One Hot Night Old Port Nights, Book 1 Read Free Page A

safely, Nick. Send me the bill.”
    “Ah, for this? No charge. My pleasure. Nice to meet you, Ms. Leone.”
    “Audra, please. And I’ll be sure to call your shop from now on for anything I need done,” she said.
    There was nothing flirtatious in her manner or her tone, but as she shook Nick’s hand and walked past the two men toward the front of the store, Nick whistled under his breath.
    “Whoa. Nice score, Beckett. And shackles. Check the key next time.”
    “Not like that, Nick. She really did get herself locked up there, total accident.”
    “There was nothing going on? Maybe I should give her a call, since she said—”
    “Watch yourself, now.”
    Nick laughed and slapped Scott on the shoulder. “Just yankin’ ya, Scott. You might not have locked her up, but any idiot can see you want to. Good luck with that—she’s class.”
    Scott grimaced. “Yeah, she is.”
    “Think she’s too good for you? Probably, but you know, nothing ventured…”
    “Thanks for the vote of confidence. Anyway, really, thanks for coming out here in this weather—beers on the house next time you’re in.”
    “Wings?”
    “You got it.”
    “It’s a deal.”
    Nick walked out with him to the front and left. Scott wasn’t sure where Audra had gone. The store was silent and she wasn’t anywhere in sight. He heard a door shut at the back, in the warehouse behind her store, and walked in that direction.
    Audra was there, dressed in a puffy parka that swallowed her, head and all.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Getting my coat and snow pants on.” The look she sent him said duh .
    “I don’t think you need that gear to walk over to the bar.”
    “Huh?”
    “Dinner. Remember? I set you free, now you come to dinner.”
    She frowned, shaking her head. Cool and composed—and distant—again.
    “Can we have a rain check? I need to get my car dug out and head home. It’s a mess out there. I didn’t realize when I was locked up in the back how nasty it was getting.”
    “It is bad. Bad enough that you probably shouldn’t go out on the roads, period.”
    She didn’t respond as she struggled with the zipper of the bubbly down coat she was wearing. The ridiculous garment was bright blue. With faux fur around the hood. He closed the distance and pushed her hands away, finishing the zipper himself.
    “There. That’s quite the parka.”
    “It’s warm, which is what I care about.”
    He pulled the hood up and zipped it, just for kicks. She looked like Eskimo Smurf.
    “Be careful out there. And remember, you owe me.”
    Before she could say anything else, he cut off her objections with a kiss, sating a curiosity that had been with him for years. He knew that she was never going to keep their dinner date, so he’d settle for this instead. One kiss.
    Her mouth was soft, and her lips warmed very quickly, parting and pliant under his. He’d only meant for it to be a casual, friendly kiss, but it didn’t go that way. Almost five years of curiosity wasn’t about to be sated in five seconds. Especially when he could feel her hunger and her struggle to hold back. He didn’t want her to hold back.
    When she didn’t back away and didn’t object, Scott went in for more, pulling her up against him and forgetting about everything except that she felt damned good—even in her crazy, puffy coat and snow pants that blocked everything he wanted to feel—and she tasted even better. Amazingly, she melted for him, opening and meeting his tongue with light, inquiring little licks of her own.
    By the way the fire was building between them and how hard he was, Scott thought maybe they were both plenty hungry. Starving, even. She broke the kiss, breathless. He couldn’t think straight for a moment. His knees were actually a little wobbly.
    “Scott, I don’t know why I… I-I have to go.”
    He watched her head for the door like an escaped fugitive with the law on her tail. He wanted to call out to her, but before he could, she was gone. Snow