Her boot slipped on the damp grass, and she plowed headlong into Angel. He would have caught her easily, except that he’d been in the process of turning, so she’d caught him off-balance. They were a tangle of pinwheeling arms and legs as they each tried to regain their footing.
No use.Timber!
Angel grunted when she landed atophim, her forehead smacking his chin. For a second, she was too dazed to move. Stars flashed in front of her eyes.
Pushing up onto her knees, she rubbed her abused noggin. “You have the hardest chin in the world,” she accused. “What’s that thing made of anyway?”
“I could say the same for yourhead.” Angel massaged his stubble-dusted chin.
“Am I interrupting something?” The sound ofChristian’s low voice swirled inside Emily’s ears. He was leaning against the corner of the manor house. “Should I turn ’round and give you two a minute?”
Blinking in confusion, she realized she was straddling Angel and that one of his big hands was curled unconsciously around her thigh. A split second later, she was scrambling to her feet.
“It’s not what it looks like,” she blurted, thenimmediately furrowed her brow.
What the…? Why the hell did she say that?
Christian didn’t say a word, but his eyes were filled with… What was that? Dismissal?
She felt cut off at the knees and wondered how she was going to get around on bloody stumps for the rest of the day.
When Angel pushed off the ground, brushing grass clippings from his back and legs, Christian shoved awayfrom the corner of the house and started toward them. He moved with the easy grace that came courtesy of good genes, honed muscles, and no small amount of masculine virility.
“It’s a simple system,” he said, stopping in front of them. “We can disarm it, no problem.” He directed his statement to Angel, but his eyes flicked briefly to Emily.
She sucked in a startled breath at the coolnessshe saw there. No, not coolness.Coldness.He reminded her of an ice sculpture. So hard. So glossy. If she squinted, would she see her own reflection on his surface?
“Th-that’s what Angel just said.” Why was her voice shaking?
“Ah.” That single word seemed to say more than most people managed in ten paragraphs. “I guess if Angel said it, it must be true.”
Okay, so… What. The. Actual.Fuck?Why was he suddenly and inexplicably pissed at her?
