Page 6 of Kyle (Gold Team #3)

I was so stupid. I had to stop these thoughts before I embarrassed myself more than I already had.

I opened my eyes and focused on the book he was holding in his left hand. His right was still knitted with mine.

“Are you reading my book?” I asked unnecessarily as I could see part of the back cover.

“After your head landed on my shoulder, I couldn’t reach down under the seat to grab mine out of my bag. Yours was already in the seat pocket so I grabbed it.”

Oh. My. God.

“Um…”

“I didn’t take you for a romance novel kinda gal. But then, I had no idea this kind of romance existed, or I would’ve picked one of these up a long time ago.”

“Um…how much of that have you read?” I asked, dreading his answer.

I had no idea how long I’d been asleep but considering it looked like he was more than fifty percent done with the book it had to have been a while.

“Enough to know, this Susan Stoker woman just may be my favorite new author.”

Oh. My. God. He didn’t just say that .

“I’ll email her, I’m sure she’ll love knowing a former SEAL likes her work.”

His broad shoulders continued to shake and try as I might, I couldn’t stop the tingling.

“Do you know her?” he asked. I glanced up and his brow arched.

Wow, that looked good on him, too.

“What? No. I was kidding.”

“Have you read this book?”

“Um, yeah. It’s one of my favorites.”

“That water rescue at the beginning was intense. The hero subscribes to my brand of justice. Straight up, slices the asshole’s finger off then starts the interrogation.”

I thought about the scene in question and grinned.

I could totally picture Kyle as a romance novel hero.

Actually, he was a real-life hero. Jesus, what was wrong with me?

I’d gone bat shit crazy—now I was comparing Kyle to my book boyfriends.

The only kind of boyfriends I had because I was damaged and learned no man wanted damaged. Not even good ones like Kyle.

“Only I wouldn’t have left the woman in San Francisco,” he continued.

“Why not? They didn’t think she was in danger,” I asked.

“Because he obviously had a thing for her.”

“What should he have done? Tossed her over his shoulder caveman style and taken her back to the mountains?”

“That’s one option.” I could hear the teasing in his voice, but I still trembled at the thought of Kyle tossing me over his shoulder carrying me off to his mountain home to love me forever. “The end was creepy as fuck. All those people in the cages. Who thinks up shit like that?”

“Susan.” I laughed. “She always has great twists. In this one book the bad guy was hiding in the heroine’s house.

I was so freaked out after I read it, I was so happy I lived in an apartment or I may’ve had to nail the attic door shut.

” I shivered thinking about some crazy person hiding in my house, then something hit me. “You read the whole book?”

I studied the paperback and it was open to the middle.

“Yeah.”

“Then why is the book still open?”

“Just skimming over it again.” Kyle cleared his throat and he sounded almost embarrassed.

“You wouldn’t happen to be rereading the sex scenes, would you?” I teased, and my face heated at my question. I was grateful my head was still on his shoulder and I was looking at the book so he couldn’t see my face.

“What? They’re hot.”

Oh. My. God. He was. I would’ve laughed if I wasn’t so shocked.

“I normally skip those parts when I’m reading in public.”

“Really?” He drew the word out. “Is there a specific reason why?”

“Like you said, they’re hot.”

I was telling the truth and I’d learned never to read a Susan Stoker sex scene in public. Those were saved for the privacy of my own home.

We were both silent for a moment before Kyle said, “Maybe you should close your eyes and try to get some more sleep.”

“Why?” I asked even though I was still tired, and his suggestion sounded great.

“Either that or we need to change the subject.” His tone was gruff, and I could swear his voice had grown deeper.

“What subject?”

Kyle groaned before he mumbled, “Sex.”

He closed the book and laid it on his lap, causing my eyes to follow.

Now I was wondering what he was trying to cover up with my paperback.

And if he was hiding what I thought he was, how did I feel about my favorite book resting against his crotch while he had a hard-on?

I didn’t have to think on it too hard because I really, really, liked the idea a lot.

And that was a whole new level of psychotic.

Don’t go there, Anaya.

“Sleep sounds like a good idea,” I muttered.

“Sweet dreams, Anaya.” Now his voice wasn’t just gruff, it was thick with lust. I may not have a bunch of experience with men, but I knew what turned on sounded like, and Kyle sounded turned on.

I didn’t think my dreams would be sweet, they’d undoubtedly be filled with hot sex. Not that I had firsthand knowledge about what hot sex was, but a girl could dream.

I closed my eyes thinking about the book Kyle had read, and could easily picture myself as the heroine. But in my version, Kyle was my mountain hero. He was my lethal mercenary. And the sex wouldn’t be hot, it’d be wild and out of control.

My breath caught in my lungs and my muscles seized.

Again, what in the world was wrong with me?

Why was I torturing myself? It had been years, and I mean, many, many years since I’d had sex.

Now I was fantasizing about a man I just met?

One whose sole purpose was to protect me.

One who had zero interest in me. One who I needed to stop thinking about altogether—but most especially about wishing we could have hot, wild, and out of control sex.

Which wasn’t even an option for so many reasons it was sad.

Even if he offered it to me, I couldn’t do it because I was a freak who couldn’t stand being touched.

God, why was I so screwed up?

I needed to get my head on straight before things became awkward.