Feeling the Heat by Brenda Jackson Read Free Book Online

plane glide down the runway before tilting as it eased into the clouds. Over the years, he’d gotten used to air travel, but that didn’t mean he particularly liked it. All he had to do was recall that he had lost four vital members of his family in a plane crash. And he couldn’t help remembering that tragic and deep-felt loss each and every time he boarded a plane, even after all these years.
    “She’s pretty.”
    He opened his eyes and glanced over at Kalina. “Who is?”
    “That woman who picked you up from the CDC today.”
    He nodded. “Thanks. I happen to think she’s pretty, too,” he said honestly. In fact, he thought all his cousins and brothers had married beautiful women. Not only were they beautiful, they were smart, intelligent and strong.
    “Have the two of you been seeing each other long?”
    It would be real simple to tell her that Olivia was a relative, but he decided to let her think whatever she wanted. “No, and we really aren’t seeing each other now. We’re just friends,” he said.
    “Close friends?”
    He closed his eyes again. “Yes.” He had been tempted to keep his eyes open just to see her expression, but knew closing them would make his nonchalance more effective.
    “How long have the two of you known each other?”
    He knew she was trying to figure out if Olivia had come before or after her. “Close to five years now.”
    “Oh.”
    So far everything he’d said had been the truth. He just wasn’t elaborating. It was his choice and his right. Besides, he was giving her something to think about.
    Deciding she’d asked enough questions about Olivia, he said, “You might want to rest awhile. We have a long flight ahead of us.”
    And he intended on sharing every single hour of it with her. It wasn’t a coincidence that the last seat on the military jet had been next to her and that he’d taken it. There hadn’t been any assigned seats on this flight. Passengers could sit anywhere, and, with the help of the flight attendant, he’d made sure they had sat everywhere but next to Kalina. The woman just happened to know that New York Times bestselling author Rock Mason, aka Stone Westmoreland, was Micah’s cousin. The woman was a huge fan and the promise of an autographed copy of Stone’s next action thriller had gone a long way.
    Micah kept his eyes closed but could still inhale Kalina’s scent. He could envision her that morning, dabbing cologne all over her body, a body he’d had intimate knowledge of for two wonderful months. He was convinced he knew where every mole was located, and he was well acquainted with that star-shaped scar near her hip bone that had come as a result of her taking a tumble off a skateboard at the age of twelve.
    He drew in a deep breath, taking in her scent one more time for good measure. For now, he needed to pretend he was ignoring her. Sitting here lusting after Kalina wasn’t doing him any good and was just weakening his resolve to keep her at a distance while he let her get to know him. He couldn’t let that happen. But he couldn’t help it when he opened his eyes, turned to her and said, “Oh, by the way, Kalina. You still have the cutest dimples.” He then turned to face straight ahead before closing his eyes once again.
    Satisfied he might have soothed her somewhat, he stretched his long legs out in front of him, at least as far as they could go, and tilted his seat back. He might as well get as comfortable as he could for the long flight.
    He’d been given a good hand to play and he planned on making the kind of win that the gambler in the family, his cousin Ian, would be proud of. The stakes were high, but Micah intended to be victorious.
    * * *
    So Micah had known the woman during their affair. Did that mean he’d taken back up with her after their time together had ended? Kalina wondered. He said he and the woman were only friends, but she’d known men to claim only friendship even while sleeping with a woman every night. Men