Playing with Dynamite by Leanne Banks Read Free Book Online Page B

them. Lisa sighed. She was pleasantly tired. At a different time, she would have snuggled closer to Brick and he would have rested his hand on her knee.
    That was another lifetime, she told herself, straightening in her seat. Better to focus on something else. “Your family is nice. I like them, but with all those boys I can’t help wondering if you fought a lot when you were growing up.”
    Brick nodded. “My father let us knock each other around until we were teenagers. By then I guess he got tired of the furniture getting smashed.” He paused. “He worked on me a little earlier since I was the biggest.”
    â€œWorked on you?”
    â€œYeah. I developed a nasty temper the year my mother got sick. I got sent home from school one day with a shiner.” Brick grinned. “The other guy had two, but my dad wasn’t amused. He didn’t scream or yell, though. He just told me to get to work on the lower forty. It took the whole summer on the working end of a hoe before I got my temper under control. I haven’t hit anyone since.”
    â€œEven Troy?” Lisa asked with a knowing smile.
    Brick laughed. “Even Troy.”
    â€œYou must get angry sometime. What do you do now?”
    â€œNot often,” Brick said, thinking, however, that he’d experienced some nearly uncontrollable frustration lately. He couldn’t exactly explain that fact to Lisa if he wanted her to continue letting him be her friend. What a hell of a farce this was. He didn’t want her trying out other men for husband material. He didn’t want to stay away from her. He wanted her back. His eyes were focused on the road, but the sound of her voice and the every-now-and-then trace of her scent sent his libido into overdrive and his guts into a tangled mess.
    Noticing that she was still waiting for him to respond, he shrugged. “I guess I do the usual things—count to ten, leave the room, crack my knuckles. And if it’s really bad I—” He stopped, suddenly self-conscious.
    Lisa leaned closer. “You what?”
    â€œIt’s nothing. I just—”
    â€œYou just don’t want to tell me,” she finished, disappointment coloring her voice.
    Aw hell. “Okay. I’ll tell you one of my secrets if you tell me one of yours.”
    She paused only a fraction of a moment. “Deal.”
    â€œWhen I feel like I’m close to losing it, I whistle.”
    There was a long gap of silence, then Lisa smothered a giggle. “Whistle?”
    Brick threw a quick glance at her and grinned despite the fact that the joke was at his expense. “Yeah. Go ahead and laugh. You look like you’re about to bust.”
    Lisa let out a full-bodied, throaty laugh, the kind that made Brick’s gut clench in memory.
    â€œI’m just—” She coughed over another laugh. “I’m just trying to imagine how you do it.” She cleared her throat. “And why?”
    â€œWell, it takes a lot of concentration if you whistle something intricate.”
    â€œOkay. I’ll buy that,” she said, sinking down in the leather seat. “But you know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you whistle.”
    Brick thought for a long moment. “I guess I never got mad at you. I was too busy—” He stopped, unwilling to finish.
    â€œToo busy?” she softly prompted.
    Too busy falling in love. His heart stopped at the realization. Hell, he would have to deal with that later. “Too busy being happy,” he said instead, and quickly changed the subject. “Time for the flip side of the deal. You gotta tell me one of your secrets.”
    Lisa shifted in her seat. “Do I get to pick?”
    Brick shook his head. “I want to know who proposed.”
    Lisa groaned. “I should have seen this coming. It’s no one you know. And I told both of them no.”
    â€œThat’s a relief,” he muttered under his