Into the Fire (Bridge Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

my playground, and I rarely denied myself of its pleasures. I worked hard, and I fucked harder.
    I grasped my beer tighter in my hand, imagining Vanessa on the receiving end of that mantra.
    Meanwhile, she held the microphone close to her mouth and stared at the ground in front of her. She looked different tonight. Not like she was out on the town. No tiny red dress, stilettos, and messy hair from all the dancing we did at the club. Tonight she looked how I imagined she must look any day of the week. Her hair was soft and natural. Dark jeans hugged her hips, and a loose-fitting shirt fell over one shoulder, baring a single black strap. I wanted to grab that little strap with my teeth and…
    The noise of the bar died down enough to hear the upbeat melodic intro of the song, and I strained to recognize the tune. A few seconds later, she belted out the first verse, her eyes closed.
    Jesus.
    It was hot as blazes with all the people jammed in this place, but goose bumps still rippled over my skin. She was incredible. Eli’s off-key chorus wasn’t doing her any favors, but even he couldn’t detract from the raw talent pouring from Vanessa.
    What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, stronger!
    Every line came through more powerful than the last. She wasn’t making eye contact with anyone except Eli and the ground, but every word that left her lips made me believe she was feeling it. The nervous way she’d been minutes ago had vanished. She was someone else on the stage, and how would I have ever known?
    Blondie started to tell me something, but I held up a hand, silencing her until Vanessa finished the last verse and the song faded out to a roar of applause.
    “Goddamn, she can sing,” Ian shouted above the hoots and hollers.
    Hell, yeah, she could.
    I smiled, clapping and whistling as loud as I could.

Chapter Three
    DARREN
    “ V anessa !”
    She moved from the front of the line to the ticket counter. I bypassed the train of people waiting and came up beside her. The timing couldn’t have been better, and for some reason, an odd sense of urgency spurred me.
    After her karaoke stint the night before, I had tried to find her, to no avail. Ian had totally screwed me on that. Took an hour talking with blondie about her postgrad internship before the brunette finally agreed to take Ian home with her. Took another half hour to convince her roommate to join them in the fun, and by then Vanessa was nowhere to be found.
    I went home alone and slept like shit. I should have brought the blonde home to calm my nerves, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t have mattered. I couldn’t get Vanessa’s voice out of my head. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her up there singing her heart out. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laid eyes on a woman and hadn’t run her looks through some sort of mental hot-o-meter. Tall, short. Nice body, too much makeup. Sweet ass. The list of assets or lack thereof went on…
    Vanessa wasn’t like that. She was more than a list of features. She was…beautiful. Naturally beautiful with a body I couldn’t wait to get my hands on and size up in a much more intimate way. She wasn’t all made up and ready for the club like she’d been when we first met, but for some reason, that made me want to take her to bed all the more. She wasn’t trying to impress me or be more than who she was. She was…real. Real and disconnected enough from the scene that I’d been working for so long that maybe I couldn’t help but be entranced by her.
    She widened her eyes when I came up beside her. They were pretty, like the rest of her. A mix of color, pale green the most prominent.
    “Do you mind?”
    “No, of course not.” She shifted her gaze away from me, setting her passport up on the counter.
    “Are there any upgrades for two?” I asked. I shot the woman behind the counter a smile. Curvy, older bottle blonde.
    She blinked a few times before looking down at her computer and tapping keys. “Let me see.