Read Online Ride the Fire by Jo Davis - Free Book Online Page A

mother as an example, women are only as good as their last taste of cock. Once something better comes along, they’re history. Just remember that, okay? I’m only telling you this as a friend.”
    “Sure, whatever.”
    Why couldn’t his best friend be happy about anything? Jesse’s cynical nature grated sometimes. Except Jesse would call it practical.
    That’s what he told himself. But when he couldn’t sleep at night, a voice whispered in his brain, asking if he wasn’t certain Jesse’s problem was something else altogether.

    Knowing Sean couldn’t be hers didn’t stop her from wearing her sexiest jeans.
    Eve turned around and craned her neck to see over her shoulder, critically perusing her rear in the bathroom mirror. Just because she was in prime physical shape didn’t mean a man would find her appealing. There wasn’t anything wrong with wanting to look her best.
    Facing front again, she eyed her tight, low-cut black top, wondering if it was too blatant. So what if she could hold her own on the physical-agility course with any man? Didn’t she have the right to feel feminine, desirable?
    She fluffed her hair, applied a touch of gloss to her lips, and snorted at her reflection. “Yeah, like the guys won’t notice you’ve never put this much effort into your appearance around them before.”
    Well, screw it. Let them think what they would.
    A knock interrupted her musings and she hurried for the door. Without pausing, she flung it open and suffered a temporary loss of speech at the sight of Sean standing on her threshold. And a definite spike in her libido.
    She wasn’t the only one who’d taken extra pains with appearance. Sean had been to many of their gettogethers in the past, and she’d never seen him looking so . . . sharp. Pressed and crisp, sexy as hell.
    His long-sleeved emerald green shirt set off his eyes and was tucked in, showing off his lean frame. Black jeans hugged his long legs and cupped his package invitingly, making her mouth water. Quickly, she lifted her gaze to his face, hoping he didn’t notice she’d been checking out the goods.
    “Hey! Let me get my purse and I’m set.”
    He smiled. “Ready when you are.”
    Grabbing her purse and keys off the table in the small dining area, she rejoined him, locking up behind her. Immediately, doubts assailed her. Should she have invited him inside? She hadn’t thought he’d be real excited to see her dinky apartment; she’d wanted to keep things sort of casual, and now she hoped he hadn’t thought her rude.
    “You look very pretty,” he said as they walked toward his Tahoe.
    “Thanks. You clean up good yourself.” God, how lame! That was the sort of reply she would’ve made before . . . well, just before , and she cursed herself for not coming up with something more clever. Witty. Jeez, should she flirt? No, absolutely not. She smiled at him to cover her discomfort.
    “So I’ve been told, but it’s been a while.”
    He held the door open for her and she slid inside the SUV, her pulse giving a tiny jump as he slammed it shut. She glanced around the interior of the vehicle, thinking how strange to have him pick her up, to ride together to their team’s hangout. And really wonderful.
    Especially when he got inside and started the engine, the rich musk of his cologne invading her senses. She loved the aroma of a man, fresh from the shower. Loved the sight of damp hair clinging to his neck, shirt open to reveal a slice of bronzed chest.
    “You’re staring again.” His lips quirked.
    She cleared her throat. “Sorry. I couldn’t help but notice you’re getting tan. You’re looking healthy.”
    More like scrumptious.
    “I’ve been working outside since I got home from rehab, every chance I get,” he said, pulling out of the parking lot. “I don’t tan easily, but at least my skin is losing that pasty white cast.”
    “Well, keep up the good work.”
    “Will do.”
    He fell silent for a couple of minutes, and the