Page 17 of Glamour and Grit

“You sound skeptical.”

“Let me tell you something, Dane. You might have everyone else fooled with this big, dumb bad boy hottie act, but not me.”

He cocks an eyebrow at me and laughs.

“Shrewd judge of character, are you?”

“Don’t scoff at me, big man. People think doing movie makeup is about covering up, but it’s really about bringing out. You’re trying tobring the actor’s personality to life. And you’re not stupid. In fact, I think you’re quite intelligent.”

Dane laughs, the muscles in his neck and face relaxing.

“That’s the first time anyone has ever used that word to describe me.”

“Oh? And what words do people use to describe you?”

“Hmm. Mostly they’re four letters long.”

He flashes a grin at me, verdant eyes glinting. It’s hard to breathe, when he looks at me like that. It’s stupid to even think about him that way, with my brother missing and me in danger. But I can’t help it.

I laugh obligingly, but wind down quickly. Dane looks my way, his expression suddenly sober.

“Hey. It’s okay to laugh, even though you're worried about your brother. When you’re in a war, it can be easy to think you need to keep a desperate sense of urgency all the time. But that will get you killed. You stay ready, but you let yourself be human, too.”

“Navy SEAL, detective, bodyguard, and now philosopher,” I say, a smile tugging at my lips. Jesus Christ, he’s so hot. I feel like I could just stare at him and sigh for hours. “Is there no end to your talents?”

His voice drops an octave, and he sets me on fire with his gaze.

“Maybe you’ll get a chance to find out.”

Oh, how my skin burns. I can feel the flush of scarlet rising all over me. I squeeze my thighs together and sit up a bit straighter in my seat, carefully not looking his way.

“I guess I walked right into that one,” I say stiffly. “Just when you were starting to grow on me.”

Dane looks confused for a moment, but a smile quickly returns to his face.

“Well, you egged me on when you called me a hottie.”

My jaw drops open. “I did not call you a hottie.”

“Yes you did. You called me a bad boy hottie or something.”

My pulse quickens. Damn it, I did.

“It just sort of slipped out. Don’t read too much into it.”

He chuckles, and gives me hunter’s eyes. I shudder under theintensity. I would probably explode but he turns his gaze back to the road.

“I’m not reading much into it at all, other than you objectively find me attractive.”

“What?” I sputter, half laughing and half choking. “You’re so full of crap! You’re the one who’s attracted to me.”

Why the Hell did I say that? Not much of a comeback. Especially when he takes the venom right out of it.

“I never said that I wasn’t.”

I fidget all over again, twisting my ring around in circles, staring at my hands.

“If you say so.” I have to swallow the lump in my throat before I can speak again. “Where are we going, anyway?”

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