Page 5 of Fire Dancer

Yeah, well. Everything was important to Ingo.

Everything but me.

I crossed my arms, staring him down.

We got so mired in our little standoff that we forgot what happened when our bodies passed an unmarked border into the danger zone. Gradually, the heat and proximity took me to a different time and place, and my anger ebbed, giving way to something much more pleasant.

Ingo’s eyelids drooped, and his lips parted. I found my arms drifting to his waist. Time and place drifted too, until we were no longer in the hot shop. We were beside a mountain stream, years ago, sliding into our first kiss. The space around our bodies tingled as our lips brushed, then pressed together in a bolder, needier motion. Again and again until we were barely breathing, barely thinking. Justdoing.

My mind filled in all the sensual details, and my nipples hardened. When my eyes fluttered open, Ingo was cupping my cheek, and his eyes were soft and loving, just as they had been in the split second before our first kiss.

My heart thumped in happy anticipation. But good sense used bad timing to throw up a red flag at exactly that moment.

“You’re doing it to me again,” I murmured, catching his arms to keep us an inch apart.

“Doing what?” he whispered, equally dazed.

“This.” I waved between us. “Making it impossiblenotto touch you.”

His eyes stayed at half-mast. “Maybe it’s you doing it to me.”

In truth, we both knew destiny was to blame. But we’d agreed not to be its puppets a long time ago.

I pushed him gently away. “Go, before I kiss you.”

Ingo flashed a tiny, sentimental smile, but there was sorrow in his eyes too. “Would it be that bad?”

I shook my head. “It would be great. That’s the problem.”

We’d broken up for good reason, and we had to keep it that way.

He took a deep breath, then nodded. God, I hated it when he agreed with me.

I could practically read his mind. Kissing me was nice — great, even — but somewhere out there, someone or something needed saving, and he was the only one who heard their cries for justice.

With a deep, steadying breath, he stepped back and turned slowly away. Then he stopped, glancing down at the shop counter.

“Um…”

I stuck my hands on my hips. Did he really think I was going to give him the address he wanted?

A terrible idea, but I had to get rid of him before the love bug called in reinforcements and swarmed us with renewed energy. I could already hear the approaching buzz as its force field nudged us closer…closer…

I could see it now: him flipping theOpensign toClosed, then rushing back to me. We would end up half naked and doing it on the counter…and he would still get that address in the end.

At least if I gave it to him quickly — the address, not my aching, overheated body — and got him out of there, my heart wouldn’t end up broken.

“Here. One look,” I grumbled, holding up the invoice.

His throat bobbed, and he tore his eyes away from mine. I watched his lips move as he memorized the address. Bad idea, because my libido grabbed that little motion and inserted it into an entirely new, R-rated context.

“Go. And be careful.” I crossed my arms so I couldn’t reach out to stop him.

He nodded, then paused with one hand on the knob.

“Pippa…” he whispered, begging me to understand.

I did, but I didn’t. Saving the world was a worthy cause, but it tended to be a job you did solo. Yet the sacrifices made were shared by everyone — the hero and anyone who loved him.

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