Page 9 of Heat Stroke

I love tattoos on fit men… hell, I have a handful of tattoos of my own. Not that anything but my tiny heart on my left inner wrist can be seen with the naked eye most days.

A pair of mirrored aviators are pushed on top of his head, holding his hair back.

I wish I was wearing sunglasses…

Then, he couldn’t see my eyes… or where they’re pointed!

He smiles broadly and I realize he’s very aware that I was just checking him out. Licking his bottom lip, he says slowly, “Actually no. That was just lagniappe. I was actually wanting to ask you something.”

He wants to ask me something?

What?

And, why am I so fixated on his lips?!

My brow raises again and I look at him in apprehension as I try to concentrate on this crazy conversation we’re having. I snap, “What?”

Blaze smiles at my sharp tone and my knees lock as I hold my breath. He casually says, “So, can I maybe buy you dinner… sometime, Wren?”

My eyes widen in absolute shock. I gasp in stupification.

Is he serious?! He has got to be shitting me.

Where are the cameras hidden?! We have to be on some sort of hidden camera reality show.

Blaze

If Wren wasany more surprised by what I just asked, her eyes would pop clean out of her head.

She shakes her head and blinks while inhaling deeply, before staring at me wide-eyed and unblinking.

Is the idea that surprising? I’m an adult. So is she. Yeah, I was a dick kid, but I’m past that. I have a lot to atone for, but I can’t do that if she’s still appalled at the very thought of me.

A wry, annoyed smirk crosses her face as she harshly laughs. Though, her voice sounds calm as she says, “I think not. But, you had me going there for a quick second.”

Cocking my head, I widen my stance and try to adjust the bags weighing down my hands and cutting off my fingers’ circulation. I see Wren’s eyes drift to my crotch for a split second. She hastily looks away, but I saw her. Just like I saw her checking me out when she held the door for me.

She’s not unattracted to me.

I just think that she doesn’t want to be.

A sense of certainty passes through me. She’s not unaffected. I just need to take advantage of that fact. “So… that’s a maybe then, Wren?”

How are you going to answer, Wren?

And, who are you trying to convince that you aren’t attracted to me?!

Me?! Or, you?!

I’m so intrigued by her.

I think I always have been. Only, I’m a man now and not some stupid kid who tries to impress everyone… at the sake of other people. People meaning Wren.

Wren LeSalle is a woman. She’s exactly the type of woman that a man like me needs.

Hell, who am I trying to kid?!

She’s under my skin so deep.

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