Nice & Naughty Read Online Free

back. What was it about this girl that made him want to help her? Must be the innate hero in him, the same instinct that made him join the army and then after his tour was up, become a fireman.
    “Seriously, though. You were reduced to tears in the middle of the dairy aisle over a few dozen eggs. I know we just met, but if you need to talk, I’m a good listener.”
    She looked up at him and then dropped her focus to the table, but not before he noticed her eyes start to glisten.
    Scott hissed in a breath. “Ah, jeez. I didn’t mean to make you cry again. I’m sorry.”
    Alexis shook her head and finally raised tear-filled eyes to look at him. “Don’t be sorry. It’s just that you’re being so nice. I’m sorry. I can’t handle that right now.”
    “You can’t handle someone being nice to you?” He raised a brow.
    She buried her face in her hands and let out a half laugh. “I’m really tired and under a lot of pressure. I’m a big mess and if you want to run away from me, I won’t blame you one bit. In fact, I suggest it.”
    He shook his head. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I don’t scare so easily.”
    Realizing what he’d said gave him pause. He had run in fright when Linda had demanded a ring. But this girl wanted nothing more from him than a dozen eggs. He was sure that must be the difference.
    Scott looked at the mystery girl in front of him. In the few months since Linda had dumped him because of his inability to commit on the spot to a lifetime with her, he’d steered clear of all females. But the tearful egg confrontation with this woman had piqued his curiosity, not to mention his interest, on a personal level.  
    This Alexis No-Last-Name was quite a piece of work. If Linda had stamped her foot at him and pouted, he would have laughed her out of the store. But when Alexis did it, he’d had the urge to grab her and see if she tasted as sweet as she looked.
      Wearing a plain sweat suit with not one bit of makeup on her face, she was still the sexiest thing he’d seen in a long time. He studied her more closely. Short brown curls, warm brown eyes. But something nagged at the back of his brain. Why did she seem familiar?
    A sudden and extremely unappealing thought struck. What if she was one of Troy’s one hundred and nineteen and that’s why Scott recognized her? Damn. She was exactly Troy’s type too. Petite but curvy in all the right places. Even engaged, the firehouse Casanova was still getting in the way of his dating life. Scott wasn’t thrilled about accepting Troy’s leftovers, but with over a hundred of them running around the neighborhood, the chances of encountering one was high.   He supposed he had no choice in the matter, because even if Alexis was one of the many fish in Troy’s former sea, Scott didn’t think that would be enough to make him want to throw her back.
    “This may seem like an odd question, but do you know a firefighter named Troy O’Donnell?” He steeled his nerves. Better to find out now rather than later.
    She frowned. “No, I don’t think so. Why do you ask?”
    Ding, ding, ding. That was the correct answer. Scott smiled. “No reason. You’d remember if you knew him. So, during the recent battle of the eggs, you mentioned learning to cook…” He paused as Alexis started to look really uncomfortable.
    “Did I?”
    “Yeah, you did. You know, if you were interested, I could tutor you. I was a cook in the army for a few years. And now, I do a lot of cooking for the guys at the firehouse. It’s one of the unsung duties of being a full-time firefighter. That and cleaning the fire truck. I’m a pretty good cook, if I say so myself. At least, the guys don’t complain too much.”
    This was good. He was just offering her some help. It had nothing to do with the fact that he wanted to strip her down and eat pancakes off her belly or anything. Yeah, sure it didn’t.
    She perked up a little. “You cooked in the army? How many people did