I held out the candy, and he teetered his eyes from me to it then back to me. I smiled and nodded. The kid grinned and snatched the candy from my hand.
“See, I don’t bite.” I held my hand up. “High five.”
He jumped up and slapped my hand.
Beside me, Lina laughed, and we watched the kid scurry away to the next station across the lobby. They had about fifteen stations throughout the conference and each of the kids were hurrying from one to the other, then they were ushered down the hall into another room that had a small, haunted house in it.
I loved the glow emanating from Lina’s face. And that smile of hers could melt even the coldest of hearts. My heart was far from cold, hell, it was smoldering it was so on fire for her, but she was working through my defenses like ice cold water from a fireman’s hose.
This ‘keeping things as friends’ wasn’t going to be easy. Especially with her wearing that tight outfit. The long sleeve shirt covered her completely, yet it was still one of the sexiest things I’d seen her wear with the way it hugged her curves.
Hell, she might even have a set of six-pack abs under there if I saw it right. And I’d been looking in that directionwaytoo much tonight.
She really was fit, but how often she ran on that treadmill, it didn’t surprise me. What did surprise me were my reactions to her. How protective I felt…and then some. These past couple of years I’d been able to shut myself down to any woman who’d shown an interest, but Lina was different.
Sure, I’d told her we couldn’t be anything more than friends, and I’d done that tons of times over the years. This time, though, my body wasn’t getting the message.
A group of four guys dressed up in matching costumes strode through the doorway into our conference room. We were only a couple of tables from the door because we wanted to have clear access to bolt back to her place if needed, so they were only about ten feet from us.
Lina stood straight as she watched them with narrowed eyes. Deep lines creased her forehead as she studied the group, and her breathing shallowed.
It’d been a group that’d hurt her, hadn’t it?
One of the leaders of the event made his way toward the guys who’d congregated right inside the door, checking out the surroundings. He’d probably ask them to leave since this was a private function.
Lina glanced to the side, and her eyes widened as another kid came walking toward our table. This one was a little girl dressed up as a princess. She couldn’t have been more than six or seven.
“Trick or treat,” she said with a high-pitched voice that was so cute I couldn’t help but smile.
“Oh my gosh, you’re so precious,” Lina said as she reached into her bowl for candy.
Damn it, her hands were shaking again, and my stomach clenched. I glanced at the group, and it looked like the guy was talking with them. They’d be gone soon.
The guy escorting the little girl grinned as he stared at Lina. I recognized the longing in his eyes because it’d been staring at me from my mirror since I’d first seen her. I swallowed hard and steered my attention to the tiny girl before us.
“What are you?” the girl asked Lina.
She smiled and said, “Can you guess?”
The girl grinned and shook her head.
“Lara Croft, right?” the guy said. “Your costume is perfect.” His eyes slid down Lina’s body, and he smiled again. “First one, right? When she’s about to go into the forest. Only with long sleeves instead of a tank top.”
Prick was perceptive.
Lina nodded as she stepped back. A light flush colored her normally pale cheeks.
A gentle tug on my robe had me looking down. This tiny girl only went to about my thigh. “Hey. What are you?” She hollered.
“I’m a boxer.”
“Boxer? What’s a boxer? What are those on your shoulder? Why do you have black make-up on your face? How come you’re so tall? What—”
I squatted down in front of her. “Is this better?”
“You get to see so much way up there.” She pressed her forefinger on the tip of my nose. “So big. I’m big, too. One day, I’ll be tall as you.”
“Want to see what that’s like now?” I glanced up at who I assumed was her father, though he seemed a little young. The guy nodded.