Tangled Up Hearts Read Online Free Page A

stop fighting and like it or not she would comply with the request. Reluctant but determined, she held out her hand. “A temporary truce, Cole, and when Trisha is better, all bets are off.” She could only hope that he did not mistake the promise of retribution in her eyes.
    He stared at her for several long, interminable seconds then dropped his gaze to her hand. After a very brief but noticeable hesitation, he took it within his own, his firm grip putting Alyssa into another internal tailspin. In fact, she'd venture to say that the world had just tilted on its axis. At the very least it had undergone a momentous change.
    They never touched. Twelve years of history together and none of it included any touching. At least not during the last seven anyway. Before that, back in the beginning of their relationship, such wasn't the case. No, back then things were actually pretty good between them. He was nice to her and she had even developed something of a crush on him. And then overnight it ended. Suddenly she was someone who did nothing but irritate him. Bewildered and hurt, she retaliated in kind. And it had been that way ever since.
    “No," Trisha cut in. "This will not do.”
    Alyssa pulled her hand from Cole’s and turned to her friend. Somehow she managed to speak despite the craziness going on inside her. “What?”
    “I said I want you to kiss on it.”
    Alyssa’s heart pounded so hard she was sure Cole could hear it. Good Lord! Kiss Cole? She couldn’t even imagine it let alone actually do it. The idea was beyond preposterous. Their handshake had caused enough of a stir, what in the world would a kiss do? Oh God! She couldn't do it. Biting her lip in distress, Alyssa turned back to Cole. His face was pulled together in a deep, displeased frown and that caused her stomach to tighten even more. The fact he was just as reluctant to kiss her as she was to kiss him made the situation even worse. How could Trisha make such an unreasonable demand?
    “Oh, for heaven’s sake," Trisha snapped, her patience with them gone. “Put your lips together and get it over with.”
    Cole stepped closer and Alyssa’s heart skipped a beat or two, went sluggish for a few seconds then once again resumed its hard pounding. A wash of heat flooded her skin and when she lifted her eyes to meet his, the heat intensified. His expression was at first wary and then resigned as he dropped his gaze to her mouth.
    Alyssa wet her dry lips with her tongue then lifted her chin in defiance. Well a kiss from Cole was quite meaningless after all. She might as well do what Trisha asked and be done with it. Her bravado, however, was short-lived for as his head dipped to hers, her breath once again snagged in her throat and her eyes closed as anticipation thrummed like wildfire through her body.
    And then his lips touched hers.
    Cole’s mouth was cool, firm, and tantalizingly soft. Alyssa’s crazy heart gave a funny little lurch and she found herself wanting to respond, wanting to increase the pressure and move closer, but then the kiss was over.
    Her eyes opened slowly, her gaze landing on his whiskered chin. Why couldn't he shave more often? This reckless look was more appealing on him than she liked. She preferred clean-shaven men and yet there was something so rakishly sexy about a man with a day's growth of beard.
    Sure he was looking at her about as closely as she was studying him, Alyssa glanced away. Even so, she felt his eyes on her as surely as she still felt the gentle pressure of his mouth.
    Although it was only a few seconds, it seemed like forever before he stepped back and turned to Trisha. “Satisfied?”
    Trisha snorted. “Most certainly not. You both can do better than that, surely? Your hand-shake held more promise.” She gestured with her hands in an impatient show of disgust. “You both acted as if you were kissing a leech.”
    Alyssa thought the description fit Cole perfectly but refrained from saying so. What she did