April North Read Online Free PDF Page A

would certainly have remembered him. He looked vastly different from the sort of people she was used to.
    His hair was long and jet black. He had combed it lazily back over his head. His skin was deeply tanned, his features sharp and distinctive. His black mustache was neatly trimmed—it gave him a rakish look.
    But his eyes were the main feature, as far as she was concerned. No eyes had ever looked at her with that combination of tacit approval and total self-assurance. It would not be quite accurate to say that his eyes undressed her. It was more that they probed beneath her skin.
    “I see you’re going my way,” he said lazily. “Hop in, girl.”

3
    FOR a long moment she could only stand, stunned. She watched as he leaned easily across the front seat to open the door for her. The door swung free and she looked at the open door, at the empty bucket seat, and at the man who was still eyeing her appreciatively.
    “Get in,” he said. “I won’t bite. Not unless you want me to, at any rate.”
    “I was going to Xenia,” she said finally.
    “I’ll drive you there.”
    “I was waiting for the bus.”
    “The bus costs forty cents,” he said agreeably. “I don’t have a meter in this thing yet, so I’ll drive you free of charge. Besides, I drive much faster than buses.”
    “But—”
    “Hop in, girl.”
    “Where do I put my suitcase?”
    “On your pretty dimpled knees,” he said. Come on.”
    She seemed to have no will of her own. Automatically she climbed into the car, sat in the comfortable bucket seat, propped her suitcase up on her lap and closed the door. The man behind the wheel slammed the sports car into gear, let out the clutch and put the accelerator on the floor. The car leaped forward and she felt herself thrown forcibly against the back of her seat. The car picked up speed and the wind played with her hair, tossing it around recklessly.
    She wondered who he was, where he lived, how old he might be. He was obviously several years older than the crowd she went around with, probably in his early or middle twenties, yet there was a distinctly youthful air about him. Well, she thought, it really didn’t matter. He was giving her a ride to Xenia and that was all. She would probably never see him again.
    “You’re going to Xenia,” he said. “Right?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Why? What’s in Xenia?”
    “A railroad station.”
    “Going on a trip?”
    “To New York.”
    He nodded slowly. “When will you be back?”
    She didn’t even think of lying to him. “I won’t be back,” she said. “I’m going to stay in New York.”
    “Why?”
    Was he going to ask her questions forever? “Because I don’t like Antrim.”
    “God above. Does anybody like Antrim?”
    “Some people may.”
    “So you’re running away from home. That’s what it amounts to, isn’t it?”
    “I suppose so.”
    “God above,” he said again. He turned to look at her and she avoided the intensity of his gaze. “What’s your name, girl?”
    “April.”
    “Is that all?”
    “April North.”
    “April North,” he repeated. “A good name. I like it.”
    “Thanks. I’ll keep it.”
    He laughed, loud clear laughter that rang above the throbbing of the car’s engine. When he turned to look at her again she felt his eyes rubbing over her breasts like friendly hands. Her breathing speeded up and her hands trembled in her lap. She had never felt like this before. Just by looking at her he could set her nerves on edge.
    And she did not even know his name.
    Abruptly he swung the wheel, pulling the sports car off onto an asphalt road. He pressed harder on the accelerator and the car took up the challenge, racing along the black pavement like an angry demon. She saw the speedometer needle hover for an instant at eighty, move onward past ninety, close to one hundred. She had never gone so fast before. The thought occurred to her that she ought to be frightened, but somehow she was not scared at all. She felt