Entranced by Nora Roberts Page A

pulse do if he touched her now? If he were to shift his body and take that wide, unpainted mouth with his own?
    He thought he knew. He thought he could wait and see.
    But he couldn’t quite resist a gentle poke into her own thoughts.
    Idiot! If she knows somebody’s after her, why is she bopping down the street in the dark? How come they always have to make women either
dumb or helpless? There she goes—running into the park. Oh, sure, it makes perfect sense to haul her butt into the bushes where he can slit her throat. Ten to one she trips … Yep.
    Oh, well, that one deserves to get iced.
    She crunched on more popcorn, and Sebastian heard her wish absently that she’d added more salt.
    Her thoughts stuttered to a halt, then tangled into confusion. What he was reading in her head he could see on her face.
    She sensed him. She didn’t understand what it was, but she sensed an intrusion and was instinctively blocking it.
    The fact that she did, the fact that she could, intrigued him. It was very rare for anyone outside his family to feel his scannings.
    There was some power here, he mused. Untapped, and certainly denied. He toyed with the idea of pushing a little deeper. Beside him, Ana stirred.
    “Don’t be rude, Sebastian,” she said gently.
    Relenting, reluctantly, he gave himself over to the movie.
    He reached for some popcorn, and his fingers brushed Mel’s. She flinched. He grinned.
    *  *  *
    “Pizza,” Morgana said when they stepped outside. “With the works.”
    Nash ran a hand down her hair. “I thought you said you wanted Mexican.”
    She smiled, patting her belly. “We changed our minds.”
    “Pizza,” Ana agreed. “No anchovies.” She smiled at Mel. “How about it?”
    Mel felt herself linked in this ring of good fellowship. “Sure. That sounds—”
    “We can’t,” Sebastian interrupted, laying a hand on her shoulder.
    Curious, Morgana pursed her lips. “I’ve never known you to turn down food, darling.” She shot a quick, humorous look at Mel. “Cousin Sebastian has outrageous appetites. You’d be amazed.”
    “Mel’s much too practical-minded to be amazed,” Sebastian said coolly. “What astonishes, she merely dismisses.”
    “He’s only baiting you.” Ana gave Sebastian a quick dig in the ribs. “We’ve seen so little of you lately. Can’t you spare another hour, Sebastian?”
    “Not tonight.”
    “Well, I can …” Mel began.
    “I’ll see the lady home.” Nash winked at Mel. “I don’t have any problem taking on three beautiful women alone.”
    “You’re such a generous man, darling.” Morgana patted her husband’s cheek. “But I think Sebastian has other plans for his lady.”
    “I’m not his—”
    “Exactly.” He tightened his grip on Mel’s shoulder. “We’ll do it next time.” He kissed both of his cousins. “Blessed be.” And he propelled Mel down the sidewalk toward his bike.
    “Listen, Donovan, we said this wasn’t a date, and maybe I’d have liked to go along with them. I’m hungry.”
    He unsnapped a helmet, then dropped it on her head. “I’ll feed you eventually.”
    “I’m not a horse,” Mel muttered, fastening the helmet. “I can feed myself.” Pouting only a little, she glanced over her shoulder at the retreating trio as she climbed behind Sebastian onto the bike. It wasn’t all thatoften that she went out with a group—and particularly a group she felt so comfortable with. But if she was annoyed with Sebastian for breaking it up early, she had to be grateful to him for including her in the first place.
    “Don’t sulk.”
    “I never sulk.” She rested her hands lightly on his hips for balance as he drove away from the curb.
    She enjoyed the feeling of the bike—the freedom of it, and the risk. Perhaps, when her cash flow was a little more fluid, she’d look into getting one for herself. Of course, it would be more practical to have her car painted and tuned first. Also, there was that leak in the bathroom that