Take Me Under Read Online Free Page A

of myself.”
    The corners of his eyes crinkled with his look of confusion. “What are you going on about now?”
    “My mother asked you to take me out, didn’t she?”
    This time, he was the one who blinked. Then he laughed, hard and deep. “You think I’m asking you out because of your mom?”
    Shivering from the way that husky laugh affected her, Reese chewed on the corner of her lower lip. “Well, that’s what this is all about,” she said slowly. “Isn’t it?”
    His grin was boyishly crooked. “I like your mom, Reese. She’s a great lady. But I’m not in the habit of letting her fix me up.”
    “I know you don’t
need
to be fixed up. I only . . . I mean—” She was definitely floundering here. “You, um, probably agreed just to be nice.”
    His lashes lowered a little as he held her stare. “You really think I’d do that?” he asked, his voice soft. “Ask you out because I felt sorry for you?”
    Wishing she was better at reading him, she managed a brief nod.
    “Well, I hate to break this to you, but I’m actually not that nice a guy.” She heard the unspoken “when it comes to women” easily enough, but didn’t pay it any attention. She knew damn well that Ben would have found it hard to tell her mother no.
    “You’re a lawman,” she stated, as if that was explanation enough. “Being nice to women is part of your job description.”
    “Only I’m not asking you out as the sheriff.” He pushed away from the counter, coming a little closer. “I’m asking you out as a man.”
    “One I happen to know already has plenty of women waiting to go out with him.”
    He frowned, but he didn’t deny it. Ben might be a lot of things, but at least he wasn’t a liar like Drew. Instead, he simply said, “You’re the one I want to have dinner with. And it doesn’t have a damn thing to do with your mother.”
    With her pulse roaring in her ears, Reese licked her lips, unable to believe what she was hearing. “What’s going on, Ben?”
    “Go out with me tonight,” he coaxed, the look in his eyes even darker than before. “Let me take you to dinner, and I promise you’ll be able to ask me anything you want.”
    “I . . . I can’t.” Breathless words, threaded with panic.
    “Why not?”
    She struggled for a valid reason, but couldn’t come up with a single one that didn’t make her sound pathetic or crazy. “Just . . . trust me when I say it wouldn’t be a good idea.”
    He cocked his head a bit to the side. “You gonna let that jackass you were married to control the rest of your life?”
    Shock skittered through her system. She had no idea how to respond to such a personal question from a man she didn’t really know all that well. She had no idea what to think about any of this. “My decision to stay home tonight has nothing to do with my ex. I’m tired and I need to unpack.”
    He took a step closer, bringing a warm masculine scent with him that was so freaking good she had to bite back a moan. “Then I’ll bring dinner over and help you.”
    He was so tall, Reese had to tilt her head back to hold his stare. “That’s a nice offer, but I . . . I think it would be best if I have some time alone.”
    “From the way I see it,” he countered in a soft rasp, “you’ve been alone long enough.”
    She sucked in a sharp breath, rubbing her hands over her upper arms, as if to ward off a chill. Which was odd, seeing as how she was burning up inside. “I think you should go now, Ben.”
    The look on his face said he didn’t like being shut out, but Reese didn’t have any other choice. She was too rattled to deal with him and the things he was saying . . . the way he was making her feel. There were too many raw emotions pressing in on her, weighing her down. Mountains of emotional baggage she didn’t know how to cut loose, so that she could grab on to this unexpected, inexplicable offer of pleasure. He wouldn’t even have to touch her. Just sitting across from him