on one of your women…?”
    He shook her gently. “Stop that.”
    “Besides,” she said, sighing and looping her arms around his neck, “I’d probably get pregnant and there’d be a scandal in theaircraft community. My career would be shot, your reputation would be ruined and we’d have a baby that neither of us wanted.” Odd that the threat of pregnancy no longer terrified her, she thought idly.
    “Mary Margaret, this is the twentieth century,” he murmured on a laugh. “Women don’t get pregnant these days unless they want to.”
    She turned her head slightly as she looked up at him, wide-eyed. “Why, Mr. Ryker, you sound so sophisticated. I suppose you keep a closetful of supplies?”
    He burst out laughing. “Hell.”
    She smiled up at him. “Stop baiting me,” she said. “I don’t want to sleep with you and ruin a beautiful friendship. We’ve been friends for a long time, Steve, even if cautious ones.”
    “Friend, enemy, sparring partner,” he agreed. The smile turned to a blank-faced stare with emotion suddenly glittering dangerously in his silver eyes. His chest