Read Online Playing with Dynamite by Leanne Banks - Free Book Online Page B

almost as if he wanted to give her everything she wanted, but something inside him prevented it. If Lisa were a fool, she’d guess that he was fighting himself far more than he was fighting her. If Lisa were a fool, she’d guess that he needed her.
    â€œTell me, Lisa.”
    She felt her heart shift as if she’d slammed into a tailspin on ice. Her head said get a grip, while her emotions played tag from one end of the spectrum to the other.
    The elevator jerked. Lisa glanced at the numbers at the top of the car. It was fixed, she concluded. They would be able to get out in a moment. She would be able to escape Brick’s compelling, needful gaze. She would be able to escape her own conflicting feelings.
    For the moment, however, her eyes were drawn back to him. The atmosphere between them was charged with intimacy, and she felt, for no logical reason, like a cheater. He’d revealed something of himself to her, and she hadn’t followed suit.
    She hadn’t agreed to tell him anything, she told herself, but it still didn’t sit well.
    Lisa couldn’t tell her deepest longings, of wanting a man who would love her to distraction, of wanting a man who would give her babies and forever. Her heart jerked at the mere thought.
    Damn you, Brick. She sucked in a deep breath and stared straight into his violet eyes. “You want to know one of my secret fantasies?” she whispered harshly. “I’ve always wanted to do it in an elevator.”
    Instantly, his gaze darkened and he reached for her. At his first touch a spasm of wanting shook her to her soul, and she realized she could have done something very foolish if the timing had been different.
    The elevator doors slid open.
    Lisa jerked her gaze from Brick’s, swallowed hard and thanked her lucky stars that fate and the maintenance men had saved her from making a fool of herself again.
    Â 
    The following Friday night, Brick found himself staring at a choice cut of prime rib and thinking about elevators instead of enjoying his meal.
    â€œOh, Brick, come out, come out wherever you are,” Carly said in a singsong voice.
    Brick jerked his head up and saw Jarod, Troy, Carly and Russ looking at him expectantly. They’d driven up to join him for dinner. He suspected they’d also come because they were concerned about him. Brick knew he hadn’t been himself lately. He cleared his throat. “Sorry.”
    Carly sighed. “Is it Lisa again?” she asked in a low voice.
    He lifted his drink and took a deep swallow. Although he usually detested the idea of exposing his feelings, at the moment he was too tired to give a royal rip. If his brothers bugged him too much, he was liable to forget his daddy’s training and tear into them. “She’s out on a blind date tonight.” He took another swallow and grimaced. “Someone her wild business partner Senada found. Someone they call Mr. Perfect.”
    Brick wanted to chew glass.
    Troy lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “You two looked as if you were getting along fine at the fair last week.”
    â€œThat was last week. I haven’t seen her since. She’s been busy. ” God, that hurt.
    Jarod frowned. “Seemed like you two were going at it pretty hot and heavy there for a while.”
    Brick set his beer down. “We were.”
    â€œWhy did things cool off?”
    Brick sucked in a deep breath of air. His privacy was extremely important to him. It was one of the reasons he’d moved away from Beulah County. But Lisa’s decision to keep him at arm’s length had become a thorn in his side, and he’d gotten to the point where he didn’t know what he was fighting for or against anymore.
    â€œShe wanted to get married,” he admitted. “I wasn’t ready.”
    Troy shrugged. “Sounds like a no go to me. You don’t want to get saddled with a pushy woman.”
    Carly scowled. “Troy! Lisa didn’t