Read Online Flash Point by Shelli Stevens - Free Book Online Page B

been valid. That her heart did get a heck of a lot more involved once she’d had sex. Why concern Ellie with the minor details? So instead she’d kept it to the light stuff. Great sex, no regrets. That much was true…no matter how much it might hurt now.
    Because just as she’d predicted, Todd hadn’t bothered to call her or drop by in the two days since. He’d moved on from her like he did every other woman he took to bed. She’d expected it. Hoped to prepare for it.
    She glanced around her shop and sighed deeply. Her nose wrinkled a moment later as she noticed the strange smell.
    What the hell was that? Her eyes widened and she pinched her nose between fingers as she moved around trying to locate the source of the odor.
    Had she forgotten to take out the garbage…from like a year ago? Whatever it was was not normal.
    The smell grew stronger as she approached the heating vent. Her brows drew together and she paused. Yes, whatever was going on was happening in there.
    She analyzed the metal grate that covered the vent, tried to figure out how the hell to remove it. Damn, if she tried, she’d probably end up breaking something or gauge a hole in the wall.
    She bit her lip and folded her arms across her chest. Shoot . Even though the last thing she wanted to do was call for help, this could be a lot more serious than it seemed. Bottom line, she just didn’t know .
    With a sigh, she went back to her office and picked up the phone.
     
    It had been a quiet night at the fire station, with just a couple of calls coming in. First one, a senior citizen with difficulty breathing. Second, a minor car accident where a teenager had rounded Cougar’s Corner too fast in the later hours of the night.
    Todd glanced at the clock, confirming there was just an hour or so left of his shift, and then headed into the small gym in the firehouse to squeeze in a bit of exercise. He’d been in a shitty mood since Kate had dropped the it-was-just-a-one-night-stand bombshell, his mood had gone to shit and fast.
    Grabbing the handle of a kettle bell, he swung his arm that held the bell back forcibly and then reversed the motion. Grunting at the sweet burn in his muscles that resulted.
    It was nice to distract his mind again. Focus on something else besides Kate. How sensual and strange their night together had been. How she’d completely blown his mind. How she could be so damn seductive and then innocent a minute later.
    And how it had all been a ruse to get him into bed. How he’d been nothing more than a fantasy in Kate’s mind.
    Stop thinking about her. One night. You had your one night, she should be out of your system now.
    Unfortunately, she wasn’t out of his system. Far from it. He wanted another night with her. Another chance to explore her body…another chance to hear her scream his name.
    Fuck . What the hell was wrong with him?
    He’d just done a set of twenty reps on the kettle bell, when the call came in over the loudspeaker.
    Suspicious odor coming from a heating vent, caller wasn’t sure if it could be a possible gas leak or something else.
    Then the dispatcher announced the location of the call and Todd’s gut clenched. Kate’s shop.
    Adrenaline slammed into him as he set down the kettle bells and ran to the fire truck in the bay. Jeremiah, the other firefighter on duty, was already gearing up.
    They pulled up outside Kate’s shop a few minutes later, becoming the first responders on the scene. Beating Tyson—or whoever else might’ve been on duty at the sheriff’s office.
    Parking the truck by the curb, Todd kept on the emergency lights and then hurried into the shop. His concern tinged with a bit of frustration when he found Kate tampering with the heating vent. She stood on her tiptoes and struggled to pry the vent open.
    The jeans she wore slung low on her hips, so when her red sweater lifted with her stretching, he spotted the flash of creamy skin. Skin he’d kissed…caressed. His pulse jumped and he