The Man Ban - Nicola Marsh Page 0,4

but this one’s more private.”

She bit back a triumphant grin as his gaze riveted to her mouth again. Maybe she wasn’t so bad at this flirting caper after all.

“I can’t get a read on you,” he said, grasping her other hand in his, so she had to face him. “And I’m usually pretty good at it.”

“Getting a read on people is code for prejudging them, right?”

The corners of his mouth twitched. “There you go again, twisting my words, making me out to be a bad guy.”

“Are you?” She leaned a little closer and lowered her voice. “Bad?”

With a groan, he hauled her flush against him. She gasped—she hadn’t expected her toying to escalate so quickly, and certainly not to this, where his mouth covered hers in a commanding kiss that left her reeling.

She shouldn’t have let it get this far, but before she could stop it he sucked her bottom lip and nipped it, then soothed it with an assured sweep of his tongue that had her arms snaking around his neck to hang on for dear life.

Her lips parted on a needy whimper, and he took full advantage, his tongue challenging hers, taunting her, lashing her with the full force of an expertise she’d never known before.

Damn, the man could kiss.

She swayed beneath the onslaught of sensuality, grateful for his strong arms around her waist, until his hands slid down to her ass and pulled her flush against him, showing her exactly how far she’d let this game get out of hand.

She eased back and didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed when he let her. Her ragged breathing matched his, and when she reluctantly dragged her gaze to meet his, the depth of his desire matched hers.

“That was some kiss,” she murmured, hoping she could pull off coy, because that kiss had rattled her more than she liked.

She’d intended on toying with him, teasing him, then doing something excessively childish like rubbing his face in a dish of her perfectly presented kulfi.

But she hadn’t expected the kiss, and now the thought of his face being covered in rose water–flavored ice cream made her think naughty thoughts of licking it off him.

“Yeah, it was.”

He sounded as stunned as she felt, and when he reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, the tender gesture almost made her forget why she’d wanted to humiliate him in the first place.

Almost.

“Could you give me a hand?”

“Anytime.”

She rolled her eyes at his naughty smirk. “I have some things in my car I need brought inside.”

“Sure, lead the way.”

Damn it, she even found his mock bow cute and resisted the urge to stomp to her car and kick a tire. He’d insulted her work. Worse, he’d belittled it, deeming it frivolous and unimportant. For that, he had to pay.

“Do you have a special gift for the happy couple?”

“Something like that,” she said, popping the trunk and reaching into her bag of tricks.

When she attended styling jobs she used a giant briefcase, like the doctors’ cases from the olden days that folded out. In it, she stocked every item she may need: knives, zester, peeler, mandolin, potato masher, pastry cutters, blow torch, wooden skewers, and hand mixer.

And a can of whipped cream.

With her back to him, she gave it a shake before swiveling to face him. He was peering into the trunk and didn’t see it coming. With a deft press of her finger she directed the nozzle at him, releasing a stream of cream that covered his face.

He leaped back with a loud, “What the fuck?” and for a second Harper experienced genuine remorse. What a stupid, childish payback for some clueless guy insulting her food.

But then he wiped the cream from his eyes and fixed that glittering gray gaze on her, and she knew it would be okay.

Until she realized Manny wasn’t angry.

He was intent on revenge.

4

The first raunchy thought that entered Manny’s mind when he saw the whipped cream can in Harper’s hand was, Lucky me, she’s into some kinky shit.

That was before she decorated him like a fucking meringue.

The woman was crazy, but before he got to the bottom of why she’d done this, he knew exactly how to deliver a little vengeance of his own.

“Oh no, you don’t,” she said, brandishing the can at him like a weapon.

“What are you going to do about it?”

Her eyes widened as she realized his intent a second before he kissed her again, this time smearing her face with the