Free Stripped Down by Kelli Ireland

lips until she opened to him. She wound her fingers through is hair. Tongues clashed in a sudden blast of heat he hadn’t been prepared for. Sheltered from the worst of the rain, they fell into each other.
    He wanted to get to know her, to discover her favorite flavor of ice cream and the type of toothpaste in her bathroom and which side of the bed she normally slept on. He wanted her to trust him, to give him the chance to prove to her that she was amazing, unique, wonderful. Cherished.
    His phone vibrated in his pocket. He started to reach for it and changed his mind.
    Whatever it was could wait. Today, he was just Dalton Reeves, the guy who was having a hot, amazing affair with a hot, amazing woman.
    * * *
    B REAKFAST HAD BEEN an easy affair aside from the cost of eating out. They’d talked and laughed and carefully danced around heavier topics as they sipped some of the best coffee he’d had in ages while sharing waffles, bacon, sausage, eggs and hash browns. Her foot absently caressed the inside of his ankle as she chatted. It drove him insane. All he could think about was the blue nail polish she wore beneath the casually chic outfit. Such a small thing, yet so telling. She was more than the sum of first impressions and exchanged pleasantries. Passion and humor and loyalty—she had them and more.
    And yet, the pessimistic side of him wondered what she thought of him, or at least the tiny part he was choosing to show her.
    The very idea of revealing more made his movements clumsy enough he knocked his coffee over. “Shit! Sorry.”
    She scooted away from the table at the same time she grabbed a handful of napkins and began mopping up. “No harm, no foul.”
    Eric flagged down the waiter.
    The guy was cool about it, grabbing a few rags and scooping sopping napkins onto an empty plate. “Happens all the time, man.”
    His phone buzzed against his hip again. Digging it out of his pocket, he saw it was his brother. So much for his Eric Reeves holiday. “Excuse me just a second.” Turning, he headed toward the front of the diner.
    His little brother, Blake, had sent three texts. The first said, Need to talk to you. That one had come in while he was caught up with Cass on the sidewalk. The second, Sooner would be better. The third simply, Serious, bro.
    He pulled his brother’s information up and dialed. The phone rang several times and then dumped him into voice mail. “What’s so urgent you blow up my phone with texts and then can’t pick up when I call, man?” Tone light, he told Blake to call him back as soon as possible and disconnected.
    A gentle hand slipped around his waist, teasing under his shirt hem. Fingernails scraped along his waistband. Sexual tension folded his desire into an origami flame that licked its way up from the base of his spine to the top of his skull. “If you’re not my date, you should probably move along. She’s incredibly territorial and has very sharp teeth and an extra thumb on one hand. Oh, and a peg leg she lost in a pirating accident. She’s vicious.”
    Soft laughter vibrated against his back. “Unless she’s got an eye patch and a parrot, I can take her.”
    He turned in her embrace and leaned back to look her over. “I don’t know. You’re pretty delectable but not all that scary. My money’s on her.”
    “I’m scarier than I appear,” she said, her bottom lip pouting prettily. “Besides, she sounds like she should be kept on a leash. Throw her over and come home with me. I already paid the bill.”
    Muscles along his spine tightened. “You didn’t have to do that.”
    “I only did it because it meant I could run away with you faster.” She ran a hand up and down his arm. “Dalton?”
    Eric forced himself to relax. It meant nothing that she’d dropped nine bucks on him. Nine bucks he didn’t have to spare at the moment. To cover his discomfort, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the rain.
    She laughed, pounding through puddles at his side.
    They