âBetter if they think we donât like each other, Shay, than believe we want toâ¦be together.â
Shay poked Calebâs chest, her body barely a hairsbreadth from his.
âYou know what else isnât working, Caleb? You pretending that dumb ten-year-old kiss didnât happen, and then looking at me like you want to kiss me again.â
He reached down, took her hand in his, every nerve ending in his body aware of her. âIâm not trying to upset you, Shay.â
âToo late,â she declared. âSometimes I just thinkâ¦maybeâ¦weâre like the apple to Adam and Eve. It was just an apple, but the forbidden nature of it made it tantalizing. Maybe if we kiss again, weâll find that weâd blown that first kiss into something bigger and better than it really was. Then weâll be able to move on.â
She thought that kissâthe one that had kept him fantasizing for yearsâwasnât as good as they remembered? He must be insane because the idea wasnât half-bad. He wanted the kiss to be nothing. He wanted the torment of wanting the forbidden to be gone. Then again, a part of him didnât want it gone at all.
It simply wanted herâ¦.
Dear Reader,
Welcome back to the Texas Hotzone, where three ex-members of the Crazy Aces Special Forces team have opened a skydiving operation right outside of my hometown of Austin, Texas.
Breathless Descent is the final installment in the Texas Hotzone trilogy, and my hope is that the ending does indeed leave you feeling breathless and romantic. This is a story of forbidden love, much like Romeo and Juliet, but thankfully, with a happy ending. There is just something so enticing and seductive about the forbidden, and about a love so strong that nothing can hold it back.
Iâve so enjoyed writing Bobbyâs, Ryanâs and Calebâs stories. I hope you will remember the Hotzone with as much pleasure as I do.
Best wishes,
Lisa Renee Jones
Special thanks to Casey, Rob, and Ethan Maxwell
for helping with my military research. Janice, once again, for proofing and proofing and proofing again while living the deadlines with me. And Diegoâfor driving the U-Haul from NY to Colorado so I could write this trilogy.
CALEB MARTIN LEANED against the Fresco Club bar, watching as Shay White celebrated being old enough as of today to dance the night away at the over-eighteen hot spot. Trying his best not to notice the way her red, silky dress accented her tiny waist and each sultry move of her slender but curvy hips. Oh, yeah, he thought, watching her dance with some guy from her school, it hugged those hips and her heart-shaped backside in a far too seductive way. And when said âboyâ slid his hand to her waist and sidled up close to her, Caleb tightened his hand on the beer he held until he thought he heard glass crack.
âShould I go take care of that, or do you want to?â asked Kent White, Shayâs big brother and Calebâs best friend since grade school. The fast pop tune changed to a slow, sultry tune, and the boyâs hand slipped to Shayâs backside.
Kent set his beer down so hard it splattered. âOh, hell, no.â He charged toward the dance floor, and silently, Caleb cheered him onward, watching as Shay flipped her long blond hair over her shoulder and shoved her hands onto her hips to square off with Kent.
Caleb had wanted that hand off Shayâs butt and now it was, thankfullyâand if he was honest with himself, it wasnât brotherly protectiveness fueling that desire when it should have been. After all, the Whites had taken Caleb in six years before, and treated him like family after heâd lost both his parents in close progression at the ripe young age of fifteen. He felt like family, too. Heck, in a family filled with fair hair and eyes, he even looked like family with his sandy brown hair and light green eyes.
But for the past two years, since about the time Shay had turned sixteen, sheâd been flirting with him. Even back then, heâd been smart enough to know nineteen was too old for a sixteen year old, regardless of the fact that she was like a sister to him. And so, Caleb had quickly, and frequently, discouraged her advances.
Tonight though, her teasing looks and purposeful smiles, when combined with that dressâthat sexy-as-hell dressâhad the man in him standing at attention. Had him wondering what she would taste like, what she would feel like in his arms.
As if she sensed what Caleb was thinking, her gaze whipped to him, and he felt that gaze like a punch right in the groin. Oh, yeah, he would have been a fool to believe he was going to resist Shay when she joined him at the University of Texas next month, and one thing Caleb Martin was notâwas a fool. Thus why heâd made a long-debated decision official. He was leaving in a week. And not to head back to campus. She just didnât know it yet. She was the only one who didnât know. Heâd sworn the family to secrecy until after sheâd celebrated her birthday. Heâd just found out his enlistment orders and he didnât want anything to ruin her party, or the bond he had with her or the family. And the temptation that was Shay White was a one-way ticket in that direction and he knew it. He had to say goodbye.