Racing the Hunter's Moon (Entangled Bliss) by Sally Clements Read Free Book Online

rioted at the touch of her, the scent of her, the taste of her.
    Joe’s heart thundered in his chest as the kiss deepened. The spark had flared into a full-on forest fire, one he had no chance of dousing.
    …
    Betty’s mind had been battling her body ever since she’d sat down next to Joe for dinner this evening. His easy banter with Mark, warm appreciation of the meal before them, and ease at her friends’ home had seduced her into a fantasy that they really were just there to spend time with mutual friends. She’d let herself daydream about touching him, had wondered what his strong arms might feel like around her, what his broad chest would feel like beneath her fingers.
    From the first moment she’d seen him, she’d been fighting an overwhelming attraction. She’d managed to quash her instinctive response to his nearness until he’d started to talk about making furniture with passion in his voice. Relaxed, in the company of friends, he’d become accessible, possible hot fling material. And once Alice and Mark had gotten touchy-feely, she’d been whisked up in a lust tornado.
    They sprang apart at the sound of footsteps and rattling cups.
    Reason returned like a splash of ice-cold water. What have I done? She’d made the mistake of not only indulging her passionate side, but actually starting to like him. Had turned off her mind and let her body do what it wanted. For a wild, thoughtless moment, she’d abandoned reason, had forgotten that she couldn’t just blindly trust—couldn’t let down her guard without risking the success of her mission. The mission to catch Charmers.
    “I’ll open the door for Alice.” She jumped up and dashed for the door.
    Being in the close confines of the MG day after day while staying detached would be darned near impossible.

Chapter Four
    Alice and Betty met up the following morning in Under the Hood. Over coffee, Alice said, “There was an email this morning from Mel. She managed to send it by the satellite phone.”
    “So was it full of tales of her adventures?” A whole month in the Amazon sounded like heaven, even if they had bugs and beasts to deal with. “I bet it’s really beautiful.”
    “She sounded happy,” Alice said. “Apparently Heath is being really attentive and taking some fantastic pictures.”
    “So no reminders of things we should be doing?”
    “A couple.” Alice grinned. “But we have them all covered, so they aren’t worth mentioning.” She refilled her coffee and looked innocent. “What time are you meeting up with Joe this evening?”
    Alice hadn’t seen anything the previous evening, but seemed to possess a supernatural sense when it came to flirtation or attraction of any sort. Of course the fact that Betty could barely string two words together when Alice and Mark had come in with coffee, coupled with the extremely mussed nature of Joe’s hair and smear of pink lipstick on the corner of his mouth, was probably a dead giveaway.
    She and Mark had shown Joe the practice route on the map last night, and then she’d agreed to meet him tonight to drive it. As Mark was clearly exhausted, to her relief they’d called it a night at that point and gone their separate ways.
    “You do like him, I can tell.” Alice pulled up a chair and sat. “You haven’t dated anyone for ages; I think you should jump his bones.”
    “Alice!”
    “Don’t pretend to be shocked—if you were the one giving me or Mel advice, you’d be telling us exactly the same thing, you know you would.”
    There was no arguing with that. “Well okay, I find him attractive. Who wouldn’t? And I’m sure he can be charming if he puts his mind to it, but he likes to tell me what to do, and as you know, I hate that with a vengeance.” It was normal for the three partners of Under the Hood to microanalyze the early stages of one another’s crushes. Like therapy, only cheaper with no possibility of censure. Talking about Joe—well, it was different. Their attraction