Love Bites: A Sugar City Novella (Entangled Bliss) by Ophelia London Read Free Book Online Page A

definitely holding back .
    She was about to demand to know what he was trying to hide when Jeff said, “Do you know anything about these animals?”
    “Um.” She looked down at her tablet, like it might just happen to contain a shark glossary. “Not a whole lot.”
    He leaned on the gunwale running along the inside edge. “For starters, they’re one of the most mysterious creatures on the planet. Particularly great whites. Because they’re so difficult to track, we don’t know a lot about their patterns. Technology’s grown exponentially over the last decade, so we’re learning more now than ever.”
    “That’s exciting,” Sharona said.
    Jeff lifted his eyebrows. “You think so?”
    She sighed in exasperation. “Look, just because I was sent here to make sure funds aren’t being misspent doesn’t mean I don’t believe in science and progress. Because I do .”
    She hated the way her voice rose to that shrill level that always happened when she got overly emotional. Nonetheless, she did not like the idea of anyone spearing anything through its fin.
    “Nice speech,” Jeff said. His voice had a hint of respect in it. Also a hint of amusement. She didn’t like not being taken seriously, either.
    “So?” She waved a hand. “Continue.”
    “Right.” He ran a hand through his dark hair and looked toward the oncoming waves. “One of the most elusive things about the white shark is their, uh…” His eyes moved to hers and he held them there.
    “Their what?” she asked when he didn’t finish, a bit rapt by his expression.
    He kept his eyes locked on her. “Their mating.”
    “Mating,” she repeated, feeling a flutter in her stomach at the way he was looking at her…then suddenly not looking at her.
    “We don’t know if individual animals spawn in a certain spot every time—kind of like a human might go to a particular pub if she wants some action. Just an example, mind you.”
    She folded her arm, feeing her cheeks heat up. “Pub. Uh-huh.”
    Jeff leaned against the railing, his expression looking smug at her embarrassment. “For all we know, sharks are just, ya know, doing it everywhere.”
    “Like the Kardashians?”
    He stared at her for a beat, then that tight expression relaxed into a smile as he slid his hands into his jean pockets. “And probably just as reckless,” he said. “Or so I’d like to think. That’s one of the reasons we’re intrigued about why we’ve tracked these sharks back here. The gestation period is twelve-to-eighteen months. It’s been about that long since we last saw them in these waters.”
    “You’re thinking this could be like a favorite pub for sharks? A mating ground?”
    “Dunno. But it’s certainly worth finding out, don’t you think?”
    “Have you ever seen two sharks doing…?” She shrugged. “You know.”
    “It’s extremely rare.” His accent had grown heavy as he leaned forward, his arm brushing hers. Goose bumps broke out across her skin. “But who knows. Maybe, if we play just the right mood music, you and I will get lucky, Sharona Blaire.”
    Was he talking about shark reproduction…or human? And…was he flirting? Earlier, he’d gone cold and hostile when she’d tried to apologize. The man was a ball of contradiction. A very sexy, very nice-smelling contradiction.
    “Well.” She swallowed, staring into his eyes. “I’m all for getting lucky.”

Chapter Four
    It was like a spell was broken the second Pax called his name from across the boat, shaking him awake. He hadn’t meant to talk about sex—marine or not—with Sharona. Since the second they’d met, she brought out the cheesy singles bar in him. They’d been on the boat for an hour and he’d already imagined kissing her a million different ways and on a million parts of her body.
    If he didn’t keep his head in the game, today would go to shit.
    “Yeah, Pax. What is it?” he asked, after breathing out a long exhale and stepping away from the tantalizing bait at