Reckless (Blue Collar Boyfriends Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

earn her way into heaven. Since that hope stood between her and despair, she clung to it like a lifeline.
    Suddenly, the fog thinned. A solid surface came up to meet her feet, and the last of the smoky wisps parted to reveal the man’s room. She was back in her corner.
    “Oh, thank God!” She fell to her hands and knees in relief. Being somewhere, anywhere, beat that nothingness. But she had to admit, this room made her feel safe.
    As she regained her composure, she noticed the man doing push-ups between the foot of the bed and the dresser, in nothing but a pair of tight, black boxer briefs.
    His toes braced on the floor mere inches from her hands. Directly in front of her, his calves and thighs made a long, muscular line to a cotton-hugged rear end. His tanned back flared from a narrow waist to broad, muscular shoulders. Powerful arms bunched deliciously as he pumped the plank of his body up and down. The hair at the nape of his neck curled with perspiration. She had an urge to plant her nose in that moist hair and draw in his scent of Irish Spring soap and summer sunshine.
    Virile, masculine flesh filled her vision, and the rhythmic rush of heavy breathing bathed her ears with a sound of life so welcome after the deathly silence of the fog. After hours of sensory deprivation, she greedily feasted her senses.
    Before she could think better of it, she extended her hand toward the man’s right foot and stroked a finger down his sole, tracing the arch from heel to ball. His skin was warm and taut, slightly pink, and toughened with every step he’d ever taken. The touch sent a thrill of connection through her while at the same time she cringed back, fearing his response.
    He gave no sign he’d felt anything.
    Disappointment settled in her belly. Some sort of reaction would have been nice.
    She thought about attempting something more insistent, like a pinch, but the man finished his push-ups and got to his feet. He moved out of reach and bent at the waist to stretch his hamstrings. On one hand, being dead sucked. On the other hand, if she got to drool over buns like that as part of her afterlife, she supposed she could make peace with it.
    She gave herself a mental shake. This man needed her help. That had to be why she was here. Therefore she should not be staring at his behind and wondering if it felt as firm as it looked.
    Focus, girlie. Moving on is the name of the game. You don’t want to go back to the fog, do you?
    With a renewed sense of purpose, she watched the man roll his head on his shoulders, stretching his corded neck. Cautiously, she approached him.
    “Why you?” she wondered out loud.
    Predictably, he didn’t answer. He just kept stretching that lickable body.
    A thought struck her with sobering force. Maybe they’d known each other. She doubted they’d been married, since neither of them wore a wedding band and this sparsely-decorated, singly-occupied room paired with the little girl next door screamed divorced dad . Ex-wife was a possibility. But wouldn’t that make her Haley’s mom? While she liked the little girl, she didn’t feel maternal toward her. Not to mention, Haley showed no signs of recent trauma, like losing a parent.
    Maybe she’d been dating the man. If so, that explained the way her body heated at the sight of him. And it explained why he’d looked so somber last night.
    But he didn’t seem overly upset tonight. He had a hard look to him, like he could summon anger with little effort, but he no longer appeared troubled. A pulse of hurt tugged on her stomach. Was it too much to ask for two days’ grief?
    She fisted her hands on her hips. “Either you’re a heartless jerk or we didn’t know each other very well.” Without warning, he pulled on one elbow to stretch his shoulder and she had to duck his loose fist. “Hey! Watch it!”
    He didn’t acknowledge her.
    She folded her arms over her chest and huffed a lock of hair out of her eyes. If not for Haley in the next room, she