Wyne and Dine (Citizen Soldier Series Book 1) by Donna Michaels Read Free Book Online

his hand.
    “I know.” Ben grimaced. “Mrs.
Dankirk had it commissioned and flown in from Italy.”
    Total waste of money . “It
could be worse,” she felt compelled to say.
    He shut off the ignition, removed
his glasses and turned to stare at her, brows knit together, gorgeous green
eyes narrowed to mere slits. “Worse? How?”
    Her lips quivered. “What if he had
no plate? I’d hate to think of where the water would come from then…”
    It took all of two seconds before
Ben tossed his glasses on the dash, threw his head back and laughed. The warm
sound reverberated through the cab to her very core, and Lea’s good parts
quivered in response. She twisted to lean her back against her door for support
as she faced him. Goodness, the man was potent in close quarters.
    When he finally sobered, the warmth
remained in his gaze as he smiled at her. “What am I going to do with you?”
    Several scorching and decadent
suggestions flashed through her head at the same time, but none made it to her
lips. “Put up with me, I guess,” she said instead. “You’re the one who invited
me.”
    “True.”
    His gaze sobered and lost some of
the warmth, and she suddenly felt cold.
    “Thanks for helping me, Lea. I
appreciate you giving up your weekend for me.”
    She shrugged, trying to play it off
as if it was no big deal. “Like I told you the other day, I had the time off,
so it’s all good.”
    He nodded, and she tried not to take
offense at the relief washing through his features. “Good, because I don’t want
you to get the wrong idea. I just need you to pretend to be my girlfriend when
the others are around.”
    “Especially Mrs. Dankirk.”
    “Exactly. …” He paused, his gaze
transferring to something out the window behind her.
    Was it bad to wish it was the
woman?
    A second later, she wondered if the
colonel’s wife was outside because when Ben’s attention returned to her again,
his gaze was hot and interested and…consuming.
    Her heart tried to burst from her
chest. Then he shifted closer, sexy smile on his face trapping the breath in
her lungs. She couldn’t blink. Forgot how to breathe. Just sat there watching
the sexiest man alive lift a hand to cup her face.
    Breathe, idiot! The last thing
she needed was to faint. Not when she was about to get the kiss she’d dreamt
about since puberty.
    God , she hoped she was about
to get the kiss she’d dreamt about since puberty…

Chapter Three
     
    “I hope you have some
acting skills, Lea, because we have an audience,” he informed through that
delicious smile still lingering on his approaching lips. “Don’t freak out, but
I’m going to kiss you.”
    Freak out?
    She was going to freak out if he didn’t kiss her. Bring it on, Bucko, I’m ready seemed a little too anxious.
“Okay,” she whispered instead, hands clenched in a ball on her lap to keep from
grabbing his collar and yanking him close.
    That would appear too desperate,
and she wasn’t going for desperate. She wanted demure, mysterious…and the rest
of her thought process went to hell in a designer bag when his lips finally
brushed hers.
    A fission of some sort skittered
down her shoulders and spine. He must’ve felt it too because he drew back to
blink at her. She inhaled, lost in his incredible manly scent mixed with fresh
soap and something cedar. But Lea had waited a long time for the kiss and was
having none of that air between them. She reached up to cup his face and pulled
that sexy jaw and sensual mouth back where they belonged. On her.
    To her joy, Ben needed no coaxing.
Tentative and light at first, his lips resumed their private tasting; then, as
if a switch had been flipped, he increased the pressure, deepening the kiss,
driving her out of her rapidly fogging mind.
    He did not disappoint.  His quiet
strength and raw passion she sensed hidden just under the surface felt even
better than she had imagined.
    Hotter. Stronger. Just…more.
    It was all too much. She closed her
eyes