His Taste of Temptation: In the Line of Duty, Book 3 Read Free Page B

his urges, not when she had something going on with Jonah. Shit…
    Truthfully, Brad wasn’t sure what kind of relationship the two had, considering he’d seen them both date other people over the years. But from the comfort level between them, to the way they took care of each other, even going so far as to sharing a place when Jonah had finished his last tour, he knew there had to be deeper feelings involved, and he wasn’t about to take her to his bed, no matter how much he wanted her naked and beneath him. Or naked and on top.
    Or just plain naked.
    Jonah tossed his rucksack into the truck bed and slid into the cab, pulling Brad’s thoughts back from fantasyland. “Hey, bro, what’s up?”
    Brad put his key into the ignition and turned the engine over. “Nothing.” He clenched his jaw hard as he watched Madison and Sophie exit from the downstairs bakery. A frown marred Madison’s pretty face as she spoke to her friend, the Sweetie’s Bakery Closed sign on the door behind her rattling against the glass pane as she locked up. Brad gripped the steering wheel harder. He hated seeing her living and working in such a shitty place, and he knew today’s loss of income was going to have a serious effect on her bank account.
    “You have that look on your face again.”
    Brad angled his head toward his brother. “What look is that?”
    Jonah grinned. “The one you get just before you kick the shit out of me.”
    Brad glared at his brother and scoffed. “Evidently, I should have beaten you more often.” Okay, so he might have roughed up his punk-ass brother a time or two over the years, but it was only because Jonah had needed it. The boy was a damn fool sometimes, getting into messes that Brad had to clean up behind him.
    “Yeah, well, that’s a matter of opinion,” Jonah said.
    He held his brother’s gaze. “You got something to say?”
    Jonah held his hands up and laughed. “Nope.”
    Madison tapped on the window and Jonah jumped onto the sidewalk to let her climb into the middle. Without conscious thought Brad’s eyes roamed the sexy curves she always kept hidden behind those baggy clothes and icing-stained apron. Damned if he didn’t want to peel those loose-fitting work clothes from her body so he could touch and kiss her lush contours until she writhed beneath him and cried out his name.
    As Madison slid in beside him, her duffle bag clutched to her chest, want pumped through his veins, the sudden, urgent need to help himself to a taste of her sweetness pulling at him hard. Fuck. He looked away, staring at some random woman walking her dog while he did his damnedest to ignore his raging hard-on.
    “Here, give me that.” Jonah took the bag from her and tossed it into the truck bed with his.
    Once he jumped back into the cab, Brad put the vehicle into gear, turned his attention to the road ahead and slipped into traffic. Jonah punched up the volume on the radio and hooked his left arm over the back of the seat, pulling Madison toward him.
    Brad tried to focus on his driving, he really did, but with Madison’s leg rubbing up against his it took effort to stay on the road.
    He drove through the downtown core, and when they passed a vacant building, a For Sale sign on the window, Jonah turned to Madison. “Maybe when I get back we can look for a new place to live.”
    She looked at the building, and there was a hint of gloom in her voice when she said, “I can’t afford to rent an apartment and a business front, and it won’t be easy to find a place where I can live upstairs and turn the main level into Sweetie’s.”
    Jonah curved his arm around her and pulled her in closer. As she rested her head on his shoulder, he brushed a light kiss over her hair. “Don’t worry. I’ll be making some good coin out on the road. It’ll go a long way in finding something nicer than we have now.”
    Feeling like a third wheel, an eavesdropper listening in on a private, intimate conversation, Brad cast a glance