The Promise of Love Read Free Page B

shifted from foot to foot. The move had his heart doing an odd jump and he felt a laugh building. How long has it been since I’ve laughed so easily, not because something was shit and I need to laugh or lose my mind, but really laughed because I felt good?
    “You know there are horror stories that start out this way,” she said.
    Her comment surprised that laugh right out of him.
    “We’re not gonna hurt you, promise,” he offered. They were out here alone, and there were two of them. He knew they looked like the badasses they were, it was hard not to, besides, she was alone. It had to freak her out to face them, but she was, and she was able to joke around, too.
    “Those horror stories are all at summer camps, right?” he reasoned. “Not in some mountain in Wyoming in the snow. And I swear to God I don’t own a ski mask, or what was that? An old hockey mask maybe?”
    Will snorted. “Hockey mask. There was that crazy Red Rum one, right? Jack Nicolson movie. Classic. It was in the snow.”
    “Oh.” Her eyes widened. “I’ve seen that! The Shining . What a horrible movie, really, that scared me for weeks.” She examined them, relaxing a little as she did.
    His face warmed under her scrutiny before she switched her clear gaze to Will. A smile tugged at her lips probably because of Will’s not so patient posture. He’d been waiting for her to pop the hood for a while now. She finally stopped shifting her feet, so David thought the wait worth it when she gave them another sweet smile.
    “Okay, but if you can’t fix it, that’s totally okay,” she said, giving them both a hopeful smile that made it clear she was going to be much happier if they did fix it. Hell, maybe he needed to learn a bit more about the mechanics of a car, instead of a gun.
    “I’m sure someone in the town”—she waved off behind her—“can fix it. Really.”
    He grunted at that. No way would they let some town mechanic win a smile from her. He speared Will with an impatient frown that got his buddy grinning but at least moving toward the smoking car.
    “Can you release the hood? Let’s see what’s wrong, first,” Will said.
    “Oh, yeah, sorry, forgot.” She blushed again, a cute pink. She opened the car door and bent to find the release.
    Will caught his eye and David knew his buddy was interested in her. They’d shared women before, but Paris—she was going to be different. For one, he wasn’t so on board with sharing—a first for him. In his life, sharing a woman notched the sex up to sky rockets going off. Paris is obviously nervous, shy and beautiful, but is she into us?
    “All right, sorry, but I can’t find the hood thingie.” Paris gave them a frustrated frown.
    David tried to pick out something about the woman he didn’t like, and not a thing surfaced. He felt awkward around her, as if he’d suddenly been shifted back in time to when he’d been a teenager with his first girl. Shoving the anxiety aside, he grinned his normal smile, one usually reserved to hide his unease, and walked over.
    “Here, they’re tricky to find, let me help out, okay?”
    She nodded and moved back to let him in. This close he could smell something citrus and warm woman on her—soft and sweet. He imagined she tasted just like that. The thought had him twitching below the belt. He ignored the response and ducked in to find the latch, pulled it and winked at her. “See, always hidden, these things,” he assured her.
    “Why do they do that?” she asked, but she seemed grateful he’d had some trouble finding the latch, too.
    “Messing with you is my guess,” he teased and stood.
    She grew nervous again and headed over to where Will was. Will stopped her with a hand out on her arm, freezing her in place. “Not too close. If it overheated it might release hot air when I raise the hood. You could get third-degree burns.”
    “Oh,” she whispered. “And you won’t?”
    For some reason that tiny response made David grin. “Hey