Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82698 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82698 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
She wanted to beg him to take her again, right now.
But that way lay madness. She couldn’t entangle herself with him. Not only because of who he was, but also because of her own complicated life. Pulling away, she climbed off the bed, reaching for her clothes where they lay with his in a mismatched pile on the carpet.
“It really was only for one night,” she said over her shoulder.
She pulled on her panties and leggings. Her nakedness didn’t embarrass her. But clothes were a fortification, and she pulled her flowered dress over her head before she looked at him.
He lay naked on the bed, covers pushed aside. They’d steamed up the room to the point where blankets and sheets were unnecessary. Lying there, he was like a statue by Michelangelo, the lines of his body perfect, his face sculpted like that of a Greek god.
“You don’t really mean that,” he said, his voice taking on a cajoling note.
She stuffed her arms into her tunic and tugged it down her thighs. She admitted the truth as she met his beguiling gaze. “I’m not saying it wasn’t great. I enjoyed every minute. Like I said, it’s been a long time. You certainly lived up to all my expectations.” She sat on the desk chair to put on her socks and boots.
“Can you really say no to at least one more time?”
“I can.”
He looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. Maybe she had. But he was Clay Harrington. She absolutely could not get involved with him. It didn’t matter how he’d roped her in with all his talk down in the bar. She couldn’t let herself be tricked and couldn’t let him add another complication to her life.
She stood as he rolled to the edge of the bed.
Oh, how beautiful he was. How badly she wanted to touch him, taste him, take him. For five years, she’d had a rule not to get involved, especially not with an artist and, even more, not with an art dealer. Everything about him violated her rules.
He strode toward her with the sinewy grace of a jungle animal. “Don’t leave yet. Let’s talk.”
If he touched her, she’d pick up the phone and have the concierge send out for another twelve condoms.
Instead, she backed to the door, put her hand on the knob, twisted it, and realized they hadn’t even locked it. Then she gave him her parting shot. “One time only.” She opened the door, hoping there was no one in the hall to see that he was completely naked, and slipped out.
Before she closed the door behind her forever, she said softly, “Believe me, that was the best one time I’ve ever had.”
Clay struggled into his clothing, almost tripping as he tried to get one foot into his pants. He felt like an idiot. Why hadn’t he dressed the moment she had?
There had never been a woman on earth who hadn’t said, “When can we see each other again?” It was programmed into their DNA.
Especially after a night like that. Clay had always been the one to put an end to things. He didn’t treat women badly; in fact, he gave them exactly what they wanted. He could gauge when a woman wanted something more permanent, and he steered clear, stuck to casual. He didn’t want to break hearts, but he’d never allowed a serious relationship to take his eyes off the goal. Relationships—and worse, love—were uncontrollable.
But no woman had ever said, Loved it, but it was one time only.
He’d thought their lovemaking would speak for itself. But now, he sat staring at the door, completely dumbfounded. In less than twenty-four hours, she’d become the woman of his dreams. And now she was gone? Just like that?
He sat there in just his slacks, his zipper still undone, his mind reeling. What the hell just happened?
He’d felt something for her when they had sex. He was positive she’d felt something too. Even if she wouldn’t admit it.
He needed to find her again.
But if he did, what would happen to his goals? He didn’t want to be like his parents, so besotted with each other that there was no room for anyone else in their lives, not even their children. They hadn’t planned for the future, leaving behind crushing debt when they died. It had fallen to Dane and Ava to bail out the family. The two of them had given up their university educations to go to work—Dane at a resort and Ava as an aide in a nursing home. Of course, Dane had turned that job into a resort empire, and Ava had loved working with older people so much that it became a calling, providing eldercare with more than a hundred facilities in the US and internationally. And now they’d both found love.