Up in Flames (Crash and Burn, Book Two) (A Military Romance) Read Free

around and cock a brow. His lips are parted in a casual smile that shows a light flash of teeth. My heart gives a strange kick at the sight. God, Cole smiling…I missed seeing that in person so much. “So you think you can beat me?” I ask.
    “Hands down,” he murmurs, and something about that cocky tone of his makes my pussy clench in response. My God, the man drips sexiness. I’m surprised he doesn’t have girls throwing themselves at him right now. Not that I haven’t seen them looking. Each time they do, I find myself moving just a fraction closer to him.
    For my sister’s sake, I tell myself, knowing that’s a huge lie. God, I suck.
    “You’re awfully sure of yourself.”
    He reaches out and runs his index finger down my forearm, ending at the cue in my hand. My skin ripples along the path he touches, and then he takes the stick and chalks the tip. It takes every ounce of concentration for me to stand there and pretend like I’m not affected by him. How long can I keep this up?
    Kinda regretting agreeing to this game. I should just go home.
    “Okay,” I say in a strong voice, “if I win, you have to…give my car an oil change and rotate my tires.” I’ve been meaning to do that anyway, and it seems like a good bet. He used to help me with car maintenance with my piece-of-crap auto back in high school.
    His grin is toothy. “Remember that time I didn’t tighten all the lug nuts and your tire almost fell off?”
    I laugh. “I was so mad at you,” I say, shaking my head. “But I know you felt bad, and you fixed it. Hope you remember how to handle it.”
    “I can handle it just fine,” he says smoothly, and I know he isn’t talking about cars.
    I give a jerky nod and fight back that swell of sexual reaction that hits me at the thought of him covered in car grease, shirtless, those powerful thighs parted as he’s sliding under my car…
    “But if I win,” he continues in the same easy tone, “I want us to spend a night together. In a bed. No holds barred.”
    I swallow so hard I’m sure he can hear it. I can’t believe he went there. All night we’ve been dancing around this new chemistry between us. Pretending like we’re just old friends. Okay, I have been—it’s been kind of hard to miss a couple of the searing glances he’s thrown my way. How he’s accidentally-not-accidentally brushed against me.
    Now it’s out there in the open. And I’m so freaking torn, because on the one hand, Christina. On the other…I want him. I do. I can’t hide from it right now.
    Cole moves so close to me that I feel the warmth of his breath caressing my forehead. His eyes are hard on mine. “Are you brave enough to jump, Lauren?” The challenge in his voice is clear.
    Damn him. And damn me for being turned on by this new side of Cole I’ve never seen before. It makes me wonder yet again, what else do I not know about him? How long has he been feeling this way about me? What other signs did I miss?
    Honestly, I don’t know if I want to win or lose this game, and that scares me. My whole world is falling around me, and I can’t think straight anymore.
    Cole leans down and his mouth brushes the sensitive flesh of my ear. I can’t stop the shudder that racks my body. He’s so big and comforting and he takes up all the space surrounding me until I can’t see anything but him. “Don’t be scared, kitten. You know I won’t hurt you. Or make you do anything you don’t want to do.” The gentleness in his tone, a sharp contrast to the arrogance I saw earlier, is what melts me.
    I find myself giving him a jerky nod, even as my stomach pinches with guilt. I simply need to kick ass and win, and then I don’t have to worry about what my sister would think. It’s not like he wants her sexually or romantically—that much is clear. Plus, this isn’t the same situation as what happened with her boyfriend back in college, not even close. She and Cole aren’t dating at all, and she’s not in love with