little Strawberry Shortcake doll. His eyes went back to her while she ran the blow dryer over her legs. She’d gotten rid of her sopping wet tights and shoes. The strong curve of her leg to her bare feet drove him crazy.
Now to convince her to go along with his plan. Mollie had lived rent free in his head since the moment he’d set eyes on her. He’d fought it as best he could, but now he looked like a player after Rosa. She was still trying to keep him at arm’s length, and he wasn’t sure how to show Mollie how hard it had actually been to get over her after that auction. Maybe if he touched her hair. Grinning to himself, he considered the possibilities of knowing the secret behind taming this fiery girl.
She turned off the blow dryer and glanced back at him with a sunny smile. He couldn’t pretend he hadn’t been watching her. That heavy makeup she’d worn earlier had washed off in the pond. It left her face bright and fresh. He only had to add a flower to her hair to make her a sweet Celtic girl running free through her Scottish fens.
A deep blush bloomed through her cheeks when he didn’t look away, and she ducked her head. Gorgeous. She was more gorgeous by the minute, and she had no idea. Almost impossible. Yet distrusting men made her so inexperienced with the world that, strangely enough, she was practically an innocent, even with that beauty. He liked that about her too—she was worlds removed from his calculating stepmothers and exes, who used their good looks to destroy the men in their lives.
He ran his tongue across his suddenly dry mouth. “Would you say the Watchers are in the catacombs? I haven’t seen one tonight—”
A pleased look of surprise spread through her freckled face and made his heart feel like it was high on helium. “But... but...” her hands ran down her wet dress. “We’re all...”
“I’ll keep you warm,” he promised.
She burst out into a laugh. “I’m not sure I can take you seriously with that shirt.”
That was practically a “yes” from her. He let his pleasure show with his smile. The mischievous, fiery-hearted Mollie brought this out in him, and he took her hands, shocked to find them icy cold. “Oh Red, you’re freezing,” he said. “Maybe we can drive there.”
“It’ll be faster to walk than find parking,” she said. “It’s really just up the street.”
“You sure?” Now he was beginning to feel bad. Wanting to hang out with Mollie might kill her.
She must’ve read his expression. “I’m not that delicate, Janson.”
No, she hadn’t been. He’d made all sorts of discoveries about her when they’d fallen into that pond together—from her stomach tightening against his to her powerful grip against his neck. She was strong. If he hadn’t toppled onto her, she’d have taken him down with her. “Hmm, well, we’ll arm wrestle later and see how delicate you really are,” he promised.
She nudged him with her shoulder. “You’d better not. I didn’t say I was Xena.”
The bells tangled above the front door crashed together when Vin and Dwayne shoved their way through the entrance. They barely fit through the door. Taking one look at his two bodyguards, Mollie stepped back shyly from him. Janson really had to figure out how to get her alone without his security watching his every move. If he hadn’t had so many threats on his life this past month, he’d send Vin and Dwayne home immediately. He’d promised his father that he’d keep them close. That didn’t stop him from resenting the fact that he couldn’t be some regular guy hitting on the cute girl who ran the ghost tours.
“We calling this a night?” Vin asked in his rough voice.
Oh no, they weren’t ruining his time with Mollie. Janson pushed his damp hair back from his face. “No, Vin, not yet.”
Vin gaped, exasperation spreading through his features, but he wasn’t the one who’d fallen into the pond, so Janson didn’t feel bad for him, or for Dwayne who’d pushed everyone else in. His security detail would just have to get used to the idea of a late night. Janson would find a way to live his life, with or without the dangers of these death threats.
Vin immediately got another call, and he ducked outside again while Mollie grabbed an extra jacket from a hook to the side—a cheetah print one that could belong to an ’80s