Dare to Resist (a Wedding Dare novella) (Entangled Brazen) Read Online Free PDF Page B

she managed as he shrugged off the white cotton and revealed a V-neck T-shirt that did absolutely nothing to hide the contours of his muscles. Helpless to stop herself, her gaze traced over the definition of his chest, his stomach, his shoulders, his biceps. The man was cut to such perfection that it made Kady want to trace every dip and curve with her fingertips. Just to see if he was as hard as he looked. Heat lanced through her blood.
    “You don’t get to be a thirty-two-year-old man without learning that when a woman says she’s fine, she’s really not.” He arched a brow that challenged her to disagree.
    She smirked but kept her mouth shut because, on the one hand, he was right. And on the other, his rightness made her want to ask where that kind of wisdom had been three years ago when he’d been a total ass.
    In a quick series of movements, Colton adjusted the thermostat, moved the table out from in front of the window, and draped his shirt over the back of his chair to dry. Sitting again, he scooted his chair closer to the stream of warm air rising up from the vent.
    “Well, thanks,” Kady said, settling back into her chair. First the coat, then offering her his room, now the shirt. Since Tyler was often around when she and Colton saw each other, she wasn’t used to him stepping up to take care of her like this. Not that she was the kind of woman who needed taking care of all the time, but who didn’t admire and appreciate a well-placed chivalrous gesture? Kindness was sexy.
    Peering over his laptop at her, he winked. “That’s twice in one day.”
    Leave it to Colton not to quit while he was ahead. “Don’t count on a third.”
    His eyebrows raised in an expression of challenge. “I bet I can make you say thank you at least one more time today.”
    The words “I bet” froze Kady’s fingers where they sat on her keyboard. She’d always had a hard time ignoring those words, especially when they came out of his mouth, as they often had over the years. And he knew it. She met his gaze and arched her brow. “The stakes?”
    He tilted his head, his eyes narrowing. “Breakfast at the diner. You thank me, you buy. You don’t, I buy.”
    Kady shrugged. This was gonna be easy as pancakes. “Why not? A new contract and free breakfast. I think I like the desert.”
    “Contract isn’t yours yet,” he said, giving her a hard stare. “And neither is breakfast.”
    She tugged the towel tighter around her shoulders. “Just a matter of time,” she said.
    He shook his head as if in exasperation, but the corners of his eyes crinkled. “Bet starts now. I think I’ll eat a light dinner tonight so I’m extra hungry for breakfast.”
    Kady bit back a grin. “You’re ridiculous. You know that, right?”
    “Maybe. But you like me.”
    Kady inhaled to respond, but she was saved by the bell. Or rather, by the vibration of her cell phone against the veneer of the table. Her stomach dropped at the name on the caller ID. Bob Chase, her immediate supervisor at Resnick. “Hello, this is Kady Dresco.”
    “I thought you were going to be back in time for the site visit with Carson tomorrow,” Bob said without as much as a hello. The fact that she’d gone over his head to propose going after the project at this Panther Canyon facility had significantly moved her name up on his shit list. When she’d gotten the tip about the request for proposals here, Kady had known she couldn’t go through Bob with it. He’d either block her effort or take credit for the find—or both. So she’d gone to Mr. Resnick directly with full awareness doing so would earn Bob’s ire. But she’d decided it was worth the risk, and she’d been right. Resnick had been impressed enough by her identifying the job and her proposal for it that he’d given her the green light to bid as the project manager—which meant landing the contract was in essence a promotion. To not have to work for Bob Chase would be a dream come true… “If you