Free Fire at Dawn: The Firefighters of Darling Bay 2 by Lila Ashe Page B

probably never got puffy with tiredness or dark with allergies.
    In the kitchen, Lexie ran the water good and hot to rinse the plates. She wanted her hands to sting. She wanted to feel something other than this ridiculous, petty jealousy.
    Behind her, the kitchen door swung open. Coin set two more plates on the counter.
    “I got it,” said Lexie shortly. “You just go out there and flirt.” She couldn’t help adding, “You’re doing a great job at it.”
    Coin turned and leaned with his back against the counter. He was inches from her, and it was making her nervous.
    “Am I?” His voice was low.
    Holy Helen, he looked good in that button-up shirt. It pulled against the width of his broad shoulders. The fancy clothes made him look like someone else. Someone who would have a great time on a date with someone named Ginger.
    “Ow,” she said. The water was so hot it made her eyes water.
    Coin reached in front of her and turned it off. “Stop,” he said.
    “I’m almost done.”
    “Me, too,” said Coin.
    Lexie’s eyes widened as he put one hand behind her neck, turning her away from the sink to face him. Her back was against the sink, and he caught her there, trapped between his body and the counter.
    For one desperately long moment, Lexie wondered if she’d misunderstood something. Maybe this was how Coin always told women not to do his dishes. Maybe there was something she was supposed to say so that he would burst into laughter and she would be able to breathe again.
    Instead, his eyes got darker. “I’m sorry,” he said. “But there’s no way I’m not kissing you, darlin’.”
    Then he did.
    Lexie—if she’d ever taken the time to wonder what it would be like to kiss Coin, which she hadn’t—would have thought it would be nice. Sweet. A charming kiss, perhaps. She would have thought Coin would be a kind, considerate kisser, echoing the way he was in other parts of his life.
    She would have been dead wrong.
    Coin kissed her hard. Fast. It was a kiss that was made to melt the kneecaps of the one kissed, and sure enough, Lexie found she had to reach her arms around him to keep herself standing. His mouth was hot, so hot against hers, and when she parted her lips at his insistence, she felt his tongue meet hers. He knew exactly what he was doing. He tasted of beer and need, and then all rational thought left her head.
    All she knew was that the way he moved his mouth on hers was making her certifiably crazy. She wanted more, more of his lips, more of his tongue. He nipped her bottom lip and she gasped so loudly she wondered if Thomas or Ginger could hear her losing her mind.
    She pulled her mouth away and stared at him. “We’re on dates .”
    “We sure as hell are.”
    “With other people!”
    “Seems that way.” He traced her wet lip with the pad of his thumb.
    “We can’t do this.”
    In answer, he lowered his mouth to hers again. More insistent this time, he kissed her harder, as if he was challenging her. Goading her.
    That wasn’t fair. Coin knew better than anyone else how much she liked a challenge.
    So she kissed him back, for all she was worth. She swept the tip of her tongue along his upper lip, a lick and a promise, and then plunged her hands, still wet from the dishes, into his hair. She couldn’t help the low moan she let out, a sound he matched. He pressed himself against her harder, and while the counter dug into her back, Lexie didn’t care, because she felt him against her, hard and needy, just like his mouth. She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled, knowing in the back of her mind that her lips would be swollen from this kiss, that there would be no way to hide it.
    And still she didn’t care. Why hadn’t she ever kissed him before? Why had she wasted her time with not kissing him?
    Coin pulled back with a curse. “We’re being rude,” he said.
    Lexie made a noise that was half gasp, half laugh. “You think?”
    “I’ll handle this,” he said.
    Lexie rubbed