Page 6 of Slow Burn (Forbidden Heat 2)

“That man would be missing some testicles if he’d done that to me,” Becky said.

“I would be down for keying his car,” Jasmine added.

I had to giggle. These girls were ruthless.

“Then after he can tell I’m clearly pissed at him, he wants me to get all sexy later on. What is it with men that they think sex can fix everything?”

“They have two brains and the one down below is the boss,” I added.

“Right you are,” Jasmine laughed. She turned back to Teri. “So, did you do it?”

The other girls laughed and gave each other high fives. Teri looked annoyed. “What makes you think that I gave in after that?”

“Because we know you, and we know how charming Mark can be. The guy has your number. No matter what wrongs he does, he will always end up in your bed.”

Teri tried to keep a straight face, but after a few seconds she could no longer hold it together. “You know me too well. Yes, I gave in.”

The girls cheered and clapped. Teri tried to defend her actions. “But the man is just too sexy. He is wild in bed. And he knows it. That’s like my kryptonite. Sex of that level is so hard to find in a mostly decent man.”

“Mostly decent?” Jasmine asked.

“Well, he doesn’t commit crimes, and I’m very certain that he would never actually cheat on me. I have that security, which is tough to find in a man. He just has a fe

w rough edges I need to iron out.”

Hearing these ladies talk about their romantic woes was refreshing. Even though Teri was complaining about her man, it was obvious that she loved him and that she was really glad to have him in her life. It was a luxury of a happy woman, to complain about the little things her man did that drove her crazy.

I missed that. I really missed having that in my life, but since Edward, there had been nobody else. I was alone and right now, that’s how I felt it should stay. I had too much baggage to push on someone else. Nobody wanted to start a relationship with a woman who had that kind of heavy burden hanging on her. It wasn’t right.

And I knew that my heart couldn’t take it. It had been through the ringer. I’d moved on and I was trying to start fresh in my life. Right now it was important that I just focus on doing a good job, and slowly rebuilding my life. Maybe one day I would be ready to love again. But I truly felt that would be a long time in the future.

How wrong I was…

Chapter Three

Gary

I slide onto the bar stool and wince slightly. My leg was hurting a little bit from the sparring session I’d had earlier. I went to the Wicked Fist dojo a few times a week to practice kickboxing. I’d been into martial arts since I was a teenager and it was one of those things that helped me stay in great physical shape, but the real payoff was the great stress relief it offered me. In a job like mine, you really needed something to keep your sanity. Kickboxing was a fairly healthy option.

But sometimes it did leave a few bruises. I’d misread Charlie’s movements, and he had caught me with an oblique kick to the inner thigh. It would be a bit sore for a couple of days, but I would live. Charlie and I had been sparring together for a few years now. He was a good guy and he surprisingly got along great with the guys in the crew, despite being an office manager in a local real estate office and not a fireman.

“So, how’s life been treating you?” Charlie asked me.

“No real complaints,” I said. “Of course, I could complain but that would just ruin other people’s good time, right?”

“Right you are,” Charlie teased. “I sure as hell wouldn’t want to hear it.”

I laughed. We both ordered a few beers when the pretty, female bartender came over. Charlie, the consummate bachelor, was all over the flirt game with her. He immediately gave her the eyes with the smirk, and then teased her about her name, which was Wendy.

She laughed good-naturedly in a way that told me she was far too used to guys hitting on her at work and she was rather immune to it. Still, she gave enough feedback to make it fun for the customer and to ensure a good tip.

“She wants me,” Charlie said as the bartender walked away to grab our drinks.

“Yeah, I could totally feel that,” I chided him. “You guys will be setting a wedding date any day now.”

He chuckled. “Nope. No wedding bells for me.”

“You say that, but I bet you will be married anytime now.”

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