Temptation's Heat Read Free Page B

should date him.”
    Scarlet heard Rowen’s words in her head: I’m not interested in your sister. Or Eva.
    The sound of his voice in her head sent a wave of heat through her body. She shifted uncomfortably on the bar stool.
    “Rude, obnoxious, and arrogant?” She shook her head. “There’s only room for one of those in my relationships. And I’m afraid the job is already taken.”
    Scarlet laughed.
    “Seriously, though,” Eva said. “Why not? It’s the twenty-first century. Take him to bed. Have your way with him. Cut him loose afterward if you want.”
    “I can’t afford to risk it,” Scarlet said. “There’s too much at stake.”
    Eva’s expression grew thoughtful as she picked at the label on her beer. “Maybe there’s more at stake by not taking the risk at all.” She raised her blue eyes to Scarlet’s. “You know?”

Seven
    Despite the Cal-King bed, luxurious sheets, and climate-controlled bedroom that were now his, Rowen slept like shit.
    It was that damn woman.
    Scarlet.
    Every time he closed his eyes he saw her. The way her inky eyelashes shadowed her porcelain skin when she blinked. The full lips begging possession by his. The tiny waist, full hips, firm ass. The way she looked at him, an ocean of mystery in her green eyes.
    Fuck.
    He stepped out of bed and walked to the shower. He turned the nozzle to cold, hoping it would dampen his arousal, and stepped in, forcing his thoughts away from Scarlet Montgomery. He needed to get his head back in the game. Start thinking about what was next. Namely, meeting the other members of the Guard and angling for some kind of assignment. He’d go crazy if he was forced to sit for long around the plush headquarters of the Shadowguard.
    He walked back into the bedroom. He’d done some quick shopping after getting his room assignment and he was headed for the stack of new clothes on the bureau when the door that separated the living room from the bedroom opened.
    When he turned around, Scarlet Montgomery was staring him in the face.
    Well, not the face, exactly.
    He could only look at her, the air charged with something thick and hot, his naked body on fire despite the cool air in the room. Scarlet’s eyes were glued to his body in the moment before she raised them to his.
    “I … I’m sorry … Lily …” She looked away.
    He walked toward her, hyper-aware of his nakedness. Of how easy it would be to pull her to him. To feel her body against his. To reach down and rip the buttons of her shirt, pull it from her body while his mouth found the creamy mounds straining against the lace bra he could make out beneath the white cotton.
    “I don’t mind if you don’t,” he said, reaching past her to the towel that hung on the door.
    He was being a dick, but he felt a perverse kind of pleasure in the knowledge that he was throwing her off her game. He had a feeling Scarlet Montgomery wasn’t off her game often. The fact that he was the one to do it, however inadvertently, gave him a welcome feeling of control. One he hadn’t had since he’d first laid eyes on her in Ambrose’s office.
    She raised her chin. “No. Of course not.” She waved toward the towel. “Do … whatever you need to do. I just wanted to tell you that Lily is serving breakfast. She wondered if you would be joining us.”
    He wrapped the towel around his waist and stopped in front of her, close enough to smell cinnamon on her breath. “Lily was wondering, huh?”
    Her slender throat moved as she swallowed, and he had a flash of his mouth connecting to the pale skin at her neck, his tongue tasting the delicious hollow at the center of her collarbone.
    “Yes,” she said, bowing her head a little. “I knocked, but, uh … no one answered, so I … I …”
    He leaned in, dropping his head until it was almost touching the skin near her ear. “Well, you can tell Lily I’ll be right down. Unless you can think of something that would make missing breakfast worthwhile.”
    He heard the