An Offer He Can't Refuse (23 page)
Read An Offer He Can't Refuse Online
Authors: Theresa Ragan
“That’s it. Although my rules are a little different than yours,” he said, “but we’ll have to talk about that later when we’re alone.”
“What about children?”
“As many children as you want.”
Her eyes widened.
“Okay,” he amended, “no more than six.”
Extending a hand, she gave him a dazzling smile. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Mr. Lang.”
Jackson glanced at Adam and smiled when the boy gave him the thumbs up.
Instead of taking Madison’s hand, he pulled her close and sealed the deal with a kiss.
~~~
Thanks for reading An Offer He Can’t Refuse! I hope you enjoyed it.
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* An Offer He Can’t Refuse was the very first contemporary romance I wrote after writing two time travel romances. The story has been modernized in that I had to replace regular phones with cell phones, etc. If you want to know when my next book comes out, please sign up for my mailing list at
http://www.theresaragan.com/
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Other books written by Theresa Ragan are:
• Having My Baby
• Taming Mad Max
• Finding Kate Huntley
• A Knight in Central Park
• Return of the Rose
• Here Comes the Bride (coming soon)
• The Billionaires’ Christmas Club (short story written with D.D. Scott)
Thrillers written by Theresa Ragan under the name TR Ragan are:
• Abducted (Book #1 in the Lizzy Gardner Series)
• Dead Weight (Book #2 in the Lizzy Gardner Series)
• A Dark Mind (Book #3 in the Lizzy Gardner Series - coming June 2013)
For a sneak preview of a few of these titles, please turn the page.
Having My Baby
They watched each other for a moment, sizing one another up before an irritating
beep
brought them back to the moment at hand.
Jill squeezed her eyes shut and dug her fingers into the mattress.
Moving to the side of the hospital bed where Chelsey had been, Derrick reached over the side rail and took her hand in his. “It’s okay,” he said, although he wasn’t feeling okay, and she certainly didn’t look okay. It hadn’t been much over five minutes since her friends left.
What the hell was going on
?
With her eyes clamped shut and her teeth gritted, the veins in her neck and forehead looked ready to burst.
His heart rate accelerated as he tried to think of something to say to comfort her and take her mind off of the pain. “Maybe we should do that breathing thing,” he said.
She didn’t answer him, but her fingers squeezed tight about his hand, and damn, she had one powerful grip.
The beeper on the monitor wouldn’t stop beeping. That worried him.
Jill brought her knees to her chest, blankets and all.
He leaned closer and rubbed her shoulder. “Is that helping?”
Her eyes shot open, startling him. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she suddenly turned her head full circle and spit out pea soup. Instead, she reached out and grabbed a fistful of his shirt along with a little skin and said, “Get your baby out of me!”
He might have laughed if he wasn’t bleeding and in pain and if she wasn’t pinning him with the scariest look he’d ever seen in his life, which was saying a lot considering his mom had been the queen of scary faces back in her day.
In the blink of an eye, Jill Garrison had transformed from a sweet young lady into a woman possessed by the devil.
“If you don’t do something,” she said, “I’m going to scream.”
“I think we should breathe instead.”
“I think you should—” Her face turned scarlet, and she scrunched her nose as if she was chewing on sourballs. And then she did exactly what she said she was going to do. She screamed, an ear-piercing sound that set his teeth on edge and made his brain hurt.
Where the hell was everybody
?
~~~
Finding Kate Huntley
Another crash sounded. Kate stepped back and then threw her weight into the door.
Shit that hurt
!
She yanked the pistol from her hip pocket and fired two shots at the lock. The door swung open and she stepped inside, weapon drawn, eyes wide.
Jack stood in front of the open window; his face made up of hard lines and suppressed fury as he held onto a pair of ankles, dangling the Haitian man with the ponytail out the window.
Jack’s chest rose and fell with each breath. “What took you so long?”
Ignoring him, she took inventory of the broken chair, tilted bed, and jagged pieces of glass scattered across the wood floor. “Nice.”
“Yeah, I thought the place could use a little redecorating.”
She smiled.
The thug hanging out the window grunted, his curses muffled by the crowds shouting to him from two stories below.
“So,” Kate said, “what’s the plan?”
Jack looked over his shoulder at her and lifted a handsome brow. “It was the kiss, wasn’t it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” That was a lie. Even now, she wanted him to let the man drop two stories, take her in his arms and kiss her again, long and deep, hard and soft all at once.
“I knew you’d miss me,” he said. “I just didn’t know how much.”
“Don’t get too excited. I followed you because I’ve decided it’s time I went back to the States. I have some unfinished business to take care of.”
“I don’t know if I like the sound of that.”
She shrugged.
