Even Villains Have Interns by Liana Brooks Page B

Delilah left.
    Her coat flopped over the back of the couch
beside him.
    “That wasn’t a guilt trip,” he muttered, vaguely
ashamed. “I wasn’t trying to make you stay.”
    “I was going to leave because I thought you
needed space.” She sat down beside him.
    “And now?”
    “Now I think you need someone here. To be a
friend, if nothing else.”
    He glanced sideways at her. “What if I wanted
more than a friend?”
    Her smile turned seductive. “Hmmm.” Delilah
leaned toward him, hand resting suggestively on his knee. “I’m sure
that could be a topic of discussion.” Her lips were a breath away
from his. “I do have a weakness for brainy blonds.”
    Alan leaned in to steal a kiss.
    Delilah ducked away. “But remember the To Do
list. Unlock the door, then seduce the superhero.”
    “Ah, see, there’s our problem. Right now I’m a
pro tem mayor, not a superhero. And at the very top of my to-do
list is seducing a world-class rogue and security operative.”
    “Is it?” Delilah gasped with mock surprise, hand
covering her delightful lips. “Dear me! Whatever shall I do to
protect myself from your wicked blandishments, Mister Adale?”
    The thick southern accent she served up made him
laugh. “I think Southern belles are supposed to swoon at my dashing
and romantic nature and kiss me passionately.”
    “Really?”
    He nodded. “Pretty sure. Read it in a book
once.”
    “Must not have been a Texas southern belle.”
Delilah stood up, all playfulness gone. “Dinner first. You’re still
recovering.”
    “A kiss would make me better.”
    She arched an eyebrow. “Would it stop with one
kiss?”
    He paused. “It could.”
    Delilah didn’t seem convinced.
    “We should try it. For the sake of science.”
    She rolled her eyes but came back to him. “For
science?”
    “Mmmhmm.”
    “That’s your best pick up line?”
    “My best pickup line is, ‘Hello, what’s your
name?’ But when I used it on you, you gave me a look that promised
a painful death and walked away without a backward glance. I
remember it quite clearly.”
    Delilah shrugged. “It’d been a long day and I
didn’t need another bad boy in my life.”
    “But I’m not a bad boy,” Alan assured her as his
hand slipped around her waist to pull her closer.
    “You’re not a boy at all. I like that in a
man.”
    Delilah’s lips were soft, gentle, teasing...
like a dream dancing just out of reach of memory. He pulled her
closer, wanting to catch hold of the magic she brought with
her.
    Her fingers caressed his cheekbone. A moment
later she was straddling him on the couch and he was lost in her
touch.
    Delilah pulled away. He whimpered in dismay, and
then the whimper became a groan of lust as hot lips trailed kisses
up his neck.
    “We. Need. To. Eat,” she whispered in his
ear.
    Alan caught her wrist. “Food is overrated.”
    “If we don’t eat, how will we have energy for
anything else?”
    The promise of more was a drug, a seductive lure
with poison inside. Alan narrowed his eyes. “Now you’re teasing
me.”
    “Yup,” Delilah said as she stood up, pulling him
with her.
    He shook his head, feeling like a fool. At least
that was familiar territory. She wrapped him in knots, played him
like a yo-yo, and when she smiled all he could think of was winning
another kiss. “You are a wicked, wicked woman, Delilah.”
    Her eyes sparkled with secret mirth. “Me?” She
fluttered her eyelashes innocently. “You seduced me with your suave
demeanor and reckless charm.”
    “Reckless charm?” He propped himself up on one
elbow. “If you were enjoying that as much as I was, why are we
stopping for dinner?”
    “Because you’re healing at a superhuman rate,
and that takes more energy than you think.” She kissed him again,
leaving his head spinning. “You’re shaking,” she said softly. “I
stopped because I don’t want to see you hurt. Let’s eat dinner. Get
you healed. And then we’ll talk about everything.”
    ***
    In the