Read Pretty Hot (The Pretty Trilogy Book 1) for Free Online Page B

bakery—you know it’s going to make you hungry, but you just can’t resist a deep sniff. And he smells so good: an expensive cologne, sort of woody and spicy with an undertone of something zesty. He smells good enough to eat , I don’t tell myself. I also don’t imagine licking him for confirmation. Much.
    ‘How are you?’
    I’m such a deadhead. European style greetings include cheek kisses, apparently even swoon-worthy ones. No need to get wet knicker legs at someone’s hello.
    ‘This is the point where you reciprocate. Answer fine, thank you. Something like that.’ He stares down at me with those amused amber eyes, and I still don’t answer. Can’t really, not that it stops me looking for an appropriate retort. ‘Either you’ve shrunk or you’re smaller than I remember, despite your vertiginous heels.’ His gaze glides the length of my body. ‘Tiny, really.’
    Clearing his throat, his eyes slide away but I know what he means. He’s not exactly as I remembered, either. He’s larger, more striking. Lick-worthy freckles, is that even a thing?
    ‘S-short,’ I stutter. ‘That’s why I wear them so high.’
    ‘Living life on the edge still, I see.’ His eyes seem to glint in the light, full of wicked thought. ‘You know, I won’t always be there to catch you, though I’d love to be around next time you go down.’ Blinking once, he adds smoothly, ‘Fall, I mean.’ 
    I’m pretty sure I know exactly what he means as I stand with my mouth open. Not in invitation, mind you. I just can’t formulate a response, my brain’s wiring fused by his filthy flirting.
    ‘Like an accident waiting to happen,’ he says with a sigh.
    And again, I don’t think he’s referring to my shoes as he slides both hands into his pockets, smiling a little lopsidedly. I’d like to say it’s a secretive kind of smile but as I’m likely the colour of passata, there’s not much secret about what his words are doing to me. And despite my heightened colouring, I like it. Feel lit from within. What the hell?
    ‘Would you allow me to show you some of the city this afternoon? That is, if your brunch is over, of course.’
    ‘Yes . . . no, I mean, I haven’t eaten. I haven’t been here long, just drank a little. Well, a little more than I’m used to, that’s for sure.’ My mouth twists in a grimace. It’s an awful habit and one I really need to break, now more than ever before this poised and, quite frankly, do-able man. Inhale. ‘I mean, thank you, but I’m here with friends. And, don’t you already have . . . plans? A date? I saw you with a woman.’ Engage brain, talk less!
    ‘My brunch is over and my date isn’t.’ The date who isn’t a date or the date who didn’t eat? ‘And of course, you have plans. Let me at least walk you back to your table.’ Taking my passive hand, he threads it through the crook of his arm, an inexplicable flare instantly heating the pit of my stomach. ‘Are you here with a particular friend?’
    ‘No.’
    Maybe I shouldn’t have answered so fast, watching the corner of his mouth curl.Before I have a chance to play it down, Niamh’s voice interrupts us from across the lobby and I grind to a halt.
    ‘Kitty-Kat, Kitty-Kat, where the ‘feck have you been?’ Her voice lowers as she draws closer. ‘Don’t tell me—London. But he doesn’t look like a queen.’ Judging by her pink cheeks and sniggers, she’s had some luck with the buff one, or a very attentive waiter.
    ‘Kitty-Kat?’ Kai asks with half a laugh.
    ‘Don’t ask,’ I grumble. ‘I’m not even a fan of cats. They freak me out.’
    ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ he replies in a low rumble. ‘A little pussy never hurt anyone.’
    I think my mouth might be open again. Surely I can’t have interpreted that right. Before I can decide to be offended or turned on, Niamh is at my side.
    ‘No wonder you’ve ditched us, Miss,’ she admonishes, not so surreptitiously checking Kai out. ‘Who’s your