So this is what instant attraction feels like.
She’d never felt it before. But she was a fast learner and—wham, bang—she suddenly knew what it was to look at a strange man and suddenly be filled with the most wickedly erotic longings she’d ever felt. How funny to feel them here and now, beside the humiliatingly bright, glowing image of her dominatrix-wannabe image on the computer screen.
It wasn’t fair. A man had finally made her feel breathless, wondering and achy...and any moment now she was going to have to kick him and run. If he looked at the screen again and came up with one sexist, suggestive remark, she’d have to do bodily injury. On that amazing body. Yep, downright unfair.
He didn’t look. Not one sneaky peek.
Instead, he crouched next to her chair and took her hand. Its coldness must have startled him, because he gently rubbed her numb fingers between both his hands. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, still watching closely, waiting for the eyes to shift, for the mouth to lift in a smirk or an appreciative leer. Come on, you’re male. Just do it and put me out of my misery. Stop trying to pretend you’re a concerned, nice guy.
But as the silent moment stretched out, without the slightest attempt by the man to look at her nearly naked body, Meg began to relax. “Yeah,” she said, pulling her fingers free of his. “I’m...a little confused, that’s all.”
“Can I help?”
She stared at his face, liking the gentleness in his brown eyes. “Think you could shrink me, tuck me into your pocket and get me out of this place without anybody seeing me?”
He thought about it. “Nope. But I guarantee I can walk by your side and lead you out of here without anybody saying one word to you.” Standing, he extended his hand, palm up, silently asking her to trust in him. And though he was a perfect stranger, for some reason, Meg did.
She took his hand and let him help her up. Still reeling from the discovery that her picture was, indeed, being used to model the most seductive lingerie she’d ever seen, she felt shaky and weak. He immediately slid his hand to her waist to steady her. “You can do this.”
“I’ll bet somebody said the same thing to Lady Godiva.”
He glanced at her concealing bulky sweater and ankle-length skirt, which covered most of her chunky black boots. “I don’t think anybody’s gonna mistake you for her.” Glancing at her long ponytail, he grinned. “I hear she was a blonde.”
Amazingly, Meg felt a tiny answering grin on her lips.
“Ready?”
Taking a deep breath for courage, she nodded. “Let’s go.”
“Oh, wait, I almost forgot,” he said, letting go of her hand for a moment Meg watched as he glanced down at the keyboard—never at the screen—and pushed a few buttons.
The image disappeared.
And even though she didn’t know his name, Meg fell a little in love with him right then and there.
They pushed through the doors, but hadn’t gone another step when the stranger paused. “Head up, honey. Don’t you let anybody make you feel ashamed.” He lifted her chin with one finger.
His touch was gentle, his skin rough and warm. She shivered slightly, though the store was well heated against the cold February day. “What, are you some kind of superhero or something? Going around saving damsels in—” hootchie-mama lingerie? “—distress?”
“Just a man who doesn’t like seeing a woman cry.”
Without another word, he led her through the crowded area. No one pointed. No one stared. Not one man leered. The place was crowded with shoppers, all of whom seemed to be having a good time in the new complex. If she hadn’t been feeling so anxious to get out before anyone recognized her, Meg might have enjoyed checking the place out. Maybe curling up in one of the overstuffed chairs near the huge free-standing fireplace beside the coffee bar and warming up with some gourmet espresso.
She immediately nixed that idea. The waiters had probably all seen her in thongs and push-up bras.
As they exited the building, the man never left her side. Only in the vestibule did he look in another direction, keeping his head down and turning away as they passed the pickup counter. The attractive, middle-aged saleswoman was busy with someone else and didn’t spare them a glance as they walked out the red front doors into the cold and sunny day. “Okay, safe and sound.”
“I can’t thank you enough.”
“It was nothing.”
“No, it wasn’t. I’d probably still be sitting in there, afraid to come out, if it weren’t for you. Some night watchman doing his rounds would have thought I’d hidden in there to rob the place when I finally got up the nerve to try to sneak out during the middle of the night.”
He chuckled. “You had nothing to be ashamed of.”
Meg mentally snorted. Except the half-naked pictures on the computer screens. “I’m in your debt.”