Love Me If You Dare (Safe Haven) by Kate Laurens Read Free Book Online Page B

fires.
He works for the state, works away for a week or two at a time.”
    “Oh.”
I swallowed hard. Shit, I’d thought Dylan was sexy as a mechanic. The thought
of him in a firefighter’s uniform, those muscles rippling as he used his body
to extinguish flames, as the heat made sweat run over his skin...
    Hold
up. I ordered myself. I had no business
thinking about Dylan that way. Never had.
    “Well.
That’s good for him.” I finally managed. I didn’t know what else to say.
    “Yeah.
He’s all goody goody now. No smoking. Has a house and a dog.” Jax rolled his
eyes at me, clearly trying to make me smile. I did, grateful that he was giving
me a moment to compose myself before I turned back to my friends.
    “Hello,
hottie.” Maddy suddenly whispered. I jolted, startled, as she nudged me in the
ribcage—I hadn’t heard her approach. “Tell me you know him. And that he’s
single.”
    Chill
bumps broke out over my skin before melting away in a wash of steam.
    I’d
been back in town for two days, but I was already completely attuned to Dylan’s
presence.
    Slowly,
I turned around, found him standing just inside the open garage door. Though he
was turned as if he was going to speak to Jax, his eyes were fastened on me.
    “Ladies.”
Just the one syllable, then he turned his attention to Jax—or to an outsider,
it would seem that he had.
    He
was still oriented towards me, or maybe it was me to him.
    “Hi,
Dylan.” My face flushed and I looked down at my toes. The green varnish was
chipped, not the norm for me. I liked to be groomed and polished, to show
something shiny and perfect to the outside world.
    “Oh.”Beside
me Maddy and Serena exhaled their comprehension in unison. I looked away from
my toes to glare at them. They gave me wide eyed stares of innocence in return,
but I knew that they’d put two and two together.
    I
silently willed them to behave. Dylan wasn’t just some hot guy from my home
town. No, there was so much more between us than that.
    So
much, and yet it could all fall away into nothing.
    “That
part for my bike come in, Jax?” Dylan extracted a small paper bag from the pocket
of his battered jacket, then slid the garment down his shoulders. Beneath it he
was wearing a short sleeved T-shirt that showed only half of his tattoo and a
lot of sinewy muscle.
    The
tattoo involved flames of some kind. Now it made sense.
    From
the corner of my eye I saw Maddy’s eyebrow lift in appreciation. I felt a
snaking tendril of... not jealousy, not exactly. Possessiveness, even though I
knew she’d never make a move on someone that I had any kind of connection with.
Neither would Serena, even if she wasn’t crazy in love with her own guy.
    All
I could think of was the way his bare torso had looked only hours ago, when
he’d stripped off his T-shirt so that I could be warm. The way the early
morning sunlight had played over the golden skin that stretched tightly over
those muscles, muscles that had only been a promise that last time I’d seen
them.
    The
way his lips had looked when he’d pulled me towards him like he had a right.
When he’d almost kissed me.
    It
was better than it had been before. And that was saying something.
    “Yep,
it’s on the bench there.” Jax rubbed his hand over his nose, leaving a smear of
engine grease behind. I saw his eyes flick back and forth between me and Dylan,
but I swallowed hard and shoved it back.
    “Awesome.
What do I owe you?” Before grabbing the part, he tossed the small paper bag my
way, not even looking to see if I caught it, which I did, after a fumble.
    The
guys’ voices became background noise as, curious, I opened the small bag.
Inside was a pile of small dark rectangles—the unmistakeable scent hit my
senses like a sucker punch, and I felt my insides go as soft and gooey as the
contents of the bag.
    Licorice.
He’d brought me a bag full of black licorice.
    I
looked up, caught his gaze. He winked at me once, solemnly, before turning