Hot Shots Men of Fire #2 - Hot as Sin - Bella Andre Page 0,37
to the reporters.
A TV was on as he headed to the front desk, a clip of Dianna interviewing a pop star playing. Momentarily mesmerized, Sam stopped and watched it.
He couldn’t help but be impressed by how good she was at her job. She made talking to a twenty-year-old with whom she had nothing in common look effortless. He’d hung out with enough kids that age to know how difficult it could be to find any common ground whatsoever.
Pulling out a credit card, he got them each a room, knowing it wasn’t exactly what they’d prefer, but deciding to take what they could get at this point.
He didn’t beat around the bush when he emerged from the lobby. “They only had one room left.”
Her eyes widened in alarm. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I want you to stay here, just in case there are more reporters roaming around town. Don’t worry, I’ll find another place to sleep.”
“No, that doesn’t make sense.” She took a deep breath. “I can handle sharing a room if you can.”
Well, shit, he couldn’t exactly admit that he couldn’t control himself around her, could he?
“No problem,” he lied, even though he couldn’t think of a much bigger problem at present.
He hadn’t come here looking for trouble. But he seemed to have found it at every turn.
The motel room was extremely basic with only a bed, a dresser, a TV, and a small sofa. It struck him that Dianna looked like a mouse caught in a small cage, looking for anywhere to escape.
Clearly, he wasn’t the only one having a hard time with their little reunion. He got more satisfaction from that than he should have.
His stomach growled and when hers quickly followed suit he said, “I’m going to call for a pizza.”
“No thanks. I’m not hungry.”
He frowned. She’d always been up for a meal, any time of day or night. It had been one of the things he liked about her, that she was a pretty girl who ate like a normal person, rather than starving herself to fit into a pair of jeans. Had that changed, too?
“Guess you’ve got to stick to salad to fit into all those fancy clothes, huh?”
Her mouth tightened. “I’m not on a diet. I’m just not in a very hungry mood right now.”
Shit, he was acting like an insensitive jerk again. It was just that being with her again pushed all of his buttons. Buttons he hadn’t even realized were there until today.
In lieu of an apology he said, “I know you may not feel like eating right now, not after what you’ve just found out, but you’re not going to do April any good if you’re starving.”
Shrugging as if she didn’t care either way, she said, “You’re right. Order pizza.”
He said, “Everything on it,” at the same time she did and their eyes locked together in an electric moment of remembered awareness.
All the signs of arousal were there—the way her skin flushed, the rapid pulse in her neck, the speeding up of her inhalations. He could have her horizontal and naked on the bed in sixty seconds.
It took every bit of self-control he possessed to force himself to turn away, pick up the phone, and order the pizza.
After hanging up, he paused to wipe all the desire off his face. When he turned around to face her, she was standing in the same place, her eyes still on him.
“Thank you for helping me,” she said in a soft voice. “I know things are kind of weird and—”
He held up a hand. She was about to take them straight into the danger zone. He couldn’t let her do it.
There was only one way to diffuse the bomb of their relentless attraction: clear ground rules.
“Let’s concentrate on finding your sister and bringing her home safely. And because we’re going to need to work together and trust each other, I’ve decided that the best thing we can do is keep the past in the past.”
CHAPTER NINE
DIANNA REELED in disbelief. Had he really just issued her an order? Here’s how we’re gonna do it, babe. No questions. No answers. Just suck it up and get with the program.
But after she’d had a few seconds to digest it, she realized it was less what he said than how he said it that really got to her.
She hated his cold, emotionless voice.
“On the contrary,” she finally replied in a steely voice that not only matched, but raised the frigidity another level. “I don’t think there’s any