Singe Read Free Page B

cat.
    Suddenly Addie is impatient, a pinching ache in the cradle of her hips. “Let’s—” She pushes at his chest, trying to get him to move so she can jump down. “The futon, how about?” It’s underneath the AC unit, for one thing. Addie feels like alcohol is coming out her pores.
    “Futon works,” Eli mumbles, but then instead of getting out of her way he leans in closer, scooping her up right off the counter like she weighs even less than her little cousin, Paulina, who’s seven, and heading for the living room.
    Addie bursts out laughing. “Oh my God, is this your move ?” she asks, tipping her head back to see his face more clearly. Her messy bun is done for, the elastic slipping right out and fluttering to the carpet. “The fireman’s carry? Seriously?”
    “Shut up,” Eli tells her, but he’s grinning. His arms are steady and strong underneath her, the smell of soap and sweat and beer. “It is kind of my move, yeah. I’ve never tried it on an actual fireman before.”
    “Oh no?” Addie asks as he sets her down on the futon. He’s a ridiculous person, honestly. Addie can’t believe she wants him to undress her as much as she really, really does. “Jim won’t let you do this, when you guys fool around?”
    “Oh you’re funny.” Eli gets one knee on the mattress and leans over her, looming a bit with this faintly amused expression on his face like he’s trying to decide exactly what to do to her and in what order. Addie feels her breath catch deep inside her chest.
    “Off,” she demands, reaching up and making a fist in his dress shirt. For no reason at all, she suddenly wants to stall, prolong the moment before Eli Grant focuses all his attention on her. “If you’ve got any stripper moves, now’s the time to shine.”
    “Get bent,” Eli tells her congenially, shrugging out of his jacket and tossing it over her wingback chair. His shirt is wet under the arms and around the back, faintly see-through. “You too,” he adds, starting to unbutton. “I seem to remember something about a strapless bra.”
    Addie shakes her head. “Gotta work for it, my friend.”
    “Oh sure, I have to.” Eli drops his tie on her chest, a coil of warm linen. Addie wraps it around both her fists, petting the heavy fabric. “You just sit back and relax then, princess.”
    He hangs his shirt over the chair too, shaking it out carefully; Addie doesn’t have the heart to warn him about the cat hair. Underneath it he’s wearing a tank, and for the first time Addie can see that the old burns at his wrists go up over his shoulders, raised and pink down his arms. They’re common among firefighters, burns like that, but Eli’s are the worst Addie’s ever seen.
    “That got you pretty bad, huh?” she says now, pushing at his chest with her stocking-covered toes. It must have been some fire, right through the protective gear like that.
    “Yup.” Eli pulls off the tank and she can see the burns fan across his chest too, just faint. His broad body tapers toward his hipbones, a trail of tawny hair disappearing into his waistband. “Pretty much.”
    Addie nods. His voice is not the voice of somebody who wants to talk about it. It’s probably something he has to explain to girls a lot. “Pants too,” she orders instead, planting her foot in the middle of his chest again, but this time Eli grabs her heel and pushes until her knee bends, getting one leg in between hers on the futon.
    “Bossy,” he tells her, leaning down and sucking lightly on her tongue before sliding both hands underneath the dress she’s wearing, hooking his fingers in the elastic of her nylons. Addie shivers as he peels them off, rough thumb pushing against her bare instep. When his mouth takes over a second later, Addie gasps.
    “That’s better,” Eli says, stringing a line of kisses from her knee to her calf to her ankle. “I’m supposed to be working for it, you know?”
    “Mm-hmm.” Addie smiles. There’s something about