Read A Reason to Kill (Reason #2) for Free Online

‘cause he couldn’t help it. She looked miserable, but mostly adorable in another T-shirt with a Koala Bear on the front that read, “I’m over koalafied.”
    When she looked away, color rising up her neck again, he decided to end her misery. Tugging gently on her ponytail to get her attention, when she looked back at him, he grinned a crooked grin and let her off the hook.
    “The puking, I could have done without, but your ass in that sexy as hell underwear, not gonna lie, best view I’ve seen in years. And that’s sayin’ somethin’ considerin’ where I live.”
    She gasped, and then surprisingly threw back her head and laughed deep and husky, fuckin’ fantastic and his body reacted to those sexy tones. When she turned back to him, her crystal pools sparkled with mirth. Then she stuck out her hand and answered shyly, “Hi, I’m Mia Roberts. Since you’ve seen my ass already, we might as well be on a first name basis.”

    Feeling like an idiot, but trying to act as if it was no big deal, I watched as he wrapped his big hand around mine, dwarfing it. Then his crooked grin grew into a full-blown smile, dazzling me with its intensity. I was so dazzled, by the way, that I almost missed his reply.
    “I'm Max, Max Hunter. Anytime you wanna show me that ass again the answer is yes.”
    Now, I know I’ve mentioned that I’m awkward with men and this is a perfect example of how awkward. Instead of being, say, sophisticated at this moment and rolling with the proverbial punches, I, of course, rambled.
    “Right, no, I mean, yes. Shit, what I meant to say is, we’re leaving this morning and, and.” Feeling flustered and a little dizzy at the idea of showing Max my ass again, I pulled my hand from his, stood abruptly, and then blurted out, “I have to find Lucy and get up the mountain.”
    God, I’m an idiot.
    My cheeks warmed with embarrassment when he chuckled at my stuttering mouth. Even so, I’ll admit to a tiny tingle down south just from hearing it directed at me. He knew he was making me nervous, I could see it in the width of his smile. Even knowing this, instead of trying to save face I wanted to evade and hide, so I rattled off “Nice to meet you Mr. Hunter, my ass appreciates your chivalry,” and I fled like a child.
    Chivalry? Oh, God, please, just kill me now.
    Then, of course, making a bigger fool of myself, I turned too quickly during my hasty retreat and stumbled up the hill as I left him standing by the water. When I looked back to see if he was watching as I pushed through the crowd, I collided headfirst with the blonde I’d seen talking with Max at the bar.
    “Shit, sorry,” I mumbled, but the blonde only replied, “He isn’t the type to settle down. Fair warning if you go there.”
    “Oh, um, no, no, not going there,” I laughed, “going up the mountain though. Excuse me, I really need to go kill myself now,” I mumbled as I hightailed it up the hill.
    Unbelievable, so far this trip I’d gotten drunk, shown my ass, made a complete fool out of myself and managed to sing in front of a few hundred people. The way my luck was going so far, I’d be dead by the end of the day. I just wanted to find Lucy so we could get the hell out of Dodge, was that too much to ask?
    Mumbling to myself, I headed towards the speed-climbing arena in search of my missing intern. On my way to the venue, I managed to get sidetracked once again when I passed an arena with a huge bull’s eye in the center.
    I paused in fascination and watched as a woman, big in stature, picked up a hand axe and hurled it through the air towards the large target. It landed just off dead center, and the crowd broke into applause as the announcer called out her score. Impressed by her throw, for the first time in a long time, I wished I had some athletic ability.
    Still watching, I clapped as the next contestant walked up. She was an older woman, middle to late sixties, I figured, with gorgeous silver hair that she wore long and