The Hottest Ticket in Town by Kimberly Van Meter Read Free Book Online Page B

answered, her breath catching when he walked toward her. Was he going to kiss her? He had that look on his face as if he was going to bend her over and take her right there on the kitchen counter—and if she were being truthful, she wouldn’t lift a finger to stop him. But just as he crowded her personal space and she angled her lips to his, his chuckle broke the spell as he deposited his empty bottle in the trash bin behind her under the sink.
Drat. Way to get your hopes up, Laci
.
You’re just standing in the way of the trash can.
    â€œWhy, Laci McCall...is that disappointment I see?” he murmured, still crowding her.
Hell yes, that’s disappointment
, but she sure wasn’t going to admit that and gave his chest a firm push with a scowl. He backed away with a deeper chuckle of amusement, his hands up in a mock gesture of surrender. “All right, all right...no need to get prickly. I was just asking.”
    â€œGo wash up—you smell worse than a pig rolling around in a mud pit,” she told him, which was a complete lie, but she didn’t want him thinking he had her figured out and twisted around his finger. If anyone was going to get twisted, it was Kane. She’d be sure of that. “Don’t spend all day in there, either. I’m starved,” she added on as he walked away.
    â€œYes, ma’am,” Kane said with an exaggerated drawl that sent arousal coursing through her body. Once he was out of the room, she let out her breath in a whoosh as she sagged against the sink for a minute to catch her bearings. She’d plainly underestimated the raw, animal attraction still pulsing between her and Kane, even after all these years. Maybe it was stupid to share the same space together, even for a few days. It’d taken her a long time to get over Kane, although if her reaction to him was any indication, maybe she never had.

7
    K ANE STEPPED INTO the shower, his thoughts humming at a fine clip. His muscles ached, his head throbbed, but none of that seemed to matter. He wasn’t thinking straight—that much was evident by the fact that he wanted nothing more than to lift that cute country skirt and slide his cock so deep into that soft, willing flesh that his hands shook at being denied. Sure, he’d played it cool with Laci, but it’d taken everything in him not to give in to those lips, presented so sweetly for the taking.
    Hell, as bad ideas went, messing around with Laci ranked up there with the idea of a four-cylinder truck trying to pull a fifth wheel, but that didn’t stop him from picturing Laci’s pretty mouth doing pretty dirty things to his cock as he slid the soap over his body. Like a good soldier, his cock rose for duty and he wasn’t above palming it with a soft groan.
Laci, Laci, Laci...what the hell are you doing to me?
He shouldn’t want her—he’d left for a reason—but knowing that soda was bad didn’t stop millions of people from reaching for a bottle of sugary poison. That’s what Laci was—sweet, sugary poison.
    And damn, if he didn’t want a big ol’ gulp.
    But he was an adult. He could govern himself. Just because he wanted her so badly he couldn’t see straight didn’t mean he had to give in to that internal pressure. He could be friendly and keep his thoughts in the PG department. Well, he could try anyway.
Keep it together, she’s only here for a few days and then it’s back to business as usual
, he told himself as he finished.
    He toweled off and dressed in clean jeans before heading back to the kitchen, where he found Laci dishing up two slices of pizza and pulling a fresh beer from the fridge. She sure was pretty as a picture, he noted as he slid into the seat at the old dining room table. She’d swept her blond hair up in a messy ponytail so that a few tendrils escaped and curled in the summer heat and he licked his lips, not because the pizza was making his