Hard and Fast Read Free Page B

whatshername’s were. He was also curious as to how he was going to ask her yet again what her name was without sounding like the total jackass that he was. Reaching out, he lifted her frames off her face.
    She jerked back with a squeak. “What are you doing?” She wiped the bridge of her nose dry then followed his hand to retrieve her glasses. “I need those.”
    “I’m drying them off. You can’t possibly see anything with them waterlogged.” Ty used the bottom of his T-shirt to polish them to his satisfaction.
    “Oh, thank you.”
    He lifted them and guided them onto her nose.
    “I can—”
    Before she could finish her sentence, he had the glasses back on, frames tucked over each ear.
    “Do it myself,” she said.
    “Too late.” He smiled and, using the tip of his pointer finger, pushed them a little higher on her nose. “And now I know they’re blue.”
    “What?” Her head tilted slightly to the side. “What’s blue?”
    “Your eyes. I was wondering.” Emma Jean or Imagine or whatever the hell her name was had eyes that were unaltered by makeup, and they were big and a deep, rich blue, like denim. She smelled like rain and shampoo, her soft skin covered in a dewy sheen. He was standing damn close to her, and he was aware that he was very much attracted to her and his body knew it. That was an erection popping out to greet her.
    Fortunately, she was looking at his face, not his crotch, so she didn’t know the direction his thoughts were strolling in.
    She had a slight frown on her face. “Why would you be wondering what color my eyes are?”
    That was a damn good question. He chose not to answer it. “You need a towel. You’re dripping.” And shivering.
    “I don’t want to go in there like this.” She glanced at the front door. “I’ll track water all over the hardwood floors.”
    “I can go get you a towel,” he said. Though he would have to dodge Nikki to do it, which might be difficult.
    “I’ll be fine,” she said. “I should probably just go home and call Tamara and apologize.”
    “You’re going to run back through the rain?” he said in disbelief. “I don’t think so.”
    “It’s slowed down,” she insisted.
    But when they looked out at the front yard and the driveway, the wind was whipping torrents of rain down at an angle. “Or not. It’s a freaking monsoon out there. You won’t have anything dry on you to even clear off your glasses when you get to your car. Can you see to drive without your glasses?”
    “No.” She sighed, staring toward her car with obvious longing.
    “What’s under your sweater?”
    “Excuse me?” She turned so fast to stare at him that she bumped shoulders with him.
    “If you’re wearing a shirt underneath, it’s probably dry. Just take your sweater off.”
    “I have a cami on,” she said, biting her lip.
    Ty didn’t know what the hell a cami was, but it sounded promising. “Perfect.”
    She seemed to debate for a second, then she took off her glasses and handed them to him. “Hold these, please.”
    “Sure.”
    Then he didn’t even try to look away when she peeled off her sweater to reveal a little white tank top, small breasts clinging to the fabric, her nipples taut. Yeah, he was just full of brilliant ideas. Nothing like telling the woman to strip off clothing when he was standing on his buddy’s front porch in full view of a dinner party.
    “That’s better, right, Emma Jean?” he said as she dropped her sopping wet sweater over the top of the porch railing.
    She held her hand out for her glasses and smiled at him. “You do know my name’s not Emma Jean, don’t you?”
    He did know that. He just didn’t know what her name really was. He suspected that, aside from the fact he had never heard that particular name prior to meeting her, it was his dyslexia making it difficult for him to retain her name. She had spelled it out loud for him on a previous occasion, but the letters had just jumbled in his head. Which pissed