The Firefighter's Appeal (Harlequin Superromance) Read Online Free PDF

and soft under his feet. The scent of the damp earth and impending rain cast seductive notes in the air. Her palm met his chest, fingers clutching his shirt. “Stress food.”
    He nodded in understanding. “Peanut butter and jelly. On toast. With an extra piece of bread in the middle. Another weakness.”
    Lily made a noncommittal sound, her eyes locked on his mouth, fingers tightening with just enough pressure that her short nails dug harmlessly into his skin through the fabric of his shirt.
    “Seems I’ve developed one more, though...” Garrett smoothed hair from her face, taking time to trace along the beautiful curve of her cheekbone, down alongside her ear to her neck. She shivered as he moved slowly to the rise of her collarbone. Oh, yeah, she was feeling him. She was into this.
    “Black hair. Bright red lips. Pretty tattoos.”
    “Oh,” she whispered, tilting her head for him to lean down and take her mouth. Garrett stepped closer to her, his hand reaching for her chin, when the sky suddenly let loose, dumping a torrent of rain straight down.
    Lily’s eyes went wide. Garrett shrugged off the shock of the rain, cupped Lily’s face in his palms and pulled her fully against him. He half expected her to protest or struggle against the rain, but she sank into him, her right hand grabbing his wrist.
    Her lips parted just enough to leave no doubt.
    Lightning cracked in a brilliant line behind them, making them both jump. Cursing the weather, Garrett grabbed Lily’s hand and pulled her to the gazebo. He should have been praising the rain, truth be told, because it was giving him an opportunity to stop this now, take a step back. He had more fire in his blood than he could ever remember having before—and that was saying something, considering the beautiful women he saw at the bar nearly every night.
    He raked his fingers through his bangs, spinning to sit on the single bench in the middle of the gazebo. Lily was laughing, and the sound cut off in a heady gasp when he pulled her to sit across his lap.
    It didn’t matter if her kisses were random and meaningless. It didn’t matter that she probably wouldn’t wake up in his bed in the morning, despite his willingness to give it a go. He wanted her anyway, and no amount of rain was going to cool that burn. Even if it was just a taste.
    Her bottom was seated firmly against his thighs. Water ran in silvery streaks down her jet-black hair, dotting his jeans and soaking through the fabric in cool bursts. Garrett cupped her lower back, reveled in the shiver that coursed through her. She was sweet under that tough exterior and reserved demeanor. Maybe that was what drew him in—the mixture of all the things she was. He stared at her for several beats, only breaking his gaze to blink raindrops away from his lashes. His arms tightened around her—damn, she felt good—every muscle in his chest and neck tightening.
    “I’m going to kiss you,” he growled. Tantalizing him, thwarting him, Lily leaned closer and put her lips next to his jaw. His senses flared to life.
    “I thought you wanted my phone number,” she replied, her fingers kneading the nape of his neck. Garrett trembled. The rain beat down harder. Lily’s lips pressed into the sensitive skin just beneath his ear. Garrett clenched his eyes, trying to stomp down an insistent burning flare of desire.
    “I do.”
    She pulled back to look at him. Rivulets ran over her high cheekbones, a stray drop curving over her lower lip. Lily licked it off with a slow slide of her tongue. “Then you’ll have to work for it.”
    * * *
    L ILY HAD NO idea where this brazen streak had come from, but she couldn’t bring herself to resist it. She hadn’t planned this by any stretch of the imagination when she’d first approached Garrett. Okay, maybe she’d had a stray thought or ten about what it would be like to take him to bed, but it had been fantasy. A nice thought—one that wouldn’t come to fruition.
    But now it was a