Grimacing, he struggled to keep his grip. “I talked to Harrison,” Jack said through gritted teeth. “He’s arranging for a private plane to pick us up in thirty minutes.” Sweat trickled down the sides of his face. “Let me take care of Charlie here and then we’ll go.”
“Let me help,” Kate said. She moved to his side and took hold of the man’s legs. “I’ve got him.” As soon as Jack loosened his hold, she let go. Charlie dropped two stories to the ground. Somebody screamed. A loud crash followed.
“Okay,” she said, dusting off her hands. “Time to go.”
Jack looked out the window. “I wanted to question the guy.”
She lifted her shoulders. “There’s no time.”
The severe expression on his face expressed his exasperation with her. He grabbed a vinyl backpack from the floor and began stuffing his belongings inside. “You really are something, you know that?”
“So I’ve been told.”
~~~
Taming Mad Max Excerpt
“Nice to meet you, Max,” she said without sincerity. “I should be going now. If you’d like, I could give you a couple of names of nutritionists who might be able to help you.”
Max waggled a finger at her. “You don’t like athletes. I can see it in your eyes.”
She let out a small feminine laugh that might have been cute under different circumstances. “You caught me, Mr. Dutton. You’re right. It’s pro football players I have a problem with. They’re needy and, you know, sort of full of themselves. It would never work.” The door opened and promptly clicked shut. The woman was gone.
Despite the warning bells going off in his head, Max found himself hurrying out the door after her. Sure, she set his teeth on edge, but he hated the idea of somebody not liking him, especially for no reason. He was charming. Women of all sizes, shapes, and ages fell at his feet on a daily basis. Besides, something wasn’t right. The woman acted as if they had met before. “Hey!” he called out, “I didn’t catch your name.”
She shot a quick look over her shoulder, but didn’t slow her pace one iota.
He had to jog down the hallway to catch up to her and take long unruly strides to stay at her side. “We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
She laughed…that is, if air being blown out the nostrils counted as an expression of amusement.
“I don’t have time for this,” she explained. “Dr. Stone is a well-respected doctor. I’m sure he’ll find someone who can help you.”
“I don’t want just anyone. I want you.”
Bingo! He’d hit a soft spot, or at least a spot, because she stopped in her tracks. He did too, and then wondered if he’d really just told her he wanted her. Judging by the sour look on her face, he’d done exactly that.
“We did meet before,” she said matter-of-factly. “Years ago.”
“I knew it!”
She stiffened. “You were naked.”
Max tried not to look surprised, although he found himself scratching his head. Now they were getting somewhere. He flashed a roguish smile that rarely—make that
never
—failed him and asked, “Were you naked too?”
She shoved her hands into the pockets of her white lab coat and stood as stiff and straight as the Washington Monument. Intense green eyes met his. For a millisecond, she looked sort of sad and maybe regretful. “Yes…yes I was.”
Max found himself wishing he hadn’t followed her out into the hall after all. How often did a guy find himself in a situation like this? And how the hell did that same guy get himself out of such an awkward situation in one piece? He was certain his buddies would find his retelling of the story amusing. He had no idea when he’d met the woman standing before him. “I feel like an idiot,” he admitted.
“I’m glad.”
He smiled. “That was your cue to assure me I wasn’t an idiot…that it’s understandable I might forget a face, albeit a pretty face like yours, out of the hundreds I run across.”
“Oh, I see. Do you have a script for me, Max?”
A knot formed in his throat. “You’re right. That was uncalled for. I’m sorry. I’m generally charming and witty.”
“Is that right?”
Shoot me now
. Max couldn’t help but hope she would run off again. But that would be too easy, and they both knew it. She was obviously one of those intelligent sorts, and she knew she had him by the balls. “Yeah,” he said, “so I’ve been told. Can I take you to lunch?”
She crossed her arms and shook her head for good measure.
“Dinner? Restaurant of your choice?”
“No. Never.”
The woman hardly blinked. Didn’t even waver. She was tough as nails, and damn if he wasn’t completely turned on. “Can you at least tell me your name?”
“Kari,” she said through tight lips.
Kari…Kari…the name didn’t ring a bell…or did it?
She patted his arm as if he were a small child in need of sympathy. “Don’t worry about it, Max. It’s completely understandable you would forget the name of a woman you slept with considering there must be zillions of faces and naked bodies swirling within that head of yours. All those nameless faces squished together like tiny gnats. Sheesh, I can’t imagine the difficulty you must have sorting it all out.” She exhaled. “Believe me when I tell you you’re not the biggest jerk in Los Angeles. You’re small, very, very small, if you get my meaning.”
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I do believe I get your meaning.”
“Well, good. I must admit it has been delightful talking to you.” She tapped a short unpolished nail against his chest. “I haven’t felt this good in years. Thank you, Max. Thank you very much.”
“My pleasure,” he found himself saying as he stood there and watched her turn and sashay down the hall until her white coat disappeared through revolving doors.
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