Scorched by Desiree Holt, Allie Standifer Read Free Book Online Page B

minutes to get ready. Shorts and a t-shirt or whatever. Nothing fancy.” When she didn’t move he said, “Come on, get going. We’re burning daylight.”
    Again she started to protest but decided, what the hell.
    Fifteen minutes later she was back in the living room, showered and dressed with a minimum of makeup and her hair once again in a ponytail. He’d have to earn the right for her to spend more time on her looks for him.
    “Okay. Now what.”
    “Now we get going.”
    He hustled her out of the house, making sure she locked the door, and guided her across the street to his SUV. When she climbed into the front seat she happened to look into the back and saw a big straw basket and pointed at it.
    “What’s that?”
    “A breakfast picnic basket.”
    Her eyebrows flew up. “A what?”
    “That place called Let’s Eat Out does a great job with them.” His cheekbones colored. “A friend’s wife told me about them.”
    She stared, open-mouthed. “You asked someone about this?”
    He nodded. “I wanted to do this right.”
    And that was all he’d tell her as they drove out of town and followed a two-lane highway to a more rural area. He deflected all questions with the same answer, “You’ll find out.”
    “What is this place?” she asked, when they turned off the road and pulled up in front of a small cabin.
    “My mom and dad own it. Since they’re in Arizona my brothers and I get to use it. I warned them if they showed up today I’d be forced to kill them all.”
    He ushered her out of the SUV, snagged the picnic basket and a folded quilt and walked her around to an area beneath a very old, shady oak. He spread out the quilt, nudged her onto it and opened the basket. When he’d poured orange mimosas from a bottle into two decorated plastic cups, he held up his cup in a toast.
    “To a woman I nearly lost through my own stupidity. I hope she gives me another chance.”
    Kasey watched him carefully over the rim of her cup. “Does that mean you’re ready to share yourself?”
    He lowered his cup, his face sobering. “I was in a long relationship with someone who broke it off with me because of my job. I’m a cop, Kasey. A homicide detective. I work nights. The scar is from a bullet wound I got accidentally walking into a holdup.”
    Kasey stared at him. “ That’s the big deal you didn’t want to tell me about? That’s why you didn’t want me asking questions? You thought I’d, what, tell you to take a hike?”
    He shrugged. “Most women think the idea of a cop is sexy, but then they get tired of the long hours and the dangers of the job.”
    “Skyler, you must have dated some pretty shallow women. Plumbers can work just as long hours, and there’s danger crossing the street. Don’t you think you should have given me the chances to make the choice for myself?”
    “I just thought—”
    “You thought we’d have wild monkey sex and then we could go our own way? Damn! Isn’t that just like a man?”
    He reached for her cup and put it down next to his. “You’re right. It was stupid. But by the second night with you I was feeling a lot more than horny and I was afraid to let myself get in too deep. Feel anything too strong.”
    She pushed him back on the quilt. “Well, you’re in deep now, buster. You’d better remember that.”
    She leaned over him and pressed her mouth to his, opening it when his tongue licked her lips. His strong arms came around her, pulling her close to him. One hand slid up her thigh and beneath her shorts, trailing across her ass and teasing the cleft of her buttocks.
    She was wet instantly, her panties soaked. Running her fingers through the silk of his hair she pushed herself against him. He moaned into her mouth.
    “And here I was going to feed you fresh strawberries,” he breathed, breaking the kiss. “And read you poetry to charm you.”
    She looked down at him. “Poetry? Really?”
    He chuckled. “No, not really. But I wanted to show you what a