A Dream to Cling To Read Online Free PDF

reason!
    She didn’t realize he’d covered her hand with his own until she tried to wave it through the air as she spoke. It didn’t move.
    “Sam, I—”
    She finally managed to untangle her hand, but it was too late. His long body had gradually shifted until it was as close to hers as the heat of the fire, his breath a soft, tantalizing breeze on her cheek.
    Then slowly, gently, he kissed her, covering her lips with a sweet pressure that stopped her breath and drained the strength from her limbs in an instant.
    She moaned silently, but was unable to move an inch as his arm curled around her back and gathered her close, his fingers separating and closing on the material of her robe just beside her breasts. Her mind was fading away, her heart doing aerobics, and her lips parted slowly as she tasted the wonder of his kiss.
    She might have stayed there forever, wrapped in that delicious warmth, except she couldn’t breathe at all and Dunkin was nuzzling his wet nose into her lap curiously.
    “Oh …” She pulled back and slowly opened her eyes. She focused on Dunkin and patted his head, then looked up at Sam. In a quick, purposeful movement, she scooted as far to the end of the couch as possible and cleared her throat. “Well, I suppose that’s one way of insuring cooperation, Mr. Lawrence. But let’s not be silly about this.”
    His eyes never left hers and a slow smile lit his face as he shook his head. “That, dear Brittany, was not silly, it was wonderful. And it wasn’t an insurance policy of any kind.”
    “What was it then?”
    “It was a very sensuous, lovely kiss between two people who were
both
enjoying it like hell!”
    Brittany sat stiffly. It wasn’t a lovely kiss at all. A “lovely kiss” wouldn’t leave her feeling so unglued—and filled with the desire to dig her hands into his hair and continue what he’d begun for an indeterminate amount of time. The “sensual” she’d grant him.
    He continued. “You’re a very attractive woman, you know. And I guess with the fire and the brandy and all, it seemed like a good idea.…”
    “Well, I don’t think so, not at all.” She stood up and tried to stomp to the fireplace, but her huge, furry slippers turned the stomp into a muted floppy sound. Sam smiled at her movements, suddenly touched by a vulnerability that Brittany was trying too damned hard to hide. She’d been so lovely to touch, so soft and warm in his arms.…
    He pushed himself off the couch and walked over to her, reaching out to touch her shoulder gently. “Brittany, I’m sorry. Not sorry I kissed you, that’d be a bold-faced lie. It was a wonderful kiss, in fact. But I didn’t mean to offend you.”
    Brittany slipped from beneath his touch and circled around the back of the couch with Dunkin in intrigued pursuit. Sam Lawrence was slipping into her life, she thought. She could feel it as surely as she could feel the beat of her heart. He was bewitching her, beguiling her, and heaven only knew what else. But he didn’t
fit
in her life. She knew it as surely as she knew she wanted to kiss him again.
    “We need some rules, Sam.”
    “For playing ring-around-the-couch? That shouldn’t be too diffi—”
    “For getting this ‘game’ finished. There are some very basic things you need to know.”
    He lifted his brows, grinned, and settled back down on the couch.
    Brittany plunged in, her eyes focusing on a point just beyond his right ear. “First off, no more come-ons like that. I don’t intend to get involved with you … that way …” She snuck a look at him. He was smiling. “I mean it, Sam.” At least part of her. meant it, she thought. And the other part wasn’t making sense.…
    Sam nodded solemnly. Any game player worth his salt knew rules were meant to be broken. “Next rule.”
    “I really
do
have a job. And I
won’t
let it slide by the wayside for this game. I simply won’t.” Her eyes sparked with determination now.
    He caught the sparks and reveled