Free Closing The Gap (Dangerous Pasts, #1) by Colleen Charles Page B

actions.  Gleeful, would be the only word to describe her reaction when this story was relayed in full.  Lake turned her lips up in a grin at the shocked look on his face as he watched the puck sail left.  He snapped his head back towards her, not expecting this sudden turn of events.
    Good, you can see how it feels to be completely out of your element and uncomfortable.   Lake had felt that way since she’d first clapped eyes on him last night and he could join the party.  She couldn’t deny his befuddled reaction made her feel powerful.  She didn’t recall ever enjoying such influence in the past, as though she were the siren who called the man forward to meet his death on the jagged rocks too overcome with sheer lust to save himself.  No, she usually crashed and burned.  This fantastic chain reaction swam with potential.
    As Josh cleared his head with a slight shake and begin to glide towards her, Lake decided to savor every last moment and tuck it away in her memory bank to be replayed multiple times.  There might never be a moment as perfect as this one with humor, lust, anticipation and trust rolled up into one complete package.
    In the blink of an eye, he stood before her and gazed at her lips with his blue eyes smoldering.  Bemused, she noticed they’d changed color.  No longer a smooth lagoon; they’d become a tempest.  The tables had turned again.  Lake saw her short lived power over the moment fading away.  Doubt bubbled to the surface.  What if she couldn’t go through with this?  What if she had forgotten what she was doing and he found her lacking?  He had kissed hundreds if not thousands of women.  What if he gave her a quick peck and then pulled away in disappointment and disgust?
    His body leaned into hers and her nostrils picked up the scent of his cologne.  He smelled sublime.  It caused her pulse to quicken and her eyelids to flutter.  If he never came a millimeter further, she could stand stock still for an eternity and snort him like crack.  She knew that action would cease to be enough.  She would want more.  Her body was on fire with wanting.
    The raw anticipation of what kind of kiss this would be set her nerves on edge.  The fact that he allowed the moment to linger made it that much more delicious, albeit confusing.  Don’t you want to kiss me?  You made this crazy bet!   Just when she thought she couldn’t live through another moment of the oppressive stillness, he reached up and slid those strong hands on either side of her jaw bone as he tilted her face up to meet his eyes.  She didn’t know if she could withstand the overpowering sensations of smelling, feeling and tasting him at the same time and her breath hitched in her throat. 
    It was natural for Lake to let her eyes drift closed as his face leaned downwards towards her own.  Mesmerized by his scent and the feel of his light but sure touch on her face, she beseeched her knees to continue to support her.  She couldn’t fall at his feet now in an unflattering heap of instability.  She wanted, no she needed , to savor this moment.  By God it was happening.  She felt something again.  A luscious sensation took complete hold of her body.
    The first light brush of his lips against hers felt like the barest of whispers, as gentle as butterfly wings.  Josh held back but Lake sensed the pent up energy in his firm touch like a trapped animal waiting to be released into the wild.  He deepened the kiss slightly, slanting his head to the side for a better angle.  Amid the rioting sensations, her brain registered that he tasted of cinnamon Red Hots.  It suited him, with his fiery nature, and Lake had never known anything as appetizing as this man’s lips pressed against hers.  This one kiss had robbed her of breath, and thought and sanity.  He nibbled at her bottom lip and of their own accord, her arms lifted.  She stretched her body against his as she reached to place her hands at the nape of his