Hearts on Fire Read Free

secretly hoped he’d be jealous.
    Dragging him out to the tiny dance floor, she turned her back to the door and folded one arm around Danny’s neck, the other grasping firm to her beer mug, and smiled beguilingly into his blue eyes with a pleasure that belied her true feelings.
    Danny Wilson had burned a secret flame for her for the last two years, only it wasn’t so secret to Jess. She could see they way he looked at her, the way he watched out for her on the job, even though she had always made it clear that her feelings for him were brotherly and nothing more.
    His arms wrapped around her and he sighed. She knew that sigh, had exhaled it many times this last year. It was the sigh of unrequited love. A stab of guilt poked at her conscience but she swatted it away to worry about later.
    Her reverie was broken as Cort appeared and tapped Danny on the shoulder. Irritation flashed across Danny’s face until he looked up to see that it was Cort cutting in.
    “Cort, welcome back brother! Long time no see.” Danny smiled warmly at his old friend, slapping Cort’s back in a man-hug.
    “You too. You mind if I cut in?” Cort flashed a grin, teeth white in his tanned face.
    Danny shot a look of regret at Jess and returned to the table.
    Jessica stood stiffly as Cort turned to her, a twinkle in his eye that hinted of complicity. She’d fooled nobody with her little stunt, so she’d settle for nonchalance.
    “Oh, hi. You’re back.” Her voice was flat with indifference. She shrugged as he stepped in to put his arms around her waist. She sipped at her beer, and her other hand laid limply on his muscular chest, more to keep him at a distance than anything, trying hard to ignore how hard and warm he felt. Her eyes roamed the bar, looking at anything but him, taking in the tables, the bar decor, the people on bar stools having a care-free night, oblivious to the raging five-alarm fire burning up her insides.
    The scent of him overwhelmed her — rich and warm like an expensive top-shelf brandy, and she closed her eyes, letting it wrap around her like a blanket. Pain washed over her face, clawing at her heart. She turned her head away and rested her cheek against the broad expanse of his chest so he couldn’t see her face as she struggled for composure.
    “Careful, you might inflate my ego with all that enthusiasm,” he smiled wryly, “and yeah, I’m back. How have you been, Jess?”
    Cort was slowly rubbing his thumb along the base of her spine, sending electric tingles sliding into secret places. She shivered, part from pleasure, part from nerves, and part from the gust of cold February wind that had blown through the open door moments before.
    “Same as always.” Tormented. Lonely. Broken-hearted. She bit her bottom lip to contain the groan that nearly escaped her lips.
    Jess finally looked up into his face and drank in his features. A dark stubble of shadow lined his jaw and the slumberous brown of his eyes echoed her desire and what looked like wishful thinking or regret. His skin was a golden bronze, more tanned than she remembered, and she longed to reach out and squeeze those biceps. Inside her, the familiar ache of pure lust stabbed at her midsection. A whirl of emotions swam around in her head, trying hard to undermine her ability to think straight. Damn, he is so good-looking .
     
    “You look great.” Cort’s hands slid down to her tiny waist and around the small of her back to cradle her closer. Her honey-blond hair, now free from the confinement of braids, tumbled long and loose down her back, tickling the tops of his hands. Her eyes, innocent and soft and pale blue, were ringed by impossibly long lashes. He closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of her — Jasmine and something like coconuts or almonds.
    As he breathed in her exotic scent, the pang of a long year without her ripped through his gut, and he knew he’d made the right choice in coming back. She was a drug he couldn’t resist, even