Read Online Double the Heat by Deirdre Martin, Lori Foster, Elizabeth Bevarly, Christie Ridgway - Free Book Online Page B

anything.” But he actually did. Caroline had been drowning in something sweet, and she’d done her best to cozy up to him.
    No way in hell was Hart going to admit that she’d taken him by surprise with a lip-lock.
    Lisa made a face. “You are such a fraud.”
    “What did I do now?” Hell, he only wanted to get her alone, and naked and under him. Or over him. Didn’t matter to him. But most definitely, the lights would be blazing so he wouldn’t miss a single thing.
    Her expression droll, Lisa turned to look out the window. “Did you mean what you said, Hart? That you would never lie to me?”
    “Absolutely.” He reached for, and found, her hand. “I admit I have plenty of flaws, honey, but I’m not a liar.”
    She looked at their linked hands. “So you meant it when you said you don’t want anyone else?”
    This was important to her, he could tell. Maybe it was time to bite the bullet and ’fess up some. He went through a green light, turned the corner—all one-handed, because he didn’t want to lose the physical link with her—and slowed on the quieter side streets leading to her apartment.
    “Spilling my guts here, but I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anyone as much as I do you.”
    She scoffed . . . but looked interested.
    “That one night together . . .” Hart whistled. “No matter how I tried to deny it, it was special. Enough so that it’s kept me thinking about you far too much. Even as distracted as I’ve been with the SBC and training and everything, whenever I was alone, and especially at night when I tried to sleep, I’d remember different things about you: how you felt and your scent, what we did and what I still wanted to do. You’ve kept me awake when I should have been too worn-out from training to think straight.”
    She bit her lip. “If I hadn’t contacted you . . .”
    “I would have eventually come calling.” Now that he’d admitted it to himself, Hart didn’t mind admitting it to her. “I fought it, but it was a losing battle. Hell, even when I thought you might be pregnant, I had really mixed feelings about it.”
    Her eyes widened. “You wanted a baby?”
    His shrug looked more cavalier than he felt. A baby that looked like him or Lisa, a little girl with her brown eyes and soft hair, or a rambunctious boy who liked to tussle.
    No, the idea didn’t distress him as it should.
    He fumbled for the right words. “It’s not that I’d plan one for right now. I mean, I’m starting a new career, and kids would really put a kink in things. But . . . eventually, yeah, of course I do.”
    “Amazing.”
    He glanced at her, unsure of her mood or her interpretation of things. “Well, you know what they say about the timing never being perfect. But I figure that no matter when they come, babies are always a blessing.” He squeezed her fingers. “What I’m trying to say is that I’m glad I still have some time, but a baby with you, at any time, would never feel like bad news.”
    The illumination from the dashboard lights emphasized the shadows, and lit her face in a soft glow. She straightened her glasses, then peered at him with obvious confusion. “Why me, Hart? How am I different?”
    He shrugged again, knowing this was important and hoping to say it right. “How I feel with you . . . being with you . . . it’s easier.”
    Her brows went up.
    “I enjoy talking with you.”
    She stared. “So it’s my scintillating conversation you like most?”
    Hart couldn’t help but grin at her look of disbelief. “When I’m around you, I always want you, Lisa. Don’t misunderstand that. But with you, I don’t resent the time that we’re not having sex.”
    She bit back a smile. “I take it that you’ve spent a lot of time seducing?”
    “Or being seduced.” He grinned at her. “Usually when I dated, it was with the endgame in mind.”
    “Interesting.” She settled back and studied him. The time ticked by.
    Finally, unable to take it, Hart asked, “What are you