Hot as Hell Read Free Page A

not the first time you’ve jumped to conclusions about me and other men, either.”
    She made him sound like the raving jealous type. Wrong. He was a practical guy. Having Lexy break off their engagement is what made him lose his control. He kept searching for reasonable answers to her unreasonable behavior. Four weeks later and he was not one inch closer to understanding what the hell happened.
    “I assume you’re talking about that limp wrist you’ve been going out with for the last two weeks.”
    She somehow sighed and glared at the same time. “That is not appropriate, and William is not gay.”
    “He’s not manly. He owns a pink polo shirt, for Christ’s sake.” Noah gritted his teeth together at the thought of Lexy with any man. Any man. “He wore it with red pants to have lunch with Gray. Red pants, Lexy.”
    “How did you know about their lunch?”
    Noah shrugged, pretending William’s newfound coziness with the Stuart family did not matter, even though it did. “I hear things at the office.”
    “My life isn’t your business—”
    “Wrong.”
    “—and shouldn’t be the subject of office gossip.”
    “Yell at your brother, not me.”
    “Oh, I intend to.”
    “All I’m saying is just because a guy has a cock, that doesn’t make him a rooster, if you know what I mean.”
    She blinked a few times. “Actually, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I rarely do.”
    “That is one of the problems in our relationship. A failure to communicate.” The conclusion settled into his skin and felt right there.
    “The bigger issue had to do with your lying.”
    The woman needed to find a new complaint. He had heard this one over and over. “Never said a thing that wasn’t true.”
    “You rarely say anything that makes sense.”
    “Yet you heard me just fine when I proposed.”
    “We are not talking about that.”
    “Why?”
    “Even though you seem to think I’m dating every man I know or meet or pass on the street, I’m not. I’m trying to enjoy my vacation.”
    “Fair enough.” With that out of the way…“So, who’s the guy?”
    “Didn’t we just cover this?”
    “I can find out, you know. It would just be easier if you told me.”
    “Don’t you have work to do?”
    Now there was a subject as raw as an open wound. “About that. Any idea where my work files disappeared to?”
    “Ask someone at the office.”
    Yeah, he’d tried that already. All roads led back to Lexy. “I’m talking to you about it.”
    “I’d love to work this all out with you, but I have an aerobics class.” She pushed past him and called over her shoulder. “Enjoy your flight back to San Diego.”
    He did not know what was going on, but he did know he was not going anywhere without her. As much as he wanted to take Lexy back home and put that ring back on her finger, he had to wait.
    If his fiancée—and that is exactly how he thought of her and would until she became his wife—wanted to spend some time in the desert, he would get used to the heat. Hell, he was used to cold showers, anyway.

Chapter Three
    L exy suspected Noah would be waiting when she came out of her aerobics class all hot, sweaty, and desperate for a shower. She waited until almost everyone else, including the instructor, filed out just to see if he’d hang around. With all the other disappointments he had given her over the last few weeks, this was not one of them.
    “Have fun?” He asked the question while lounging against the side of the building, just outside the front door.
    “Up until about two seconds ago, yes.” She threw her bag over her shoulder. She thought about storming off, but two women from her class hung around and listened in without making any attempt to hide, so she refrained from causing a scene.
    “Tell me about your relationship to Charlie Henderson.”
    She tried not to flinch. “I thought you didn’t know him.”
    “I don’t.”
    “But yet you know his name?”
    “Is his name a