Flirting with Sin by Naima Simone Read Free Book Online Page A

air from creeping beneath her coat.
    Besides, the cold couldn’t compete with the warmth heating her chest like a glass hurricane lamp sheltering a flame. The reason rested solely on the down-padded shoulders of the rock star standing next to her.
    The invitation she’d extended to Ari had been impulsive. If she’d thought it through, she wouldn’t have asked him to come with her. Why would he, a man whose idea of fun probably included clubs, high-priced alcohol, five-star treatment and half-naked women, want to do something as juvenile as sledding? Just because she was excited over finally being able to go for the first time in years, didn’t mean he would share her enthusiasm. The fear of rejection had writhed inside her like snakes as she’d turned around to face him in the suite, bracing for his kind—and awful—refusal.
    Only he hadn’t bowed out. He’d accepted.
    The leaping spurt of joy inside her should’ve been a blaring, red caution flag about becoming too attached, too invested in a man so far out of her league she resembled a T-ball munchkin trying out for the Seattle Mariners.
    Yet, here she was, crouched on a sled at the top of a steep hill, hoarding every moment in Ari’s company. Because this time next week, she would wake up from this teenage girl fantasy and find herself back in her office, slowly stagnating at her father’s mortgage company.
    Sighing, she squeezed her eyes shut, fighting off the swell of frustration and helplessness.
    “What’s the matter?” Ari’s taunting interrupted her morose thoughts. “Change your mind?”
    “Keep your pretty, new jacket on, rock star.” She snickered before stretching out on the board on her stomach and gripping the guides. Her belly rolled and flipped. Damn, this hill was steep. She inhaled a deep breath. “Okay, on three. One…”
    “Three.” He shoved the back of the sled and she flew down the incline.
    The wind whistled around her, ripping the “son-of-a-bitch” she screamed at him from her throat. Fear and exhilaration raced through her veins like a freight train as the world zipped past in a blur of white, brown trees and blue sky.
    As the terrifying and exciting ride slowed, she released a laugh and it rumbled from the deepest part of her. Holy shit! What a rush! She hooted, scrambling to her feet. Again. She so had to do it again.
    A roar was her only warning to get out of the way.
    Ari zoomed past her with a wild whoop and the delight inside her bubbled like the finest, most expensive champagne. With another war cry, he leaped to his feet. “Fuck, yes! Again!”
    Grinning, she grabbed her sled and bolted toward the top of the hill. “Race you!”
    An evil cackle reached her seconds before a delicious, but stinging, blow landed on her ass, and Ari tore past her, his long, denim-clad legs eating up the incline. Heat the brisk air couldn’t extinguish radiated from her right cheek, extending its warmth to her sex and clit. Good God, she was getting wet on a freaking snow-covered golf course.
    For the next hour, they sped up and down the hill like school kids frolicking on a snow day. She laughed more than she had in years. And, for a moment, as she stood at the top of the course, watching Ari hurtle toward the bottom of the incline, the realization saddened her. When had her life become void of simple joys like today? Or, a better question, why had she been okay with it?
    Tucking the unsettling—and daunting—thought away for later, she glanced down at her watch. Twelve-thirty. She had a ballroom dancing class.
    She waited as Ari crested the hill, dragging his sled behind him. “Hey, I have a ballroom dancing class at two and need to go change.
    “Ballroom dancing?” He snorted. “Something else on the bucket list?”
    “Sue me. Dirty Dancing is my favorite movie.”
    “Ri-i-ight.” He nodded. A corner of his mouth quirked. “And nobody puts Baby in the corner.”
    A crack of laughter escaped her. First, he’d recognized