Read Online Doris O'Connor by Too Hot to Handle - Free Book Online Page A

watching her had him shifting in his suddenly tight
jeans. Down, boy. She wanted to talk, remember. But then,
they could always talk afterwards. He closed his eyes, recalling
the way she had trembled in his arms earlier, and his smile turned
wicked. This was long overdue. What he needed was to lose himself
in her soft curves, and maybe then he would be able to sleep
tonight without reliving that damn fire every time he closed his
eyes.
    ****
    Alex’s gaze scorched her back whilst she was
on the phone getting Noah’s care sorted out for tonight. Thank
goodness for her neighbor. Gwen readily agreed to get Noah from
nursery.
    “ Don’t you worry about a thing, my
dear. Noah and I will be just fine. You take your time with that
fire fighter of yours. I will make sure Noah has some dinner, and
he can stay with me as long as it takes. All night if need be. I do
love having him here.”
    Heat rose in Kitty’s cheeks, and she heard
Alex’s low chuckle when she answered Gwen. “He’s not my fire
fighter, and I’ll be over as soon as I can. I have no intention of
staying the night, Gwen.”
    “ Now that is a shame.” Alex’s low
whisper right behind her made her jump. When had he gotten that
close? She felt her hair lifted away from her neck, and replaced
with Alex’s firm mouth as he rained kisses on the sensitive skin,
whilst one hand reached around her to take the phone off
her.
    “ Hey, Gwen. Alex here. Thanks for
this…. Yes, I will. Don’t you worry…. I think so, too.”
    Before she could stop him, he ended the call
and threw the phone on the leather settee just in front of them.
She turned around to look at him. “What do you think you’re doing,
Alex?”
    “ I’d have thought that’s
obvious.”
    “ Alex, we need to talk.”
    “ Talk is overrated,
Kitty”
    She took a step back from the intense heat she
saw in his eyes and swallowed nervously as Alex
chuckled.
    “ Thought you were all
mine.”
    Oh, me and my big mouth! She spotted
the bag of cards she had brought over and, sidestepping Alex,
hastily grabbed it. She held the bag in front of her as though it
was a shield.
    “ Urm, you haven’t looked at these.
The kids made them for Lewis’s family, and—” The words stuck in her
throat when Alex stopped where he was, and the sadness that
suddenly came off him in waves was almost palpable.
    He stepped away from her and poured himself
yet another glass of brandy, one hip balanced on the kitchen
counter, his knuckles white where they grabbed the
decanter.
    Kitty’s heart went out to him, and she dropped
the bag. She crossed the distance between them and put one hand on
his arm. “I’m sorry. Was it truly awful?”
    Alex nodded grimly. “He shouldn’t have died.
He was so young, Kitty, so goddamn young, his whole life in front
of him. He was their only son. Imagine that. And I was the one who
sent them into that building. I underestimated how unstable that
side was. This is my fault, and there they were looking to me to
tell them how he died.”
    He reached once again for the bottle, but
Kitty wouldn’t let him.
    “ It was an accident, Alex, a tragic
accident. You can’t blame yourself; you were right there with them,
weren’t you?”
    She almost didn’t see Alex’s barely-there
nod.
    “ And you said the initial
investigation showed that it could not have been prevented. You
told me that only yesterday. So it’s not your fault. It’s the fault
of whoever the thug was that set fire to that lot in the first
place. Think of all the lives you did save. All those neighboring
houses that would have gone up in flames, too. All those families
whose homes you saved. All the lives you’ve touched over the years,
Alex.”
    She moved closer still, taking his head
between her hands to make him look at her. She was not going to let
him take the blame for this, no way.
    “ You’re a hero, Alex. You all are,
and I’m sure Lewis’s family will get some small amount of closure
over this. He will never