Full Exposure: A Loveswept Contemporary Erotic Romance Read Online Free Page B

Pressing her tightly to his chest, he locked his arms around her and waited for her to calm. But the shaking only got worse.
    Finally, finally, her heart rate slowed and her breathing became less mechanical, more natural. He buried the questions racing through him, ignored his need for answers as he searched for something harmless to say. Painful seconds passed before he decided to return to their previous conversation.
    “Why do I put up with an agent who manipulates me, you ask? Have you met Steve?” He kept his voice light with effort.
    “I know he can be a little …” Her voice shook, but she latched on to his conversational lifeboat like a drowning victim.
    “Neurotic? Insane? As vicious as a great white that’s scented blood?” He was grateful the shaking had stopped, unsure of how much longer he could have handled her terror without losing it himself.
    “I was going to say persistent. But your descriptions fit too.” She forced a laugh, but it was strained. “You understand him so well. Perhaps because you don’t strike me as totally sane either.”
    “I am in perfect mental health,
cher
.” His voice held outraged indignation, but he couldn’t hide the thread of laughter beneath.
    “Which is why you keep a neurotic, insane, man-eating shark as an agent?”
    He shrugged. “He’s the best in the business. Besides, would you want to fire him?”
    “You know, I get a totally different story from Steve. He warned me to watch out for you. Something about you being grumpy, surly, and a people-hater with violent tendencies?”
    He shrugged. “I am.”
    Serena studied the small part of Kevin’s face she could see as lightning exploded all around them. “I don’t think so,” she said quietly.
    “Yeah, well I’ve been on my best behavior the last few days. I get much worse.”
    “I shudder to imagine.”
    “Stick around awhile and you’ll see for yourself.”
    *  *  *
    Silence reigned for a few minutes, even as fierce bursts of thunder continued to shake the studio violently. Serena knew she should move away—she’d taken advantage of Kevin’s hospitality long enough—but she didn’t want to go.
    He probably had other ideas, though. The heat was becoming unbearable in the studio, even with the furnace in the corner dying down. The bayou was not a comfortable place to be without air-conditioning most months, but August was especially hot and sticky.
    Sweat slowly slid down Serena’s neck, pooled between her breasts. She should pull away from Kevin, give both of them some much-needed breathing room. At least they’d both be a few degrees cooler.
    As she shifted away from him, Kevin’s arms tightened around her. “Where you going,
bebe
?” he asked huskily.
    “I figured you’d be sick of me by now. It’s really hot in here.”
    “I’m used to the heat. But maybe you’re sick of me?” He pulled back slightly, as if trying to see her face in the darkness.
    “I’m not.” She leaned forward, buried her face in the curve of his neck, inhaling the incredible, masculine scent of him. “I should be, but I’m not.”
    “Then don’t worry about it.”
    Striving for a bit of normalcy in this very abnormal situation, she asked, “So about the book. How do you see it?”
    “As crap.”
    Serena stiffened immediately, pulled just far enough away to glare at him eventhough she knew he couldn’t see her. “Excuse me?” Her voice dripped ice.
    Kevin smiled. It seemed that cool and collected hadn’t totally deserted the field after all. “Not your part, Serena. The whole thing. Why do they need to do a book about me? My work’s the interesting stuff and I’m not even sure that
it
would make a good book.”
    “I don’t know if it would make a good book or not, but my photo essay on you is going to make a fabulous one. I’ve already got some incredible shots.”
    “How do you know if you haven’t developed any film yet?”
    “Intuition.”
    He sighed, raked his hand through his