Page 88 of Inferno

“Nothing,” Prissy said with feigned nonchalance. “I’m just wondering whether we’re going to keep running into her everywhere.First the ball, now here.”

“She lives in Coronado, Pris,” Stan pointed out dryly. “It’s a small community.”

“I know that,” Prissy said irritably. “I was just making an observation.”

Stan said nothing, quietly pushing the dust mop across the floor.

As Prissy watched him, her mother’s sage warnings ran through her mind.Make damn certain you know what you’re talking about before you accuse a man of infidelity….You can’t unring a bell once it has been rung….

She turned away from the table and bent down, her movements sharp and jerky as she tied up the plastic trash bag. “I think Dr. Gilliard is attracted to you.”

There was a pause.

“I don’t think so,” Stan said flatly.

Prissy gave a derisive snort. “Typical.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Youneverthink any woman is attracted to you, Stan. No matter how many of them throw themselves at you, you’re always completely clueless. It’s ridiculous. It’s as if you’ve never looked in a damn mirror.”

“I’m a married man,” he bit out tersely.

“So what!For goodness’ sake, Stan! Just because we’re married doesn’t mean other people can’t find us attractive and want to sleep with us.” She paused,thensome perverse instinct made her volunteer, “I met a good-looking businessman while I was in Rochester. I was having a drink at the bar, and he sat down next to me and started flirting. So men might use a more direct approach than women, but…” She trailed off pointedly.

Dead silence.

The next sound she heard was the dust mop clattering to the floor, and then suddenly Stan was upon her, the heat of his body scorching her as he hauled her up and against him.

“What is this?” he demanded roughly against her ear. “You tryingto start an argument with me? Or are you trying to have me ripping that city apart to find the bold motherfucker who stepped to my wife?”

“Of c-course not,” Prissy stammered, nervously licking her lips. “I’m just suggesting—”

“What, you think you’re leaving me or something?” Stan growled, sending fiery shivers through her. “You think I’d ever let you go anywhere?Huh?You must be out of your damn mind.”

Prissy trembled hard, feeling like a child who’d accidentally ignited an inferno after playing with matches.“Stan—”

He whipped her around, framing her face between his hands as his obsidian eyes blazed into hers. “There’s no one else,” he said fiercely. “When we get home tonight, we’re gonna sit down and talk about everything, I promise you that. But for now, I need you to know and believe me when I tell you that there’s no one else. There hasn’tbeenanyone else since the day I met you and lost my heart.”

“Oh, God,” Prissy whimpered as tears flooded her eyes. She shook her head at him. “I’m so confused, baby. I want to bel—”

He crushed his mouth to hers. When she instinctively resisted, he tightened his arms around her, holding her imprisoned against the hard wall of his chest as he kissed her fiercely and possessively, demanding her surrender.

Prissy moaned helplessly and sucked his tongue, feeling her body melt even as she wrestled with her anger and fears.

With a supreme effort she managed to break free and stumble backward, panting sharply for breath.

Stan stared at her, dark eyes smoldering, nostrils flaring.

Without warning he lunged forward, picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.

“Stanton!” Prissy gasped. “What do you think you’re doing?”

He carried her across the hall and past the kitchen area to the metal pole that stretched up to the second floor of the fire station. He set Prissy down on her feet,thensank to his haunches in front of her.

Before she could react or protest, he spun her around and quickly unzipped her black skirt, then dragged it down her thighs and over her stiletto boots.

Prissy stared over her shoulder at him, trembling uncontrollably with desire as he seized the waistband of her black panties and eased the scrap of silk down her legs.