Looking for Trouble Read Online Free PDF Page B

without another word. The order only took a moment to place, but she used that short time to study him from behind. His gray T-shirt hugged thick shoulders and revealed the delicious taper of his back down to his waist. Those ancient jeans showed off thick thighs and a delicious-looking ass. It all ended in lug-soled black boots that made her heart skip a little.
    He was just so...masculine.
    She looked away before he turned around with her wine and a bottle of beer, and Sophie folded her hands demurely on the table.
    He still looked big when he sat down. She knew she couldn’t hide her stare, so she didn’t even bother. “I like your tattoos.”
    His head drew back a little in surprise. “Yeah?”
    “Yeah. Can I see this one?” She gestured toward his left arm.
    He helpfully pulled his sleeve up to his shoulder.
    “Wow,” she breathed.
    Sophie wanted to reach out and touch, despite that she knew there’d be no texture. But the reds and blues and greens were so vivid, she imagined she’d feel something . It wasn’t just passive art. His arm was alive with it.
    She’d never seen such deep colors on skin. Dark green pine trees rose up his biceps in stylized spikes outlined in black, but the tips disappeared into wisps of clouds. A bright blue river wound through the green and then down his thickly muscled forearm. It splashed between angled boulders of red and yellow and gray before the river tightened to a bright red ribbon that finally wound around his wrist.
    “It’s really beautiful. It’s honestly the most beautiful tattoo I’ve ever seen.”
    “Thanks. An artist in California did it. He’s really amazing. He’s the only one I go to now.”
    “And that?” she asked, tipping her head toward his right arm, where a raven was drawn in stark black lines that looked like slashes.
    “An earlier work.”
    “I like it, too. You’ve got nice taste.”
    A small smile, finally. “Not as nice as you. You like pretty dresses.”
    That surprised a laugh out of her. “I do. I like pretty things.”
    “Like me,” he said drily.
    “Oh, sure. You’re my pretty treat for the night.” Stop, she told herself as she watched his nostrils flare a little. Stop flirting . Just tell him the truth and leave.
    But her mouth refused to obey. Instead of speaking up, it quirked a secret little smile at the way his gaze had intensified. Sophie reached for her wine. “How long are you in town, Alex?”
    “Through the weekend,” he answered. “Not long.”
    “The dedication ceremony?”
    He looked surprised for a moment, then he seemed to remember how small Jackson was and nodded. “Yeah. I’ll ride on as soon as the damn thing is over.”
    Now it was her turn to be surprised, but she wasn’t going to press him on this issue, that was certain. It wasn’t a topic she wanted to intrude on. “Where do you live?”
    One of his big shoulders rose in a shrug. “Here and there. I’m on my way to Alaska next month.”
    “Alaska?” she gasped. “In October? Isn’t it already freezing there by then?”
    “Not quite, but the work doesn’t stop during the winter.”
    “What sort of work?” Her pulse quickened at the thought of Alaska. She wanted to see it, so badly.
    “I’m a groundwater engineer. I work as a contractor for oil companies. Making sure they’re not fucking things up.”
    “Is that the official engineering term?”
    Now his mouth relaxed into a real smile, and she was shocked at how sweet he looked. “Pretty much. It’s a rough-and-tumble engineering field. Not a lot of scientists stationed in the places I go.”
    “Is it always Alaska?”
    “Not always. I travel a lot.”
    Sophie’s thoughts were swirling almost too fast to catch one. She had a thousand questions about Alaska and a thousand more about where else he went and the things he’d seen. She took a drink of wine and grabbed hold of one question. “Tell me what it’s like. Alaska. Is it...is it amazing?”
    “It’s pretty amazing.