Free Explosive Engagement by LISA CHILDS

holding something back.”
    More than he knew. And more than she would ever admit to...
    She would touch a bomb before she’d confess to her attraction to him. The bomb was probably less likely to blow up in her face.
    She shook her head. “You’re paranoid.”
    “It would be foolish to trust you,” he said, “and I’m no fool.”
    She wished she could say the same, but she had already made a fool out of herself by walking out of the bedroom wearing his shirt. Sure, she could have excused her action as proving their engagement real. But his family wasn’t the one they needed to convince; it was hers.
    “I know you’re up to something,” he said, and gestured toward his shirt. But then, his arm outstretched, he hooked a finger inside the collar and pulled her closer. “What are you up to?”
    “About five-six,” she quipped.
    His mouth curved, a grin tugging up the corners of it. “Cute.”
    “I get that a lot,” she said with a smile. God, she was flirting with the man. She was actually flirting. She never flirted.
    “Your remark was cute,” he clarified. “Not you.”
    She sucked in a breath—surprised that even he was insensitive enough to take back his compliment. “Okay, then...”
    Since she had really come out wearing his shirt in order to stake her claim on her fake fiancé, she was definitely the fool. She turned back toward the bedroom—and her dress. But he caught her wrist and stopped her.
    He stepped close to her so that she felt the heat of his nearly naked body through the thin silk of his shirt. “You’re not cute,” he repeated.
    And she had begun to think that he wasn’t as cruel as she’d always believed...
    But then he leaned down, his mouth nearly touching her ear, and added, “You’re beautiful.”
    She closed her eyes as pleasure at his compliment radiated throughout her. She wasn’t used to compliments. In the past, either she or her brothers had scared off the men who might have been attracted to her. “Now who’s up to something?”
    “I’m just being honest,” he replied. “You might want to try it sometime.”
    “Honest?” She snorted derisively at his claim of being honest and his insinuation that she wasn’t. “You’re just trying to flatter and disarm me.”
    He turned her around to face him. And seeing his handsome face and all that bare skin rattled her.
    She couldn’t think. She could barely breathe. Her pulse raced, and her heart beat frantically.
    “You are beautiful,” he said. “Even when I hated you, I couldn’t help but notice that.”
    “You—you hated me?” She’d known it, but having him outright admit it...caused a twinge of pain in her heart.
    Unabashed, he grinned. “You hated me, too. Hell, you still hate me—”
    Stacy shook her head. “You saved my life,” she said. “I can’t hate you anymore.” But she wished she could, because with the hatred gone, she couldn’t fight the attraction she’d always felt for him.
    “You could,” he said. “But it would make our marriage a little intense.”
    Marriage?
    Panic squeezed her lungs, stealing away her breath. She couldn’t really marry Logan Payne. She opened her mouth to tell him that, but she couldn’t get the words out.
    Because his mouth covered hers, his lips sliding back and forth across her lips. The friction was sensual and delicious. She gasped at the rush of desire pulsing through her veins.
    And he deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue through her parted lips. She pressed her palms to his chest, but she didn’t push him away. Instead, she caressed his skin while she kissed him back.
    Their pants for breath mingling, she could taste him. And feel him. His heart beat frantically beneath her palm, matching the crazy rhythm of her own madly pounding heart.
    Her knees trembled, like they had earlier, and probably still because of her fear. She was afraid of all these feelings. Afraid that she felt this overwhelming desire—this intense need—for Logan