Touched by a Phoenix Read Online Free PDF Page A

the depth of her thoughts; she snapped, “Yes.”
    All other words were lost when she opened her eyes. Brad stood before her, wet swim trunks clung to his hips. Her face flushed; in all her years, she had never seen a man so physically perfect as the man standing before her. It wasn’t that she hadn’t noticed before, but he had always been fully clothed, masking his well-defined features. Not a single mark marred his perfect body.
    With the sun behind him, he reminded her of the mythological Greek God Helios. It was said that Helios wore the shining aureole of the Sun as his crown. He drove the chariot of the sun, drawn by Solar Steeds across the sky each day to earth, circling Oceanus and through the world ocean to return to the East each night. Bradley Scott was Helios…or Helios reincarnated!
    A million butterflies took up residence in Alexis’s stomach, causing it to quiver. Unable to help herself, she started at his feet and worked her way up. Her gaze admired every inch of his male physique. Her gaze meandered from his well-defined calves, to powerful thighs covered in a smattering of coal black hair. Up to powerfully muscled flat hips to the dark garden path appearing from below the waistband of his trunks and extending upwards to his belly button. His washboard stomach did little to distract her from the rock hard planes of his broad chest clouded with a thin mat of dark chest hair. Her breath caught in her throat.
    “Alexandria, are you all right?”
    She nodded. He had stolen her breath. Her voice failed her. Strange warmth tiptoed into the pit of her stomach and quickly spread.
    “Are you enjoying the view?” he asked smugly.
    She gulped and flushed bright red as she snapped, “Don’t flatter yourself. Was there something you wanted?” She desperately needed to divert his attention while she regained her composure.
    His movements were graceful and sleek as he easily glided the towel down one ripped arm and then the other. Wasn’t she the one mentally scolding Britney earlier for throwing herself at a man? Good Lord Alexis, he’s just a man!
    For the first time in her life, Alexis’s little demigoddess sat on her shoulder with her arms and legs crossed. “You have lost your mind child, he is not just a man; he is perfection!”
    Alexis didn’t know how to respond to her inner voice, so she simply sat dumbfounded.
    “I spotted you sitting here and thought perhaps we might grab a bite of dinner this evening. The Gaslamp District has some excellent little cafés within walking distance.”
    “Thanks, but no thanks, I had something more filling on my mind.”
    A deep rumbling laughter rose from within Brad’s chest. “Oh really, like what?” His eyebrow arched giving way to his curiosity.
    She realized what she had said and how badly it sounded. She turned as red as her hair. “You are an arrogant prick. Not everything is about you.”
    Ouch, that smarted, what a nasty little bite. “Checkmate, I guess I deserved that,” he conceded as he sat on the lounge chair next to her. He had yet to figure out how to win this woman over. He had tried so many times over the past few months to break through her defenses, all to no avail. He wasn’t sure why he kept trying, but there was something so unique about this woman. She haunted his dreams.
    “Seriously Alexandria, there are some exceptional places to eat. What would you like?”
    “Steak and a cold beer,” she replied with a smirk.
    Brad did not even try to hide the surprise on his face as his eyebrow arched, but he never missed a beat, “You really are a man-eater!”
    She scowled at him. “I take it that makes us even now,” she prodded.
    He nodded as if he agreed to a mutual truce. This was their game, as it had been for months. No matter how charming he had been, her resistance was impenetrable. He simply couldn’t break through her guarded nature.
    A smirk crossed his perfectly shaped lips, “Do you really want a steak?”
    “Yes, I