Three Little Words by Susan Mallery Read Free Book Online

perpetuated the mistake by thinking he was still in love with his ex years after she’d left. He hadn’t been. In truth he’d been unable to accept the end of his marriage until he’d accepted the truth about his ex-wife. But finally figuring out the problem didn’t make him any less of an idiot.
    “Just remember she could kill you where you stand and never blink.”
    Kent wasn’t sure what blinking had to do with anything. “Does she do that often?”
    Angel grinned. “Often enough.”
    Kent was fairly sure he was being played, so he didn’t react. Angel led the way into the main workout room and yelled, “Consuelo. Kent Hendrix to see you. He’s Ford’s brother, so you shouldn’t kill him.”
    A woman stepped out from a small office and shook her head. “What’s wrong with you? Stop saying crap like that or I swear I’ll turn you into a eunuch so fast you won’t have time to scream.”
    She continued speaking, at least Kent assumed so. Her lips were moving. But he couldn’t hear, couldn’t think, and he was pretty sure he’d stopped breathing.
    It wasn’t that she was beautiful. The word didn’t do her justice. Nor did hot or incredible. He was pretty sure there wasn’t a word significant enough to describe the petite, brunette goddess walking toward him.
    She wore cargo pants and a tank top. Neither left anything to the imagination. Her body was the perfect combination of curves and muscles, but it was her face that captured his attention. She had large eyes and a full mouth. Her long hair seemed to move with every step. She epitomized both sex and femininity.
    He felt as if he’d been kicked in the gut by a pack mule. There wasn’t a cell in his body that hadn’t noticed her, and for the first time since high school, he was terrified of getting an erection and embarrassing himself.
    Angel started laughing. “Told you,” he said, not bothering to keep his voice down. He walked toward the exit, then paused to yell back, “Be gentle. He’s a civilian.”
    Kent swore under his breath.
    Consuelo scowled. “He’s annoying and later I’ll punish him.” She shook her head, then looked at Kent. “Hi. I’m not sure we’ve actually met. I’m Consuelo Ly.”
    She held out her hand. Kent didn’t want to take it in his. Oh, he wanted to, but he was terrified about what would happen. He thought he could either grab her and try to kiss her or actually ejaculate in his pants. Neither scenario had a positive outcome.
    “Kent Hendrix,” he said, then braced himself for the onslaught and shook hands with her.
    The second their skin touched, he felt as if he’d been set on fire. The good news was the sudden shock of heat was so intense he wasn’t in danger of getting hard. The bad news was his brain went completely blank and he was relatively sure he’d lost the ability to speak.
    “I’ve known Ford for years,” she said, releasing his fingers. She smiled. “I won’t hold that against you.”
    He swore silently as the perfection of her smile cut him to the bone. The flash of teeth, the happy crinkle by her eyes, made her even more beautiful.
    “Ah, thanks,” he managed.
    “You’re Reese’s father, right? He’s a good kid. He has some talent. He and Carter are always trying to do more than they should. Typical for kids their age.” She flashed the smile again. “I would say for boys their age, but you might take offense at that.”
    She was nice, he realized. Beautiful and nice. Talk about lethal.
    He forced himself to concentrate. “Reese would like to take more classes here. Start training for a black belt. I worry he’s too young. He’s been playing soccer for years now and he’s talking about giving it up.”
    Consuelo frowned. “Dumb-ass kid,” she grumbled, then winced. “Sorry. I meant, sometimes students get caught up in the initial excitement of what they’re doing and get overly enthused.”
    The realization that she was human, just like everyone else, caused him to