Reckless Heat: A Hostile Operations Team Prequel Read Online Free PDF Page A

knocked me in the head with a bat. I should have fucking known.
    It’s Evie—but Evie as I’ve tried so desperately not to see her. This is Evie as a girl . No, a woman—a beautiful woman with curves and a mouth I want to kiss.
    Holy hell, Evie Baker isn’t a tomboy anymore. I know that, of course. She was in my car just last week when we went out to the bayou. But she was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, not a frigging mini with her mile-long legs showing.
    She has on makeup tonight, which isn’t typical Evie. Red lips, long lashes, and the most gorgeous eyes I’ve ever seen. Her lips part and I keep walking. I hope like hell the shock doesn’t show on my face.
    “Hey,” I say. “Didn’t know you’d be here.”
    “Hey.” She dips her gaze down to the ground for a second. Then she shrugs. “Sounded like fun.”
    When she meets my gaze again, my heart thumps. A feeling I don’t quite recognize starts to swell in my chest. It’s kind of like when I take some girl out and she wants to fuck and I want it too. That moment of blissful happiness where I know I’m getting laid and I want the release because it’s pretty much the sweetest thing in my life, at least while it lasts.
    Only this feeling is worse. Stronger. More desperate, because this is Evie and it isn’t going to happen. Not with me—and not with anyone. I remember the look on Jimmy’s face, and I know there is no way in hell I’m letting him get his hands on her.
    I take her hand and she gasps in surprise. But I don’t care as I tug her away from the girls and over to my car.
    “Get in. I’m taking you home.”
    “What?” she asks. “No.” She jerks her hand from mine and faces me, crossing her arms beneath her breasts.
    Jesus.
    “You shouldn’t be here, Evie.”
    “And you should? What’s the difference, Matt? I’ve been out here before, and you haven’t said a damned thing about it.”
    She has been, but she didn’t look like… well, this. Exciting and gorgeous and so damned appealing that every guy who sees her is getting a hard-on.
    “It’s almost graduation. These fuckers are crazy.”
    It isn’t a good reason, but it’s all I have. They are crazy. About to taste freedom and impatient to start the rest of their lives.
    She nods to the cup in my hand. “And you aren’t? You can’t drive when you’ve been drinking.”
    I didn’t even realize I’m still holding the cup. I throw it onto the grass. “I’m not drunk. I had one sip before you showed up.”
    “I’m not leaving, Matt. I just got here—and besides, why do you care? You’re leaving Rochambeau. You won’t even care what I’m doing then.”
    “I’ll care,” I say, my throat tight. “I’ll always care.”

Chapter Eight
    EVIE
----
    M y heart is pounding . My skin is on fire. And my breathing is short and fast. I’m not scared. I’m excited.
    Matt is looking at me like he’s never seen me before. He’s wearing jeans, flip-flops, and a faded tee that says Rochambeau Bulls on it. His eyes flash with heat, and his jaw clenches. He throws the cup away and stares me down with his chest rising and falling almost as fast as mine is.
    His nostrils flare as if he’s working to control himself. I have no idea what’s going on with him, but it’s like there is this electricity in the air between us.
    “You aren’t my boyfriend,” I say. The words aren’t easy to get out, especially since I have to say a word aloud that I’ve prayed for in secret.
    Boyfriend .
    I want Matt to be my boyfriend. I want Matt in my life, and I want more than he’s ever given me before.
    I went to Julie’s house to get ready like she wanted, and I gave her free rein. It isn’t that I don’t wear makeup or curl my hair—but I’m not as bold as she is. I don’t work for fifteen minutes on the perfect cat eye or mascara my lashes into infinity. I don’t spend time lining my lips and slicking on lipstick the way she does.
    Maybe I should, because Matt is looking at me like