Read Online All Fired Up by Kristen Painter - Free Book Online Page B

zipped it up.
    Sounds of Alrik thrashing about in the shower made her wince at the potential mess. Had he remembered to pull the curtain? After a very brief meeting with Brad, during which the Viking would wait in the car, she would take him to the mall and buy him something decent to wear to her uncle’s birthday party. And, she reminded herself, get a present for Seamus. Not an easy task for a man who had everything.
    Brad had been that way, too, but that’s where his similarities to Seamus ended.
    As she applied an extra coat of mascara, her hand started shaking again. Deep breathing didn’t help. The thought of confronting Brad wound her stomach in knots. Confrontation had always been difficult for her, even more so with a man she still had feelings for. No denying it. This wasn’t going to be easy.
    Smoothing the hem of her black turtleneck over the waistband of her skirt, she checked her image in the mirror and sighed. Not teaching dance was bad for the figure. She sucked in her stomach. Better, but she couldn’t walk around all day like that. Some women lost weight when they were stressed out. How unnatural. Why couldn’t they binge on ice cream like the rest of the female population?
    She picked a few stray cat hairs off her black tights as Snickers watched.
    “Don’t give me that look. Coming in here after breakfast doesn’t make up for sleeping out there with him two nights in a row, you little traitor.”
    Snickers rolled over onto his back and stretched, exposing his spotted tummy. She tugged on black riding boots and shook her head at the silly feline. “That’s very cute, but you’re still a traitor.”
    “Who do you speak to?” Alrik stood in the doorway, a towel tucked around his lean hips. His hair hung in damp ropes. Beads of water glistened along his broad collarbone and steam rose in wisps off his bronzed skin. A single droplet rolled down the plane of his chest and over his nicely defined abs before following a fine line of tawny hairs down beneath the towel.
    Oh. My. She swallowed. Twice. He looked like a big, juicy serving of man fruit. That had to be diet food, didn’t it?
    “What?” She couldn’t remember what she’d just been doing.
    “Who is a traitor?”
    “Huh? Oh. Snickers. I called him a traitor for sleeping with you instead of me, like I should be. I mean, like he should be!” She mentally slapped herself on the forehead. Get it together! She followed his gaze and realized he was staring at her legs again, even though they were encased in black tights. Maybe he hadn’t noticed her slip of the tongue.
    “You look very nice.” His eyes never moved as he spoke.
    “Thank you. You look very wet.” Don’t go there, Cal. “I should show you how to use the hair dryer.” If Alrik thought she looked nice, maybe Brad would, too. She wanted that cheater to eat his heart out when she threw his ring at him. Or beg her to come back. Maybe even cry a little. Yeah, crying would be good.
    “Let’s go back to the bathroom and I’ll show you the wonders of modern technology.” She headed for the door but Alrik didn’t move, forcing her to squeeze past. The heat he put off amazed her. A few drops of water from his chest soaked into the shoulder of her turtleneck. An interesting thought about drying off the rest of him popped into her head.
    She glanced back. He was right behind her so she kept going.
    The bathroom wasn’t as big a disaster as she’d anticipated. Nice to know the man wasn’t a slob. She picked up the hair dryer and turned to face him.
    “Okay, this is a hair dryer. It’s pretty simple to use. Just turn it on and hot air comes out. Point it at your hair to make it dry faster. It’s already plugged in so just push this switch up and you’re in business.”
    She turned the dryer on and aimed it at his head.
    Alrik ducked.
    She turned the dryer off. “It’s not going to hurt you, I promise.”
    “Can it also be used as a weapon?”
    “No.” She struggled not