Seduced by Fire Read Online Free PDF

“My mom loved flowers. She had them all over the house and always said it was a travesty to save them for special occasions. I wanted to share her love and beliefs with everyone. Sasha and I found the shop a few years ago while walking through the historic district. We bought it and the Petal Pushers was born. Now it’s like I spend part of each day with my mom.”
    “And yet you said you weren’t the flower type of girl.”
    Her body stilled. “You remember?”
    He ran a finger across her hand, swirled a figure eight on the top. “I remember everything about you.”
    For the briefest moment, when he looked into her eyes, it was as if the rest of the room disappeared and there was nothing in the world except the two of them. Her hand turned over on the table, so the palm faced up. He dragged his finger along the lines there before settling his hand over hers.
    How simple it was to engulf her hand in his. He had an overwhelming desire to engulf her entirely. Surround her. Protect her.
    Tease and tempt her.
    They jumped apart when a waiter placed their salads in front of them. Daniel looked up to find their dinner companions watching them intently. He was almost embarrassed to realize they hadn’t even noticed when the other diners sat down. But the truth was, he didn’t care. He couldn’t when she was overwhelming him like this. Now their dinner companions all averted their eyes, obviously embarrassed on their own parts to be caught staring.
    “It must be you,” Julie said all calm and cool. “People never stare at me like that.”
    “Maybe it’s the combination of us together.”
    The air between them pulsed. Surely she felt it, too. They would probably be a dangerous combination together. Even more so alone. He wanted to test that theory.
    Badly.
    But the benefit wouldn’t be over for hours.
    He pressed the palms of his hands against his thighs. Refocused his attention on the three other couples sitting at the table. Before he’d asked Julie to be his date, he’d been looking forward to discussing several new oncology breakthroughs with those in attendance. At the moment, though, all he could muster was small talk. After a few minutes, the other couples were talking among themselves and he could finally turn back to Julie.
    “What does your mom think of your business?” he asked.
    “She passed before it opened.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that.”
    She took her time cutting her salad. She was very meticulous about it, cutting each piece into nearly identical sizes. “How about you? Why banking?”
    Obviously, the conversation about her mother was over. He took a moment to follow her lead and cut his salad.
    “It’s a family business. Something it was always assumed I’d do.”
    “Is it what you really want to do?” Questioning eyes met his. “If you could do anything, what would it be?”
    He chuckled. “What do I want to be when I grow up?”
    “Something like that.”
    “Outside of the fact that I’m thirty-five, I suppose when I grow up, I just want to know I’ve changed the world for the better.”
    She muttered something under her breath, but all he could make out was “no wonder” and “pants.”
    “What?”
    “Nothing, just something Sasha said.”
    Their conversation flowed smoothly throughout dinner. Julie proved to be witty and warm, a delightful combination. But as she talked about what she’d done to reach her goals, and the obstacles she’d overcome, she also showed him a will of iron. Her father had left when her sister was born. After her mother died, she’d worked two jobs while going to school. Somehow, she and Sasha had secured a loan for the shop and turned it into a successful business. He had a strong desire to bend that will of hers to his own, to show her what it was like to have someone protect her and take care of what she needed.
    Careful, he told himself.
    He had succeeded in arranging for one of the leading oncologists in melanoma to speak at the benefit, and