Hearts on Fire Read Online Free Page B

feeling. The urge to run felt almost as strong as the urge to throw herself at him and demand he finish what he’d started right here, right now. Tourists be damned.
    “A week.”
    He nodded. “Long enough.”
    Too long.
    A muscle ticked in his jaw. He didn’t appear any happier about the attraction pulling at them than she was.
    “Meet me at the entrance tomorrow night after you close up. We’ll go somewhere where we can be alone.”
    Unable to voice the refusal resounding in her mind, she nodded her agreement instead. When he glanced over his shoulder at her, she realized he couldn’t have seen her response. “I have to close up first. Around nine.”
    “Close early.”
    She nodded again. “Eight?”
    Once again, he turned his attention to the outside world—a world that felt so far away she couldn’t ascertain if it was real or not. None of this felt real—the desire, the ache to be touched again.
    “Eight,” he agreed, leaving without a backward glance.
    She would have run, too, if she’d thought she would find the peace she was looking for in the sunlight.
     
     

CHAPTER FOUR
     
    What the fuck was I thinking? He’d asked the question a million times since he’d invited—no, demanded —she meet him, and the only answer that made sense was he hadn’t been thinking. At least, not with the head that counted.
    Just like he hadn’t been thinking when he had been with Theresa.
    And look how that turned out .
    He tapped his finger on the steering wheel, all the while keeping an eye on the entrance to the Renaissance faire. I should leave before she sees me. This woman is no different than Theresa. She won’t stay.
    “That makes her perfect,” he muttered to the darkened cab of his pickup. “Fuck her then send her on her way.” He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been with a woman, which meant it had been too long. That’s all this was, an itch he usually scratched with one of several women he thought of as fuck buddies when his fist and a hot shower didn’t do the trick. He’d take care of her, make sure her itch was scratched, too.
    The time readout on the radio console indicated he’d arrived twenty minutes early. Shit. Real cool, man. If that doesn’t scream desperate, what does? Still, he kept his gaze glued to the gate just in case she was as eager to get their evening started as he was. They had all night, he reasoned. His mom had Meggie for the night. But the more he thought about Shannon Perry, the more certain he became once would not be enough.
    A woman wearing skintight jeans caught his attention. His libido, already primed, went on alert. Long, shapely legs—he easily imagined wrapped around his waist—moved with confidence over the graveled entrance despite the sexy heels she wore.
    Why can’t you fall for someone like her? He allowed himself the luxury of enjoying the scenery a little longer. What could it hurt? His date wasn’t due for another fifteen minutes.
    The woman stopped. No giant hobo bag for her. A cute little purse dangled on a gold chain from her slim fingers. His gaze traveled up, taking in noticeable curves beneath a sleeveless shell the color of moonlight. He let out a low whistle. The woman’s understated sexiness appealed to him more than he thought possible. She looked so different from the woman he had come to pick up it took him a full two minutes of admiring her to realize who she was.
    Fuck!
    “Shannon,” he yelled, stepping out of the pickup to wave to her.
    Her smile nearly knocked him on his ass. She’d done something with her hair, tamed it so it draped over her shoulders and down her back in a sleek fall that brought to mind all kinds of carnal images.
    “Steve,” she said, approaching the truck. “Am I late?”
    “No. Right on time.” He opened the passenger door for her, pausing to admire her ass covered in dark denim.
    “I took a few minutes to change clothes.”
    Climbing back behind the wheel, he grinned at her. “I almost