Shades of Temptation Read Online Free PDF

the words casual or fun.
    Didn’t matter. She hadn’t even looked at him, but he was
already harder than an iron spike. His response to her was completely baffling,
especially given how fervently she denied the attraction between them.
Especially given she was a cop.
    Professionally, Jase had no problem working with female cops.
Some of them, including Carrie, were the best cops in the business.
    Personally?
    Jase liked his women simple, tarted up and willing to please.
Carrie Ward, a former Army MP and now special agent just like Jase, certainly
didn’t qualify. So why did she get to him so much so fast?
    It was barely noticeable, but he saw the slight way she favored
her right leg as she walked. It had suffered significant trauma. Since the
doctors had believed she wouldn’t walk for at least six weeks, let alone that
she’d ever walk without a cane, she’d obviously been doing her physical therapy
and pursuing recovery the way she did everything else—head-on, at full speed
ahead.
    Well, that wasn’t exactly true.
    She pursued everything that way except her desire for him. That
was the one thing she had no intention of facing. Ever. Her failure to even look
at him simply confirmed the fact.
    Hell, he should be glad. He’d fought his attraction to her from
the instant he’d seen her. Had gone out of his way to avoid her since the night
they’d shared that brief kiss. At least, he’d gone out of his way until that
last night at McGill’s. That night, he’d been standing next to Regina but
studying Carrie’s reflection in a mirror on the wall. He’d been watching her the
entire time since she’d arrived. As such, he’d noticed when she’d turned and
spotted him with Regina. For a split second, she’d looked hurt and then she’d
left. Something—a flash of loneliness he’d seen in her eyes or perhaps the empty
ache he’d felt in his own chest—had compelled him to follow her. To proposition
her. But she’d rejected him quite thoroughly. Not all that surprised, he’d
cursed himself for a fool and counted himself grateful that she’d ignored his
little moment of weakness. Then she’d gotten shot, and the severity of her
injuries had reminded him exactly why she was the kind of woman he needed to
stay away from.
    The kind that would eventually destroy him whether he kept her
or lost her.
    He’d almost gone crazy when he’d learned she’d been shot. He’d
beat everyone to the hospital and had been hollering for an update before Mac
had arrived and tried to calm him down. But even when he’d heard Carrie was
going to be okay, he hadn’t calmed down. He hadn’t felt calm in over a damn
month. No matter where he went, no matter who he was with, inevitably he thought
of her. For a man who enjoyed women in all their infinite variety and had no
problem moving on to the next great thing, it had scared the shit out of him.
Afraid of what he might reveal, he’d forced himself not to visit her, at least
not after that first time, and instead had settled for the occasional update
from Mac and the commander. In the past few weeks, even though she was never
completely out of his mind, he’d managed to think of her less often. It was an
achievement he had to continue.
    When she returned to SIG, things between them would be back to
normal, with him dating his women and her… Well, he had no doubt she’d once
again use her sharp tongue and another man to keep her distance from him. At one
time, that man had been Mac. Now, it looked as if she’d be using several new men
instead.
    According to DeMarco, before she’d been shot, Carrie had been
dating her way through San Francisco P.D.’s SWAT team. Was that why she’d gone
to McGill’s that night? Had she been planning on bedding a SWAT officer only to
be distracted by Jase?
    “Jase, you dog. You’ve been holding out on me.”
    Jase reluctantly dragged his gaze from the sweet curve of
Carrie’s khaki-clad butt and turned to face DeMarco.