Along for the Ride Read Online Free PDF Page A

slightly as though to usher her inside the car, but when she came near he put a hand to her waist and then the rest just sort of happened; whether she’d melted against him or he’d gathered her into his arms she would never know.
    He kissed her, his lips warm and full against her chilled skin, and held her tighter. Lauren had a sudden crazy memory of a scene in a movie, an old movie where lovers are reunited at a train station after a heartbreaking separation.
    It was her own embarrassment that made Lauren pull away and slip out of Rafi’s arms, into the luxurious warmth of the car. She had no right to the comfort of that embrace; they were not lovers but two people who’d taken nearly indecent pleasure from a brief union the week before.
    And, God forgive her, she couldn’t wait to do it again.
    “You have a destination in mind?” Rafi repeated his query as he slid in beside her. “No, wait. Let me choose.”
    “Yes,” said Lauren. Of course he would choose. It was his eyes she saw through when they drove now, the city taking on color and depth she’d never noticed. No longer did she think of Rafi as too young—it was impossible, given his effortless desire to lead, to treat her like a cherished woman. What boy could accomplish that? None that she had ever known.
    “I have the perfect place, you see, for a day such as today.”
    Rafi casually rested one hand on Lauren’s knee; even through the thick wool of her coat, she felt his strength, his heat.
    “What sort of day will today be?” asked Lauren breathlessly, emboldened.
    “The first day of spring, of course. Even Chicago must pay attention now; winter has come to an end. We should have a brilliant sunrise,” he added, just as the sky split into a wide pink swath over the skyline. “I am going to take you to the proper place for spring. A garden.”
    Before long Lauren guessed where they were going. As the sleek car sped north through the sleeping suburbs, she realized that they were heading to the Botanic Gardens. She marveled at his insight. No one went there until the growing season was well underway, which meant June; the stubby broken stalks of winter did not inspire a following. People stayed inside.
    “There is something to see every day,” Rafi said, as though reading her thoughts. His fingers moved lightly on the cloth of her coat, but she felt his touch as though it was on bare skin. Already she throbbed with desire for him; Lauren longed to guide his hand within the folds of her clothes, let him trace paths in the depths of her pleasure as he drove. The image gave her such a rush of sensation that she had to shift and straighten in the seat.
    Rafi took no notice, but continued tracing circles on her knee.
    “I think there will be something extraordinary to see today, no?”
    “It won’t be open,” Lauren protested. “How will we get in?”
    Rafi smiled broadly, glancing her way and winking.
    “For a man in my profession, that is rarely an obstacle,” he said. “You get to know alternate routes. For every problem, there is a solution, if you look carefully.”
    And sure enough, he turned off before the main gated entrance, following a labyrinthine path through the outbuildings of the park, coming to a stop in a tiny lot backing up to the Visitor’s Center.
    “We have time,” Rafi said, “before the staff will wish to claim their parking spaces.”
    Time for what, Lauren wondered, but any thoughts of repeating last week’s front-seat tryst were cut short as Rafi came around and offered his arm to help her from the car.
    Perhaps it was her imagination, but it did seem warmer now, though only half an hour had passed since she emerged from her apartment into the chilly air. Lauren unbuttoned her coat, letting the breeze in and hoping it might cool some of her wanton longing.
    She linked her arm through his offered elbow, and they set out on the curving walks, quickly losing themselves in the tall clumps and stands of the winter