Burn on the Western Slope (Crimson Romance) by Angela Smith Read Free Book Online Page A

over the straw and slurped the cocktail. It tasted divine, the sugary, minty flavor inciting sweet thoughts of Garret’s lips.
    “I’m not sure I’m ready for that,” Reagan said, running her tongue over her lips as she rested her glass on the counter. “Skiing, that is,” she quickly added. He would never know she’d been thinking of kissing him, but she had to force herself to look away from his mouth. Nudging Naomi, she stood. “It’s time for me to go. I need to settle in. I haven’t even unpacked yet.” And she had no intention of doing so now, but it was a good excuse to leave. She wiped her hands on her jeans before extending her hand to his, praying hers weren’t clammy. “It was great to meet you.”
    Garret grasped her proffered hand and nested his other on top, engulfing her hand. She burned. Everywhere. “Meet me on the slopes tomorrow?”
    Reagan bit her lip and glanced at the floor. “Tomorrow? I don’t know. I might need a little more time to get used to this place.”
    “We’ll start with sledding. You can’t not like sledding.”
    She didn’t know, seeing as how she’d never done it, but cozying up to him at a hundred miles an hour would probably be amazing.
    “I’m safe,” Garret said as he dropped his hand.
    “You’re what?” she asked, meeting his eyes. Maybe he was a good guy in most people’s standards, but he made her heart beat too fast to be anything but dangerous.
    “I’m harmless. Several people in town will vouch for me.”
    “But I don’t know them either.”
    His smile dimpled his left cheek. Her throat tingled. She swallowed, trying to steady her breath.
    “I can spend the day introducing you to them.”
    “No. Sledding sounds good,” she blurted. She couldn’t keep staring at him like a moron.
    “Eleven o’clock? Meet me right here?”
    “Sounds good,” she repeated before she lost her focus again. “See you tomorrow.”
    She grabbed Naomi’s elbow, using her as a crutch. Unsteady legs and a woozy head didn’t make it easy to walk out the door, but it was Garret who made her feel tipsy and not the drinks. She wanted to get out of there without falling on her ass or something even worse. The slap of cold as they stepped outside nudged her back to reality.
    “You owe me a hundred dollars,” Naomi said.
    “What? They’re not gay. They’re brothers, so I win.”
    “Yeah, but they live together.”
    • • •
    “So that’s Ray’s niece.” Chayton sidled next to Garret, his ice clinking against his glass of water as he leaned against the bar and watched the women walk out the door. Garret nursed a Guinness, its bitter aftertaste just what he needed, like a swift kick in the ass.
    Reagan wasn’t at all what he expected.
    Not loud, obnoxious, or overbearing, but shy, though that could be her way of manipulating a man, or maybe she was so involved with this crooked cop guy that nobody else interested her.
    Or hell, it could be because he didn’t interest her.
    She was beautiful. Damn, she was beautiful, and she was an assignment. An assignment he didn’t want, an assignment he didn’t need.
    Attraction lolled in his stomach like an agonizing hangover. His usual means of conquering chemistry was a quick roll in the hay, providing the woman was willing. Which usually in his case she was. He couldn’t do that with Reagan and he couldn’t avoid her and hope it would fade with time. It didn’t matter how long it lasted, it was an intensity he couldn’t break if he tried.
    An intensity he couldn’t afford. Not with an assignment. Not with a woman he may have to ultimately arrest.
    Not with a woman involved with his archenemy.
    His mom believed in soul mates and promised he’d find his one day, but he believed the opposite. If his mom and dad had been soul mates, his dad would never have slept with another woman. But then again if he hadn’t made that mistake, Chayton would never have been born. His mother had forgiven his father and reminded