Free Boom by Stacy Gail Page B

words could make her feel so… good .
    Mia sighed, and the sound of it held all the warring emotions inside of her. She had to be honest. Even if Quinn hadn’t kissed her, she still would have felt conflicted. From the moment he’d lowered his hood, everything that was girlie in her went on a fluttering, squealing rampage. Men like Quinn Kingfisher had a knack for making a woman’s panties heat up. He was something else again, with his thick, silky hair flowing over brawny shoulders, midnight blue eyes and a lean, long-limbed body. He made her feel petite even when she was in heels, a feat Jackson had never accomplished since he was shorter than her when she wore even the smallest heel. That was why Jackson had forbidden her to wear anything other than flats whenever they went out together in public.
    Nothing was wrong with Quinn Kingfisher. His looks, his undeniable charisma, his height, even his determination to look after her and the other stranded passengers when he’d had no reason to get out of his warm bed— all of it hit her internal happy buttons in the worst damn way.
    But it wasn’t right. She couldn’t be attracted to a man who wasn’t her fiancée. Not only did that make her just this side of slutty, it also made her disloyal.
    Being slutty was one thing. Being disloyal was unforgivable.
    And there it was, the reason she didn’t want to talk to Quinn. If she talked to him, she’d have to be in the same room with him. If she was in the same room with him, it was entirely possible her clothes would spontaneously fly off while she full-on body-tackled him.
    So, no. She didn’t want to talk to him.
    But damn it, she needed a freaking power cord.
    She could do this, Mia thought, pumping herself up as she forced herself toward the door. Just a quick request, preferably while standing in a doorway with a whole room separating them, and that would be that. Simple.
    Yanking the door open, she motored through and crashed headlong into Quinn, his hand raised to knock on her door.
    “Whoa.” Quickly he caught her by the shoulders, and the warmth of his hands seeped into her skin. “Talk about timing.”
    “No kidding.” Bad timing, to be specific. But that seemed to be her lot in life since she’d started this journey. “Sorry. You okay?”
    “I think I’ll live.” His eyes were trained on her in that unblinking way that made her want to smooth her hair and moisten her lips. Then his hands slid from her shoulders to her elbows, and the need became overwhelming. “This shirt you’re wearing…it’s great how it matches your eyes, but it’s way too thin for this climate. You need thicker clothes if you want to stay warm around here.”
    Since it was profoundly inappropriate to mention she was plenty warm as long as he was touching her, she searched her brain for something safe to say. “If I get too cold, I’ll just wrap myself up in the coat you’re letting me borrow.”
    “We can do better than that.” He got out his phone and tapped the screen. “What are your sizes, top and bottom? Oh, and shoe size. You can’t go anywhere in those boots. Don’t get me wrong, the heels make your ass and legs look like the eighth wonder of the world, but they’re not practical when it comes to slogging through ice and snow.”
    “You can’t say things like that,” she managed faintly, even as she fought the absurd desire to run her hands down the ass he’d just admired. “I’m an engaged woman.”
    “If you were a woman who was engaged to a man who was serious about it, he’d do what I would do and tag you as unavailable. He didn’t, so you are.”
    It took her a moment to catch up to his meaning. “I’m not available.”
    “Then maybe you should tell your hands that, since they’re holding onto me. Not that I’m complaining,” he added when she gasped and jerked her hands away from his hips, where they’d been resting since she’d crashed into him. “I like how easily we fit together,