In Bed With The Devil Read Online Free Page A

to hold back the tide. Against his will, his head turned and his gaze settled on her chest. Meri raised her tank top to show off her sports bra.
    “Are they okay, Jack?”
    A guy walking by did a double take. “They’re great, honey.”
    She dropped her shirt and smiled. “Thanks.”
    Jack glanced at the guy and instantly wanted to kill him. It would be fast and relatively painless for the bastard. A quick twist of the neck and he would fall lifeless to the ground.
    Meri dropped her shirt. “I love being a girl.”
    “You’re still playing me. I’m going to ignore you.”
    “I’m not sure you can,” she teased. “But you can try. Let’s change the subject. We can talk about you. Men love to talk about themselves.”
    He grabbed a couple of weights and sat on a bench. “Or we could focus on our workout.”
    “I don’t think so.” She lay on her back and did chest presses. “What have you been up to for the last ten years? I know you went into the military.”
    “Army,” he said between reps.
    “I heard it was Special Forces.”
    “That, too.”
    “I also heard you left and started your own company dealing with corporations that want to expand into the dangerous parts of the world.”
    Apparently he wasn’t the only one who had done some research.
    “It’s impressive,” she said. “You’ve grown that company into quite the business.”
    “I’m doing okay.” Five hundred million in billing in the past year. His accountants kept begging him to go public. They told him he could make a fortune. But he already had more than he needed, and going public meant giving up control.
    “Are you married?” she asked.
    He looked over at her. She’d shifted positions and was now doing bicep curls. Her honey-tanned skin was slick with sweat, her face flushed, her expression intense. She was totally focused on what she was doing.
    Would she be like that in bed? Giving a hundred percent, really going for it?
    The thought came from nowhere and he quickly pushed it away. Meri could never be more than Hunter’s baby sister. She could dance around naked and beg him to take her—they were never going there.
    “Jack? You gonna answer the question?”
    Which was? Oh, yeah. “No, I’m not married.”
    “You’re not gay, are you? Hunter always wondered.”
    He ignored her and the question. If he didn’t react, she would get tired of her game and move on to something else.
    She sighed. “Okay, that was funny only to me. So there’s no wife, but is there someone significant?”
    “No.”
    “Ever been anyone?”
    “There have been plenty.”
    She looked at him. “You know what I mean. A relationship where you’re exchanging more than bodily fluids. Have you ever been in love?”
    “No,” he said flatly. Women tried to get close and he didn’t let them.
    “Me, either,” she said with a sigh. “Which is deeply tragic. I want to be in love. I’ve been close. I thought I was in love, but now I’m not so sure. I have trust and commitment issues. It’s from losing my mom when I was young and then losing Hunter. Isn’t it interesting that knowing what the problem is doesn’t mean I can fix it?”
    He didn’t know what to say to that. In his world, people didn’t talk about their feelings.
    “You lost a brother when you were young,” she said. “That had to have affected you.”
    No way he was thinking about that. He stood. “I’m done. I’m going to take a shower.”
    She rose and moved close. “Want to take one together?”
    He had an instant image of her naked, water pouring over her body. How would she feel? His fingers curled slightly, as if imagining cupping her breasts.
    Damn her, he thought. She wasn’t going to win. It was time to stop playing nice.
    He moved forward, crowding her. She stepped back until she bumped into a weight bench, then she dropped into a sitting position. He crouched in front of her.
    “You do not want to play this game with me,” he told her in a low voice.