Free Turn Up the Heat by Kimberly Kincaid Page B

sunshine?”
    â€œSorry. This thing’s a pain in the ass.” It took Shane all of three seconds to notice his buddy’s ear-to-ear smile. Damn, those things were contagious. He couldn’t help but return the favor, and was relieved to feel his bad mood get knocked down a few pegs. “What’s with you?”
    â€œI am taking Samantha Kane to the Pine Mountain Resort bonfire tonight, that’s what’s with me.” Jackson’s grin turned downright goofy as he looked up at the work Shane had done so far.
    Shane laughed. “That explains the shit-eating grin, I guess.”
    Jackson’s hands went up, signaling guilty as charged . “Well, if you hadn’t taken off so early last night, you’d be in the know. Where’d you get to, anyway? One minute, we’re standing there throwing back a cold one and the next thing I know, you’re a ghost.”
    Good thing Shane had the bored look down pat, because he was giving it a workout right now. “Yeah, I was just beat from working all day. I’d have said good-bye to you, but you looked kind of occupied.”
    Jackson went for round two with his grin, and Shane just shook his head as he continued. “So it all worked out, huh? You were pretty cozy with her when I left.”
    â€œYup. She even let me kiss her good night. Man, that woman can kiss. Hot enough to singe my toes, dude,” Jackson said, lost for a second in what was probably a vivid recollection.
    â€œI don’t think that’s your toes,” Shane volleyed, but then suddenly, he was caught up in a recollection of his own. One that didn’t involve his toes, either.
    Well, shit.
    â€œYeah, yeah. She’s not that kind of girl. Not yet, anyway,” he laughed. “She stuck pretty close to the safety net of her friend just to make sure I wasn’t a consummate creep. And speaking of her friend—” Jackson narrowed his eyes as Shane busied himself again with the car overhead. “You gotta come to the bonfire with me tonight. Melody was really into you. If you’d stuck around, maybe I wouldn’t have been the only one who got kissed senseless, you know?”
    Shane skipped around the irony of those words and the mention of Samantha’s friend, dodging both like the land mines they were. “Yeah, I’m going to pass on the bonfire. I’ve got a couple of things I have to take care of.” Never mind that those things would probably take all of an hour. As far as Shane was concerned, even a flimsy excuse was a good excuse to stay away from that fat-cat resort.
    Jackson shot Shane a look of disbelief. “What could you possibly have to take care of on a Saturday night?”
    Crossing the room to put his wrench down with a clank, Shane shrugged. “If I don’t hit the grocery store, I’m going to be stuck eating ketchup for dinner. Plus, I gotta swing by Grady’s.” The way the old man had looked the other day still played at the back of Shane’s mind. He’d looked tired, and not for lack of sleep.
    â€œWell, you should come to the bonfire after. I know you avoid the resort like the plague, but I’m telling you, you won’t be disappointed.”
    Shane looked up from where he’d been carefully straightening the tools on the workbench. His trip to the Double Shot last night had been enough social interaction to last him a month. The faster he could get back to working in the garage, paying off his loan and forgetting everything that had happened in the back room of that bar, the better.
    â€œIf you say so, Jax. Now are you gonna help me yank this tranny, or are you just gonna stand there looking pretty?”
    Just like that, Shane’s life went back to normal.
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    Bellamy examined the fridge in the suite’s kitchenette with disdain. “We made pretty fast work of that hospitality basket, huh?” The only signs that it had even existed