Hot in Here by Lori Foster Read Free Book Online Page A

Clair laughed. “We’re both sweaty and you have to be up early.”
    “I’m never too tired for—”
    “Will you send me in alone if I say I just want to talk?”
    For a brief moment, his hands tightened, then the heat left his eyes and he released her with a sigh. “What the hell. I always enjoy talking to you.” His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Lead the way.”
    Her apartment was dark when they first went in. Clair turned on lamps as she headed to the kitchen. “You want something to eat or drink?”
    “Just some water.” He trailed behind her, far too close, in Clair’s opinion.
    She filled two glasses with ice, then got the spring water from the fridge. “So tell me what the attraction is.”
    “To you?”
    He looked perplexed enough that Clair wanted to hit him. “No, not to me. Far as I know, you’re not attracted to me.”
    He cocked one brow, then looked pointedly at her body. “I’d be more than happy to prove you wrong on that.”
    Clair groaned. “So then why do you want the woman in the photos so bad? She gets naked and that makes you so interested you can’t let it go?”
    He immediately shook his head. “She does look hot, no way around that. I mean, any woman who’s comfortable being naked is okay in my book.”
    “Really?”
    He grinned. “Hell yeah. If it was up to me, all women would stay naked. At least when we were alone together.”
    That had Clair blushing a bit, especially as Harris let his gaze roam over her, no doubt imagining her in such a state. Not that he had to imagine, if he only realized....
    “But the woman in the photo also said some nice things in her notes.”
    “So?”
    Harris rubbed the back of his neck and paced away. He had a gorgeous back, strong and broad, sleek and hard with muscle. His shorts rode low on his hips, hugging a narrow behind and strong thighs. “This is kind of embarrassing.”
    She knew all about embarrassing. “Why? We’re friends.”
    He nodded, turned to face her. “She said I’m generous.” Harris looked uncomfortable. “And funny and heroic.”
    Men could be such dolts. “Well, of course she did. Because you are. ” Clair handed him his water. “You’re one of the greatest guys I know.”
    The water never made it to his mouth. “You think so?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “But I didn’t know....”
    “Harris,” she said with aggrieved sigh. “Do you think I’d hang out with a guy who was an idiot?”
    His mouth tipped in a crooked grin. “You call me an idiot all the time.”
    Too true. It had always been her way of making sure she kept her feelings to herself. A self-protection mechanism of sorts that reminded her she wasn’t to get too romantic with Harris.
    Clair moved back to the living room and dropped onto her overstuffed, oversize couch. She stretched out her legs, caught Harris staring at them, and smiled. “Yeah, well, I insult you with affection. I don’t mean it.” She sent him a quick grin, just to keep her comments from getting too dramatic. “If I didn’t like, respect and admire you, I wouldn’t want your company.”
    His brows came down, his expression arrested. Clair stared at him over her glasses. “Now what’s wrong?”
    With a small shake of his head, Harris muttered, “I need to think. You’ve sort of thrown a bunch of stuff at me all at once.”
    “Thinking is good.” Clair waited while he, too, plopped onto the sofa. Because of their conversation, sitting so close to him felt different this time. “You should decide what you’ll do once you find this woman. I mean, have you considered that?”
    He propped his big feet on her coffee table and let his head fall back. “At least a hundred times.”
    Clair stared at his abdomen. It, too, was hard, lean and ridged with muscle. A dark, silky line of hair led from his navel to beneath the waistband of his shorts.
    She held herself in check, when what she wanted to do was attack him again. “So,” she said, sounding a little