The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [83]
He thought she was exactly right.
He closed the door behind her, then said, “Come on.”
The night was warm, heavy with humidity. Moonlight fell over her like a pale blush and formed a halo around her midnight hair. She tilted her head, ignoring his outstretched hand. “Where are we going?”
“Someplace more private. I know my brothers, and one or all of them will be out here in under two minutes to see what I’m doing.”
“You won’t be doing anything,” she said.
He answered her with a shrug, then merely waited.
After a long moment, she sniffed, but took his hand and stepped cautiously forward. He realized then she was still barefoot. Irritation filled her tone when she said, “Obviously your brothers don’t trust you any more than I do.”
Morgan smiled in the darkness and stepped off the patio to head toward one of the gazebos decorating the back lawn of the town hall. “Oh, they trust me, all right. They’re just nosy as hell and can’t ever pass up an opportunity to needle me.”
Misty paused outside the ornate gazebo, staring at it and breathing deeply of the scent of flowers, planted in profusion around the white wood and trellis structure. The entire county of Buckhorn was big on flowers. “I love gazebos. I think they’re so quaint.”
Morgan opened the door and cautiously entered the dim interior. “Yeah, I guess Gabe feels the same because he built one—bigger and sturdier than this—down by the lake at home.”
“I saw it. Gabe really built that?”
“Yeah. He’s a handyman of sorts, among other things.” The door banged shut behind them, sealing them inside where the air suddenly crackled with awareness. Morgan refused to believe he was the only one who felt it.
Just enough moonlight filtered in to show the way to the white bench seats lining the inside. He stared hard, seeing the dull glimmer of Misty’s eyes, the sheen of her white teeth. “Would you like to sit down?”
“What I’d like is to find out what you want so I can get back to my sister’s celebration.”
What he wanted? Now that was a loaded question. From the second she’d taken his hand, he’d had a throbbing erection. Morgan seated himself, stretching out his long legs on either side of her, caging her in. His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, and her pale skin and the light color of her dress made her visible. She didn’t so much as move a muscle. He crossed his arms and considered her. “You’re different from Honey.”
“Night and day,” she admitted without hesitation, then explained, “we’re also very close. So what’s your point?”
“I wouldn’t want to see her hurt.”
Misty stiffened again, but the rigid posture just caused her breasts to be more noticeable. “Anyone who hurt her would have to answer to me.”
“Yet you think nothing of coming in here and flirting with my brothers, coming on to them—”
She suddenly inclined closer, and her voice was a near hiss. “I haven’t come on to anyone! I danced, but then so did everyone else at the reception. It’s what’s expected at a—”
Morgan leaned forward and caught her shoulders in his hands, keeping her bent close. Her skin was silky and warm, and he flexed his fingers almost involuntarily. “You also parade around the house all day without a bra, and barefoot.”
Her eyes narrowed, and he could feel her tremble. “It’s ninety degrees outside, Morgan! Most every woman I’ve seen since I arrived has been wearing a sundress or tank top without a bra.” She poked him in the chest, hard. “Maybe you should try wearing one to see how horribly uncomfortable they can be in this weather before you start judging me.”
Morgan thought that was the most ludicrous thing he’d ever heard. He opened his mouth, but she quickly cut him off.
“And as for my bare feet, what of it? Don’t tell me you have a foot fetish?”
He hadn’t, not until he’d met her. He’d never even noticed a woman’s feet before. But Misty had small, narrow feet, and she painted her toenails a bright cherry red. They looked sexy as hell, and every time he saw her pretty little feet, he imagined them digging into the small of his back while he rode