FIRECRACKER EXCERPT

Ava felt warm breath caressing her ear, the lips lingering a moment before speaking.

“There you are.”

His voice was deep and dark and unhurried. As though he had all the time in the world and only wanted to spend it with her. She held back for a fraction of a second, heat radiating through her lower belly. And turned.

Her eyes found his chest first. A pristine white shirt, open at the throat, revealing golden skin. A navy jacket cut perfectly to his broad shoulders. Her gaze had to travel upward to find his face, the journey taking longer than it should. His scent was intoxicating, something beyond the usual male musk, something disconcertingly primal. The up close Drew Manning was even more impressive than Drew Manning across the room. A flicker in her mind reminded her that she was in the presence of a bona fide Hollywood star. She wouldn’t allow herself to be awed. Ava composed her features into the epitome of cool distance.

“Where else should I be?”

A half-smile curved Drew Manning’s lips. His eyes were the blackest jet, the pupils hidden in the irises, unreadable pools of ink. He moved closer, bending down to press his mouth to her ear. Ava held her ground. Their bodies were inches apart. When he spoke, his breath was laced with whiskey.

“Oh, you’re right where I want you to be.”

Ok then. Let’s play.

She rippled her hair away from her face and met him with a cool, steady stare.

“And you are…?”

The words hung between them like a stop sign. Drew’s smile melted like snow on a sunny afternoon. For just a second the suave movie star mask dropped away and his face collapsed into the bewildered hurt of a neglected child. A flash of intuition shot through Ava.

He cares what I think about him.

Surprised, she scrutinized the face of the man standing before her. A man who seemed in the moment to be nothing more than a sad little boy. Then, his features rearranged. A smile was summoned to his mouth, although his eyes neglected to follow. Ava had the sudden sensation that she’d crossed an invisible line she didn’t know was there. A line which Drew was fully aware of and testing her against. She took a step back. The edges of her psyche expanded and contracted simultaneously; a warning signal. His eyes were deep and blank and unfathomable. Ava shifted from one foot to another, her arms crossing her chest in an unconscious gesture of protection.

Are we still playing?

Then the spell broke. The movie star returned. Performing the slightest of bows, he spoke.

“My name is Drew Manning.”

He paused. Locked eyes. Ava willed her heart to beat slower.

“But you knew that.”

She gave the tiniest incline of the head, indicating, yes, and took the proffered hand. A fleeting image thrust itself into her mind’s eye. A wolf with teeth bared and a wound in its side. Predator and prey both. She fixed the mind-wolf in her consciousness, trying to decipher its message. Ice traveled from her wrist to her shoulder. Drew’s eyes gleamed. The warning sign flared once more.

No, we’re not playing.