Read Online Love and Fire by Katie Ingersoll - Free Book Online Page A

this man.  It’s weird.  I’m going to
find someone for myself.” 
    “He
was never for you anyway, sweetheart.”  Sloan said quietly, her eyes still
looking down the hallway. 
    Christy
turned and glared at her friend.  “What’s that supposed to mean?” 
    Sloan’s
cool eyes assessed her, but dismissed her right away.  The perky little airhead
obviously hadn’t been the right bait.  “Do whatever you want, Christy.  Jake
Butler was mine all along; you were just the worm on the hook while I fished.” 
    Anger
flashed through Christy as she grabbed Sloan by the arm, forcing her to turn
and look at her.  “You’re a bitch!  Why didn’t you just say you wanted him all
along?  I could have any man on this ship!” 
    “Obviously
there’s one you can’t have, because he doesn’t want you. ” 
    She
crossed her arms and tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder with a snap of
her neck.  “Obviously he doesn’t want you either .” 
    Sloan
pushed Christy into the wall and growled in her ear.  “He owes me something ! 
I will collect.”  She released wide eyed Christy and smirked at the tears in
her eyes.  Not wanting her to blow the feeble cover, Sloan tried to temporarily
smooth things over.  She plastered an apologetic smile on her face and rubbed
Christy on her arms in a soothing way.  She flinched at first, but soon
relaxed.  “I’m sorry, pet, it’s just that my plans didn’t go as well as I had
hoped.  Come on, don’t cry.”  Sloan linked an arm through one of Christy’s and
began walking her up the hallway.  “Let’s go find you a nice man.  Would that
be better?” 
    Christy
nodded slowly, still too stunned to speak.
     
    Jake
returned to Tammy’s room a couple of  hours later to find her still sleeping. 
He woke her gently, marveling at the way her eyes fluttered open, and she
immediately moved into a long cat like stretch.  She sat up groggily and looked
around the darkened room. 
    “What
time is it?”
    “Almost
eight.” 
    “Ugh.” 
Was all she said as she slid out of bed and moved unsteadily to the bathroom. 
    Jake
turned on some lights and waited for her on the couch.  When she emerged for
the bathroom, she looked terrible.  “Are you feeling all right?” 
    Tammy
shook her head and sat next to him.  “No.  I’m queasy.” 
    He
frowned and touched her forehead.  “You feel warm, but it may be from the
sunburn.” 
    Tammy
curled up on the end of the couch, drawing her knees into her chest and laying
her head on the back.  “Why don’t you go have some fun?  I don’t feel like
going out anywhere tonight.” 
    “I’ll
just stay here with you.” 
    Tammy
drew her eyebrows down and looked at him.  She vaguely remembered the dream she
was having before he woke her up.  High sexual tension seemed to be the theme,
but there was a darker presence that was lingering around them.  In the end the
presence had sucked Jake into it.  She shivered and closed her eyes.  What
am I doing?  This has moved way too fast! 
    “Let’s
order room service.” 
    She
shook her head.  “I don’t want to eat.” 
    Jake
sighed and tapped her on the knee until she looked at him.  “You at least need
some soup and definitely something to drink.” 
    “Whatever.” 
    She
could hear Jake talking into the phone.  It sounded like he was ordering a
truck load of food.  She was drifting into sleep again.  Her body felt
strange.  It was like she was floating in water.  Her ears seemed clogged and
she was having a hard time keeping her thoughts straight.  She didn’t fight
it.  She just allowed her body to slip back under. 
    An
hour later, Jake was waking her again.  She looked groggily at him and could
smell food.  A cart had been brought to them.  He wrapped a blanket around her
shoulders, but took it away immediately when she winced at the fabric touching the
bare skin of her arms and shoulders. 
    “Here,
try this.” 
    “What
did you