Free Shock Advised (Kilgore Fire #1) by Lani Lynn Vale Page B

his voice sounding clipped.
    “Oh,” I said.
    That made sense.
    I realized he wasn’t a monk. I also realized that he was an incredibly good-looking man. It wasn’t surprising that he would be able to get a woman that was that pretty.
    And, boy, had that woman been pretty.
    Slutty, yes, but still pretty.
    Then again, if Tai had been doing that to me, I don’t know that I would’ve cared where we’d have done it, either.
    Instead of dropping me off at home, he drove to the parking lot where I’d left my car and pulled up directly behind it.
    I was disappointed.
    Him dropping me at my car meant he really was just dropping me off. If he’d dropped me off at my house, it would have meant that I’d been carless, and then he might feel responsible in getting me to my car in the morning, or later in the day, seeing as it was now nearly three in the morning.
    I opened the door and slid out of the truck, my feet landing on the asphalt with a soft crunch.
    I turned around to look up at Tai, seeing him smiling down at me from inside the truck.
    “Hope you had a good night,” he said. “Let me know if you or your mom needs anything, okay?”
    I nodded, wondering what’d caused the huge change in his demeanor from the man in the bar that allowed me to lean against him, to this man, the one that was distant and acted like he didn’t really want to be anywhere near me anymore.
    “Sounds good,” I lied as I forced a smile at him and slammed his truck door closed.
    I was nearly to my car when I heard his truck door open up.
    I hurried faster, clicking the unlock buttons on my car door and dropped inside.
    Well…almost.
    Tai caught me by the arm before I could fully descend and pulled me back up.
    “Ack,” I said, turning to look at him.
    His beautiful green eyes stared down into mine, boring straight into my soul.
    Leaning into me so close that the only thing that separated us was our clothes.
    He was hard… everywhere .
    “Come to dinner with me tomorrow night at Jack’s?” He asked.
    I swallowed.
    “I can do that,” I said breathlessly.
    He grinned and stepped back, and I felt the loss of body heat like a physical blow.
    “Be careful,” he said.
    I dropped into my car, looked up at his face, then started it up.
    Tai closed my door, and I refused to look into my rearview mirror until I was far enough away that he wouldn’t know I was looking.
    But he was already gone.

Chapter 8
    You’re a bitch. Your face is probably ugly, and you suck.
    -Mia’s secret thoughts to bitchy customer service reps
    Mia
    “Come on, come on,” I said. “What’s taking so long?”
    “Ma’am,” the secretary said through obviously clenched teeth. “I’ve already told you, we’re waiting for the home warranty company to get back to us. We can’t move forward until we get the precise amount that we’re allowed to spend.”
    “My warranty place said they faxed the paperwork over this morning,” I explained.
    The woman sighed.
    “So now I’m sure you’re going to pull the ‘my son’s an infant and needs air’ card, aren’t you? I bet you don’t even have a son,” the vile woman said. “Not to mention it’s seventy-five degrees out. I’m sure it’s not even hot in your house. Just open a window, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I know.”
    My eyes nearly crossed.
    Closing my eyes, I tried to compose myself.
    It didn’t work.
    “Just as an FYI,” I said. “My son died two months ago. So no, I don’t have to worry about him being hot anymore,” my voice broke. “But thank you for reminding me of that. I appreciate it.”
    “Well, that’s unfortunate,” the woman said. “But I still don’t have the answer you need yet. Give me a few more days.”
    I calmly hung the phone up, barely letting my finger hover over the red ‘end’ button.
    Then I gasped for air.
    “Who was that you were talking to?” Tai’s calm voice said from behind me.
    I jumped, startled.
    Whipping around, I stared at Tai.
    He was