Savas' Defiant Mistress. Anne McAllister
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as Neely would have loved to stand there and laugh, it would be just her luck for Sebastian to be a nonswimmer. Bad enough that he would probably sue her and her dog for everything she might ever own.
She scrambled down the ladder as he sputtered to the surface, water streaming down his face. “Are you all right?”
She wished he would yell or shout or even threaten her. She wouldn’t even mind if he tried to strangle her dog.
He didn’t. Jaw set, he took the two strokes necessary to reach the side of the houseboat, then began to haul himself out of the water. He didn’t say a word.
Neely watched with wary fascination, expecting to see steam coming off him, and supposing he would be entitled if it did. Two of the kittens were peering over the railing, leaning perilously close to falling in. Harm was dog-paddling cheerfully and grinning at her.
Staying well out of Sebastian’s way as he clambered over the railing, Neely scooped up the kittens, then stuck them back in the living room and dragged the box in front of the open doorway again.
“I told you not to move the box,” she pointed out to Sebastian as he dripped. “I’m, um, sorry,” she added. Though it would have been more convincing if she’d been able to wipe the smile off her face.
Sebastian, of course, didn’t acknowledge it. He turned to watch Harm paddling around the side of the houseboat to clamber up onto the dock.
“I’ll go get ’im,” Cody volunteered quickly, and darted out the front door to do so before anyone could blame him.
But Neely certainly wasn’t blaming him. And Sebastian still didn’t say anything.
She found it amazing that even dripping wet he could still look unflappable. The man really was inhuman.
And then he murmured, “More harm than good?” in a quiet reflective tone that made her blink. And blink again.
Was that a sense of humor?
She wasn’t sure. “Er, yes.” She laughed nervously. Probably it wasn’t.
Sebastian nodded gravely. “Does he do it often?”
Her lips twitched. “Knock people in the water? More often than I’d like, actually. Mostly it’s me, though. I’ve learned not to stand by the railing when he’s excited. He’s still a puppy. Just a year old.” Was that sufficient excuse? Probably not.
“I am sorry,” she said again, finally managing not to smile. She snagged up the last escapee kitten and clutched it in front of her as if it were a shield.
Green eyes met hers. “No, you’re not.”
Their gazes met again. And Neely remembered the first time they had confronted each other—over her “fluffy ideas” and his “phallic skyscrapers.” Something had sizzled then. And Neely, feeling it, had darted away, telling herself it was irritation.
Of course there was irritation now. In spades.
But there was more. If there had been steam before, there certainly was now, as well as something hot and electric and very very intense that seemed to snap between them.
Neely felt an unaccountable urge to fling herself into the cold Lake Union water.
Deliberately she took a deep breath, then strove for a calm she didn’t feel as she met his gaze squarely and said, “You’re right. I’m not.”
And who knows how long they might have stood there, gazes dueling, heat and awareness crackling, if Cody hadn’t returned with Harm just then?
“Got ’im. At least he’s not muddy anymore.” Cody looked hopefully at Neely, then his gaze went straight to Sebastian.
Neely went in and took the dog by the collar. “Thanks,” she said to Cody. But he barely seemed to notice her. He was craning his neck to see past her toward the man still dripping on the deck.
“Who’s he?” he asked.
“A man I work with.”
“Your new neighbor,” Sebastian said firmly, coming in the door.
Cody’s eyes widened and he looked a bit worried as he turned for confirmation to Neely. “Really? Where d’you live?”
“Here.”
That did make Cody’s eyes bug. “With Neely?”
“No!” they both said in unison.
“I’m not moving,” Neely said flatly.
Sebastian’s jaw tightened.
Cody looked from one to the other nervously. “I got homework,” he said. “Math. Lots of it. Gotta go.” And he darted out the door before either of them could say a word.
In the silence that followed his departure, Harm shook himself vigorously, getting Neely almost as wet as Sebastian. She hauled the dog into the kitchen and began to dry him.
Sebastian came after her, loomed over her, still dripping. “I’m not leaving,” he told her.
Neely looked up and met his stony gaze. “Neither am I.”
“I own this boat.”
She took a careful breath. “And I have a lease to rent a room on it for the next six months.”
“I made you an offer of a better place to stay.”
“Oh, sure. With a dog and five kittens, two rabbits and a guinea pig?”
His jaw tightened. He glared.
Neely shrugged. “I’m staying, Mr. Savas. And if you don’t like it, that’s tough.”
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