Up in Flames (Crash and Burn, Book Two) (A Military Romance) by Eva Grayson

so fast I almost miss it. I see the curves of her cheeks turn pink, and she pastes on a big, tremulous smile. But the pulse at the base of her throat throbs in an erratic beat.
    Nervousness? Or desire? Or maybe both? I can’t tell. I should stop looking, because it’s clear she wants space. Her first text to me when I asked her to come with me today made it clear she was initially torn. But something made her say yes, with enthusiasm. I don’t know why, but I hope she holds on to that excitement.
    Because I’ve been aching for her for days. Dad’s house is so fucking quiet, and I’ve been spending extra time at the bar just so I’m not sitting there alone. Crawling around in my own skull, thinking about things I don’t want to.
    Our ride turns and wends along the path. As we dart back and forth, Lauren slides closer and closer to me until our thighs are pressed together. The couple behind us is murmuring to each other, and our tour guides are talking among themselves too.
    “How was your week?” I ask Lauren to help get her mind off her fear.
    “Not bad. I think we’re picking up a new client—small, but they have a lot of connections that could lead to future projects for us.” Enthusiasm bleeds into her voice; the distraction is working. “Dane put me on lead to pursue them, and I’ve been coming in early to get initial specs drafted.”
    “That’s great.” I grin at her and fight the urge to stroke her knee. I keep my hand warm and friendly. But her skin is so damn soft, so tempting. Ugh.
    “Are you going to keep working at the bar?” she asks me. “Or are you going to find something else to do? Like more construction work?”
    “I’ll probably work at the bar for a while.” We bank right and she leans into me, and I close my eyes for a moment and let myself smell the fruity scent of her perfume. “After that, I’m going to go to school.”
    “Really?” Lauren perks up. “What do you want to study?”
    My cheeks burn. I wasn’t expecting to discuss this with her right now. But she’s not freaking out about our pending adventure, so I push myself out of my comfort zone too. “Kinda interested in automobile engineering. Got to tinker around with the trucks when I was deployed and really enjoyed it.”
    “You are very handy,” she says. “You’d do great at it.” The sheer warmth and support in her voice makes me want to hug her and kiss her and fuck her all at the same time. God, this woman brings out everything in me, and sometimes it’s scarier than I even acknowledge to myself.
    She holds the power to hurt me more than anyone else in this world. Not even sure she knows she does. Which just makes her hold over me even stronger. Lauren has no idea how amazing she is, how much deeper I fall in love with her every fucking day.
    Her hand slides over to rest on top of mine, and she squeezes. A blissful warmth spreads from my fingers up my arm, right to my chest.
    The minivan pulls into a spot and stops. There’s a stretch of rope line for us to practice on to get used to the movements. We take turns, with Veronica attaching our harness to the rope and Dexter at the other end to show us how to move forward and backward. I’ve done it before, so it’s no biggie.
    Lauren’s hands only shake a little. It takes some coaxing to get her to step off the stump and glide, but once she does, she grins, moves back and forth along the zipline with her hands.
    After the guides deem us ready to go, we hike to our first spot. Martin keeps his hand on Sharon’s back.
    Lauren leans toward me. “They’re cute, aren’t they?”
    I nod. “Fun way to spend your honeymoon.”
    “I can think of more fun ways,” she says in a droll tone, and I bark a laugh.
    “Bad girl.” I reach down and squeeze her hand on impulse.
    She grins and presses a kiss to my cheek. It’s fast and far too fleeting, but I savor the feeling. “I’m so nervous I might throw up,” she confesses to me quietly.
    I tug her close