Excerpt of Taste the Heat by Rachel Harris

Colby’s shoulders shuddered with an attempt at a calming breath. Jason squeezed her tighter, stifling a groan as the tips of her breasts pressed firmly against his chest. He slid his hands to her waist, and Colby lifted her head with a shy smile.

“Feel better?”

She nodded and licked her lips. “Thank you. I don’t normally do the ugly cry. It felt good.” She gave a self-deprecating laugh and covered her face. “Although I’m sure I look like a hot mess right now.”

Sweeping her hands aside, Jason glided his thumbs across her cheeks. Wiping away the lines of smeared makeup, he looked into her clearing gray eyes and said, “You’re gorgeous.”

A flash of uncertainty crossed Colby’s face, and he bent his head to prove it.

The first brush of his lips was light. He didn’t want to take advantage of her emotions. He just wanted to assure her that regardless of her tears, she was still one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. But when a sigh escaped her parted lips, and she fisted her fingers in his hair, Jason abandoned timid and gentle. He gave in to the desire that had been snapping and building between them since the day of the competition, and proceeded to kiss her senseless.

Reaching down, he palmed the smooth skin of her calf. It felt like silk in his hands. He skimmed his fingers down the soft length to her ankle, hooking it around his hip. Colby made a satisfied noise in her throat. She wiggled closer and, happy to oblige, he tugged her fully against him and deepened the kiss. He swallowed her moan.

Leaves rustled in the wind. Unseen wings fluttered and buzzed. And their heavy breaths filled the air, turning Jason on even more. Colby’s mouth tasted of citrus. Sweet, like the daiquiri she had drank, and like her. He teased the corners of her mouth. Licked the satiny skin of her upper lip. And gently bit down on her pouty lower one. He knew he needed to break the kiss soon—his daughter was sleeping in the tent only a few yards away—but this woman was like a drug. And he was quickly becoming an addict. Jason shifted to press his lips to the sensitive skin just under her ear.

Breathless and panting, Colby tilted her head as he trailed his mouth along the column of her neck. “I’ve always wondered,” she admitted with a shiver, “what it would be like to kiss you.”

He arched an eyebrow in surprise and grinned against her skin. “If memory serves me right, this is our second kiss.”

A shocked gasp of air escaped her throat. “You remember Kiss and Catch?”

He looked at her and nodded, remembering every stolen moment of that childhood kiss.

She gazed back with dazed eyes, and chewing the corner of a slightly swollen lip, admitted, “That was my first kiss.” Her tone was almost bashful, the flush of her skin darkening to rose before a hint of the vixen came back and she said, “Okay, so I’ve been curious how the adult Jason would compare.”

He chuckled as he dipped his tongue into the hollow where her pulse fluttered. “And the verdict?”

“Meh.”

At her laugh, which he noted sounded like music again, Jason nipped the delicate skin and then licked it. Inclining his head, he confessed, “You were my first kiss, too.”

Colby went motionless in his arms and he leaned back, not surprised to see disbelief in her eyes. He shrugged. “I hadn’t come out of my shell yet.”

She grinned in delight.

Jason shifted her so she was out of the shadow and firelight warmed her face, then he said, “I have an idea.”

“Hmm, sounds dangerous,” she teased. “Any chance it involves burrs in delicate places and unexplainable mosquito bites?”

“No,” he said with a laugh. “But I like where your mind is.” Colby sighed with mock disappointment, and he added, “And you’re not too far off.”

That got her attention. Placing her hands on his thighs, she propped herself up and tilted her head, waiting for him to continue.

“Tonight I realized that we’re not that different,” Jason began. “We’ve both been burned by love, and neither of us have any interest in going back in for a round two. But we’re human. We have needs. And crazy chemistry.” Colby’s grin stretched into a wicked smile. “What would you say to an arrangement?” he asked. “One where it’s understood that feelings are off the table. Just fun, companionship, and a whole lot more of this.” He grasped her hips and tugged her closer so there was no mistaking what he meant.

She shook her head with a smile but locked her ankles around his back. “You had me at crazy chemistry,” she teased. Then her smile faltered a shade and she reminded him, “I’m leaving at the end of the summer.”

“I know.” He lifted his shoulder in a show of indifference. “It’ll be a summer fling.”

Colby’s eyes lit up at the word fling. “That, sir, may just be the best idea I’ve ever heard.” Smashing her mouth against his, she sealed their agreement with a kiss.

Victory tasted like citrus. He did it. He bought himself an entire summer with Colby, and maybe, just maybe, it would convince her to stay. He could be very persuasive when he needed to be.

And if his best friend ever found out what he just did, Jason would have his ass kicked.