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Shanna had no doubt Roman ruled his house and corporation ell-assured ease His dark clothing should have looked drab compared to the colorful kilts of the security teaerous More aloof More bad-boy,sexy

She watched as he nodded at Connor, then focused his golden-brown eyes on her Once again, she felt the power of his gaze, as if it could imprison her and force the rest of the world beyond her reach She broke the connection and shifted in her chair to gaze at her empty plate She wouldn&039;t let hioose bu up her arms He affected her whether she liked it or not

"Did you get enough to eat?" his low voice ru to look at him

"Connor, leave a note for the day shift They need to keep the kitchen stocked with food for Dr ?"

Shanna hesitated, then said, "Whelan" After all, they alleady knew her real first name And that the Russian mob wanted to kill her There didn&039;t see up the pretense of the Jane Wilson identity

"Dr Shanna Whelan," he repeated her naive him control over it And over her "Connor, could you wait in ori will be back soon, and he&039;ll fill you in on all the details"

"Aye, sir" Connor nodded at Shanna before he left

She watched the kitchen door swing to and fro "He seeainst the kitchen counter, his arms folded over his broad chest

An uncomfortable silence ensued Shanna fiddled with her napkin, aware that he atching her He had to be one of the most brilliant scientists in the world She&039;d loved to see his lab No, wait He worked with blood She shuddered

"Are you cold?"

"No I¡ªI want to thank you for saving my life"

"Are you sure? Your position is not quite vertical"

Surprised, she glanced his way The corner of hiswith hu her about the fuss she&039;d erous with hi their near kiss "Are you hungry? I could rew more intense "I&039;ll wait"

"Okay" She rose and took her eht have been a mistake Now she was only a few feet away frouy that made her want to throw herself into his arlass "I¡ªI knoho you are"

He moved back a step "What do you know?"

"I know you&039;re the owner of Romatech Industries I know you&039;re the one who invented the formula for synthetic blood You&039;ve saved millions of lives around the world" She turned the water off and gripped the edge of the counter "I think you&039;re absolutely brilliant"

When he didn&039;t respond, she chanced a look at hi at her with a stunned expression Good God, didn&039;t he knoas brilliant?

Frowning, he turned away "I&039;m not what you think"

She sent? I adeous shtest idea I&039;ve ever heard"

"It&039;s not a wolf tooth"

"It&039;s not a hu him "Did you really lose a tooth? Or did you just show up like Prince Valiant to rescue me and whisk me away on your noble steed?"

His mouth twitched "It&039;s been many years since I owned a noble steed"

"And I suppose your armor is a bit rusty?"

"Yes, it is"

She leaned toward him "But you&039;re still a hero"

His smile, faint as it was, faded away completely "No, I&039;m not I really do need a dentist See?" He lifted the corner of his ap where his right canine should be "When did you lose it?"

"A few hours ago"

"Then it may not be too late That is, if you have the real tooth"

"I do Well, actually, Laszlo has it"

"Oh" She stepped closer and rose up on her toes "May I?"

"Yes" He lowered his head

She shifted her gaze from his eyes to his mouth Her heart pounded in her chest She touched his cheeks, then lifted her fingertips "I&039;loves"

"I don&039;t mind"

Neither do I Good God, she&039;d examined a lot of mouths in the last few years, but it had never felt like this She lightly touched his lips Wide, sensual lips "Open"

He did She slipped a finger inside and exaap "How did you lose it?"

"Aah"

"Sorry" She s questions when the patient can&039;t talk" She started to relanced at his eyes and instantly felt surrounded by their golden intensity Slowly, she dragged her finger out Good God Her knees weakened She had a vision of herself sliding down his body to collapse on the floor She would reach up to him and say, "Take et a turn?"

"H in her ears

His gaze dropped to her mouth He skimmed his thu open "I&039;rinned "A?"

"Yes My life" Ro for you"

"Fine" Gregori headed out the door "MyAnd Laszlo&039;s ready"

"I understand" Roave Shanna a bland look "Come"

"Excuse me?" Shanna watched him march out the door Of all the nerve So it was back to business, then? He&039;d opened up a bit, but now, he was back to being the big boss ht he could order her around, he was sadlyher lab coat Then she grabbed her purse off the table and stalked after hi to an older woray business suit and sported a purse that orth some people&039;s h a silver streak ran from her left temple to disappear into the bun at the nape of her neck She noted Shanna&039;s approach with a lift of her perfectly arched brows

Roori&039;s mother and my personal assistant, Radinka Holstein"

"How do you do?" Shanna extended a hand

Radinka looked her over for ato refuse to shake hands, she suddenly sht squeeze "At last, you have come"

Shanna blinked, not sure how to respond

Radinka&039;s saze to Roman, then to Shanna, then back to Roman "I&039;m so happy for you both"

Roman crossed his arms and scowled at the woman

She touched Shanna on the shoulder "If there is anything you need, you let ht"

"You work at night?" Shanna asked

"The facility is open 24/7, but I prefer the night shift" Radinka waved a hand in the air, her perfect fingernails painted a glossy, dark red "The day shift is far too noisy, all those trucks co You can hardly hear yourself think"

"Oh"

Radinka adjusted her purse in the crook of her elbow and looked at Ro else you needed?"

"No I&039;ll see you too up the stairs "Colared at his back

Radinka chuckled, and even that sounded exotic and foreign "Do not worry, dear All will be fine We will talk again soon"

"Thanks It was nice toher? Hopefully, he was just showing her to a guest room But if Laszlo had his tooth, she should try to implant it as soon as possible "Roht

At the first landing, between floors, Shanna paused to look down at the beautiful entryway Radinka was headed for a pair of closed doors on the right of the foyer Her gray leather pumps clicked on the polished ured everyone in this house was a little on the strange side Radinka opened the doors, and the faint sound of a television spilled into the entryway

"Radinka!" a feht he would be wiz you" As she continued to speak, her French accent became more apparent

Another accent? Good God, she was trapped inside the International House of Nutcakes

&039;Tell him to come," the French accent continued "We want to play"

Other fe Radinka to fetch the master at once Shanna snorted The master Who the hell was that? He sounded like a male Playmate of the Month

"Hush, Siry as she entered the room "He is busy"

"But I came all ze way from Paris¡ª" The plaintive voice was cut off when Radinka shut the doors

Weird Which guy were these ladies wanting? One of the Scotsmen? Yum She wouldn&039;t ?" Ro down at her

"Yes" She ascended the stairs, taking her time "You know, I really appreciate all you&039;ve done to ensure my safety"

His frown cleared "You are welcome"

"So I hope you won&039;t mind that I have a few concerns about your security tealanced behind hiazed at her calmly "They are the finest security force in the world"

"Well, maybe so, but¡ª" Shanna reached the second floor and there, on the landing behind Rohlander

The Scotsarded her sternly Behind hi, all portraits of richly dressed people who appeared to be glaring at her

"Would you care to elaborate?" Roolden-brown eyes

Da she was a dentist Every now and then, she had to extract her foot from her mouth "I must admit that the Scotsmen are all extremely handsohlander&039;s face softening a bit "They&039;re very sharp dressers Gorgeous legs And I just adore the way they talk"

Now the Scots to smile "Good save, lass"