Page 31 of Native Hawk
“You, ma’am, are as full as a tick.”
“A tick!” She knew what a tick was. They were disgusting little bugs. She gave him a pout. “That is not nice.”
“Aww, now don’t go stickin’ your lip out like that. I’m sorry. You’ve just been goin’ at the whiskey pretty hard is all.”
A sudden rush of indignation came over her. “You think I am a drunkard?”
He paused uncertainly.
“You do,” she said, her eyes welling with tears. She pulled her arms away from him, and this time he let go of her. “I am not a drunkard.”
“O’ course not,” he assured her.
“I am ferfectly pine.” She frowned. That hadn’t quite come out right.
“Ferfectly,” he agreed. “Now how about you go back to your side o’ the bed and we get some shut-eye?”
“Shut-eye.” She puzzled over that for a moment. “This means sleep?”
“Yep.”
She sighed. “I am not sleepy.”
“I was afraid o’ that.”
He rose up on one elbow and looked down at her. His eyes shone in the moonlight. His hair looked lush and inviting. His lips were tempting. He was so beautiful.
“You are so beautiful.” She furrowed her brow. Had she said that out loud?
“You should see my brother,” he said.
It was an old joke for the twins. He didn’t expect her to understand. In fact, he didn’t think she could understand much of anything, not in the state she was in. If he’d known how incapable she was of holding her liquor, he might have stopped her sooner.
Now it was up to him to make sure she didn’t get herself into trouble.
Actually, she’d taken those words—you are so beautiful—right out of his mouth. As he propped himself up, staring down at her, he knew he’d never seen such a breathtaking woman in his life. Her hair spilled like black ink across the white pillow. Her skin, paled by the light of the moon, looked translucent. Her eyes were drowsy with desire, and her lips were parted with longing. She was magnificent.
But one of them had to take control of the situation so it didn’t get out of hand. He had no interest in taking advantage of a drunk woman, especially a drunk virgin. The way she was looking at him now—all hot and bothered—it would have been as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.
But that wasn’t who Drew was.
“You will give me one kiss?” she asked.
“What?”
“One kiss. You will give me one kiss goodnight? Then I will get the shut-eye.”
Was she dickering with him?
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he told her. The beast between his legs said otherwise, butitwasn’t in charge.
“Itisa good idea,” she said. “Otherwise, I will be awake all night, wondering what it would be like.”
She was a wily one. But he knew where that path led.
“Well, I can tell you what it would be like,” he said. “First, you’ll just want one kiss. Then, the next thing you know—”
Without warning, she grabbed him by the front of his undershirt and pulled him toward her. Their lips collided.
