Read Kit And Kisses for Free Online Page B

for a moment in his green eyes weakened her knees. But the words out of his mouth were ordinary. "I'm partial to pepperoni and mushrooms."
    "Together or separate?"
    He chuckled. "Together."
    As she went to the phone, she struggled with the question of whether or not becoming friends with Grey was a good idea. As she lifted the receiver she realized it didn't matter because they were on their way. She already knew he liked pizza with pepperoni and mushrooms. Together.
    ***
     
    The heat increased instead of diminished as they worked. Sweat trickled between Kit's breasts as she sat on the floor smoothing a spot she'd just plastered. It was amazing she was getting anything accomplished when her attention kept straying. She looked over at Grey working on the same wall, perspiration beading on his brow. Drawing his wrist across his forehead, he grimaced and pulled his shirt away from his chest.
    "I can set the fan closer to you," Kit offered.
    "I don't think it will help. The circulation is best where it is. But I do think I'll take this off if you don't mind."
    Pulling his T-shirt from the band of his shorts, he waited for her answer.
    Mind? Why should she mind? "Go ahead."
    Before she could blink, he'd tugged it over his head. Throwing it over the ladder that stood in one corner, he smiled. "That's better."
    Better for him, maybe. She bit her lower lip as she tried not to stare. With a quick sideways glance, she took in his mussed black hair, his bare chest, his muscular arms, his broad shoulders. She couldn't prevent a second longer look. His chest hair was thick and full, surrounding his dark nipples and aiming down the middle of his chest. It didn't stop there, but she did. As she raised her head, her gaze smacked into his.
    Fire burned her cheeks as she quickly looked away. She dipped her trowel into the bucket of plaster and smoothed it across the wall. The only problem was — she missed the hole. Biting her lip, she took a deep breath and concentrated on her task.
    When the doorbell rang, Grey was closer to the door than she was. When he stood and went to answer it, she scurried to her feet and called after him, "I have to get the money..."
    "I've got it," he called back, sidestepping her cats who'd stretched out in the middle of the living room.
    After the work Grey was putting in, she couldn't let him pay for dinner, too. She went to the kitchen and took a bill from her wallet. But when she returned, the delivery boy had left. Meeting Grey at the door, she held out the money to him. "Here."
    "Put it away, Kit."
    "I can't let you — "
    "Buy supper? Why not?"
    "Because...because...I'm just very careful about that sort of thing."
    He carried the pizza to the kitchen. "Why?"
    She followed, saying, "It doesn't matter why." She hated feeling vulnerable, she hated feeling as if she owed anyone anything.
    "Because of Higgins?"
    She nodded.
    He sat on the loveseat and patted the cushion next to him. "I'm not sure I understand the connection."
    Sighing, she sank down next to him. "He was the perfect con man, Grey. He wined me and dined me till the end. Expensive restaurants, flowers, presents. I guess he considered it a good investment because then he stole triple that and more." She shook her head. "I've been paying back bills for so long I don't want to be beholden to anyone."
    "Kit, this is just a pizza."
    "And what do you expect if you buy me the pizza?"
    "Half the pizza," he said with a poker face.
    She couldn't suppress her smile or the laugh that followed and felt so good. "You think I'm being silly."
    "I think you're making too much of a pizza."
    When she inhaled, she could smell pizza but she could smell Grey too. Male. Heat. A hint of aftershave or cologne. His skin was bronze from the summer sun, his chest hair only a few inches from her fingers. His green gaze flecked with sparks of gold dawdled across her face and came to rest on her lips. If she leaned toward him, she knew what would happen.
    Her mouth desert dry,