Flash and Fire Read Free

thirty years of his life had passed away. There was no grief, no emotion, almost no interest. Only a show of duty. The rift between Amanda and her father had grown immeasurable in the space of that afternoon.
    Amanda had left home that same afternoon, with her father’s prophecy of failure ringing in her ears.
    Her father definitely wouldn’t have understood roasting in the sun, “making a public spectacle of herself”’ either, she thought now, not even for a good cause.
    Almost in defiance, Amanda stuck out her chin and tried to pay attention to the game. God, she wished she had something to drink. The inning progressed in slow motion. Hernandez hit a single. That left just Rafferty between Amanda and her turn at the bat.
    Time to strike out again, she thought wryly.
    “You look as if you could use this.”
    Amanda started, surprised that someone had come up so close to her without her having heard him. Shading her eyes, she looked up. Pierce Alexander was standing next to her, his tall, well-muscled body blotting out the sun. He would have liked that image, she thought. He was offering her a bottle of soda.
    Beware of investigative reporters bearing gifts , she mused.
    But the orange soda looked tempting. As did, she thought with a critical eye, the man who was offering it. She knew there were a lot of women at the station ready and willing to catch Pierce Alexander’s eye. A lot of women who would probably think she was crazy because she was trying to avoid him.
    But a lot of women didn’t have her drive, her goals, or her temperament. And they didn’t have her background. She’d been burned enough.
    The last thing she needed was a smoldering male in her life who thought life was the biggest joke of all.
    Though he was good-looking in a dark, dangerous sort of way, that didn’t negate the fact that she found him exasperating. He went about his job in an entirely different fashion than she did. While she struggled, he leaned back. And frequently enough, their results were about equal.
    Because of his looks, Pierce received more recognition than she did, even though hers was the prime spot on the air. Last month, a popular women’s magazine had run a contest asking women to write in and name the man they would most like to be marooned on a desert island with. Pierce had come in third.
    As far as she was concerned, he came in dead last. She had more important things to do than opt for a quick tumble between the sheets, satin or otherwise. And that was all, rumor had it, that the man was interested in. Quick, impersonal sex with no strings. Well, she had strings, and they were all going to stay tied.
    Raging thirst or not, she ignored the bottle of soda. “No, thank you,” she answered, turning her face away.

Chapter Two

    On any other day, Pierce would have just shrugged and walked away, disinterested. But that was just it. He wasn’t disinterested. So instead, he eased his six-foot frame next to Amanda on the bench. Ken Riley shifted aside to make room.
    It amused Pierce that she stiffened ever so slightly, as if she was bracing for something. Maybe they both were, he thought.
    “Is that all you can say to me?” he asked.
    Ignoring him obviously wasn’t going to work. So she turned and looked at him. “What?”
    He took another long pull on the bottle. Amanda watched, despite herself, as his mouth drew away from the lip of the bottle. Though unintentional, it was still a very sensual act. She flexed her shoulders, feeling the tension heighten.
    Pierce looked at her for a long moment before explaining. “That’s what you said to me when I asked you out. ‘No, thank you.’”
    “I was taught to be polite.” Taught was the wrong word. It had been drummed into her head, time and again, she thought, turning away. She was raised to be polite, so as not to reflect badly on her father and embarrass him.
    The count was three and two. One more pitch and she’d be up, one way or another. The tension