The Tempting Mrs. Reilly by Maureen Child

Really.”
    â€œIt’s something,” he countered and told himself that he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to like it. All night, he and Tina had connected just like the old days. Despite the lack of sleep tugging at him, he’d never felt more alive than he had at this moment. And he knew without a doubt that once Tina started talking, that well-being was going to fly out a window. And still, he had to know . “Why don’t you just spill it?”
    â€œI don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said.
    â€œNow I know we’ve gotta talk,” Brian told her and felt his stomach clench into fists of anxiety. Something was definitely up.
    â€œLet’s not do this, okay?” she said and abruptly scooted to the edge of his bed and scrambled around on the floor, looking for the towel she’d discarded the night before.
    â€œOkay, when Tina Coretti doesn’t want to talk,”Brian muttered darkly, “there’s trouble. And I want to know what it is.”
    She shot him a look over her shoulder, blew her hair out of her eyes and gave him what she no doubt hoped would look like an innocent shrug.
    â€œNo trouble. Really. Just looking for a shower and some clothes now.” She didn’t want to have this talk now. Not when she knew it would lead to an argument of apocalyptic proportions. And Tina wasn’t sure she was ready for that. Not when her body was still humming from his touch and her heart was still aching with the knowledge that she loved a man who didn’t want her.
    Where did the stupid towel go? she wondered. Not like it could walk off on its own.
    â€œWhy don’t I believe you?”
    She glanced at him again, tugged the sheet with her, draping it around her body before dropping to the floor. “Beats me,” she said. “Maybe you have a suspicious nature?”
    â€œTalk to me, Tina,” he complained and she heard the impatience in his voice and winced at it.
    So much for the happy afterglow thing, she thought as she continued to grope her way across the floor, looking under tables and the edge of the bed for her wayward towel. “You know what?” She staggered to her feet, caught her toe on the hem of the sheet and stumbled forward a step or two. “Screw thetowel. I’ll just borrow this sheet to go back to Nana’s house in. I’ll bring it back to you tonight.”
    Then she made the mistake of turning around to look at him. Naked and comfortable with it, he was sprawled across the rumpled sheets, braced on his elbows as he watched her. Every square inch of him was gorgeous. He looked like a statue carved by a master craftsman. Well, except for the suspicion gleaming in his eyes.
    â€œNot a chance,” he muttered.
    â€œYou don’t trust me with your sheet ?”
    â€œI don’t give a good damn about the stupid sheet, Tina,” he said, sliding off the bed and stalking toward her. “I want to know what’s going on inside that head of yours and you’re not leaving until you tell me.”
    Tina took an instinctive step backward, then stiffened her spine and stood her ground. After all, she wasn’t ashamed of what she’d done. Well, not totally, anyway. It wasn’t as if she’d had to hold a gun to his head to get him to have sex with her, right? He’d enjoyed himself. Many times.
    Although, said a little voice in the back of her mind, if he’d known what you were doing, he never would have slept with you.
    But then, she reasoned, however faulty, that’s precisely why she hadn’t told him.
    Until now.
    She forced herself to look into his eyes, becauselooking anywhere else would only send her blood into a frothing rush—and she knew darn well that once he knew what was going on…there wouldn’t be any more rolling around on those rumpled sheets.
    Their gazes locked and Brian studied her features for what felt like forever. Then