Donovans 02 - Jade Island

you get hurt because of me, Susa will have my butt on a canvas stretcher.”
    “Our own mother? Ha! You’re her favorite son.”
    Archer gave Kyle a look that would have backed off anyone else.
    Kyle wasn’t about to back up anywhere. He felt like he had just taken a sucker punch to the gut. Lianne Blakely was everything that appealed to him in a woman, and he hadn’t even known it until he saw her. He had thought he liked big women; she was small. He had thought he liked blondes; she was dark. He had thought he liked outgoing, laughing women; she was quiet, poised around an inner stillness.
    One thing Kyle did know for certain was that he never wanted to be at the mercy of his dick again. Yet he wanted Lianne in a way that had nothing to do with old knowledge, old learning, old promises. His sudden, primitive arousal made him furious. He must be a slow learner on the subject of being used by a woman.
    Maybe he could be a fast learner on the subject of how to use one.
    “Don’t wait up for me,” Kyle told his brother, starting toward Lianne. “I’ve got some monkey business to conduct.”

Chapter 3
    T hough Lianne pretended to be absorbed by the exquisite jades in the display case, she knew the exact moment Kyle Donovan began to walk toward her. Even before her father had made his surprising request, she had been watching Kyle out of the corner of her eye. It was easy. Kyle Donovan had the kind of athletic body and fierce blond looks associated with Vikings.
    “We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” he said.
    Startled, Lianne glanced away from a Warring States jade buckle and into Kyle’s eyes. They were the most unusual she had ever seen: a starburst of gold around the black pupil, then green all the way to a thin outer rim of glittering black.
    “Excuse me?” she managed, trying not to stare at his eyes. “You didn’t really say that.”
    “You’re right. Must have been my evil twin brother. Got a match?”
    “I don’t smoke.”
    “Neither do I, but it seemed like a good way to strike up a conversation. I could have done something more timely, but you aren’t wearing a watch.”
    Lianne groaned at the puns and was rewarded by an off-center smile. She blinked and wondered if he had any idea how welcoming his smile was.
    “I’m Kyle Donovan,” he said, holding out his hand.“You’re Lianne Blakely. Now that we’ve met, you can tell me why you’ve been stalking me for the last two weeks.”
    Her amusement faded. For the first time, she noticed that his unusual eyes were watching her with the kind of remote, measuring glance usually reserved for unwanted relatives who showed up on the doorstep just in time for dinner.
    “What are you talking about?” she asked.
    “You. Following me. Tonight. Two days ago. Last week.”
    “Are you referring to the fact that we’ve both attended the same jade showings?”
    “Yes.”
    “That constitutes following you?”
    “A guy can hope.”
    “A guy can drop off.”
    Kyle shrugged. “Okay.”
    He turned and started to walk away.
    “Wait,” Lianne said before she could think better of it.
    There were promises to keep. And there was the undeniable fact that Kyle Donovan interested her. Maybe she was finally getting over the man who had seduced her, married a proper Chinese maiden, and then had been surprised when Lianne didn’t want to continue the relationship.
    Like mother, like daughter.
    Kyle turned back toward Lianne. And waited.
    Lianne took a hidden, calming breath and glanced up through her eyelashes at the tall man whose shoulders were too wide for her comfort. The wineglass looked small in his big hand, yet he held the crystal with precision and delicacy. His inherent restraint and coordination reassured her. She repeated what had become her mantra in the past two weeks: You can do it. Women do it all the time.
    Yet Lianne had never stalked a good-looking stranger. Until recently. And she had been caught. Now she wondered what to do next. Something subtle, perhaps indirect,certainly calm, preferably patient. Those were the qualities favored by her almost-family of Tang.
    “I have a really big favor to ask,” Lianne said baldly. Subtlety, indirection, and patience be damned.
    “Decent wine?” Kyle asked.
    She looked at her own half-full glass and almost smiled. She was so edgy tonight that everything tasted like vinegar and ashes. She set her glass aside, took a steadying breath, and smiled.
    “Try the beer,” she suggested,