Be My Valentine Read Online Free PDF Page B

by three years of loneliness. For reasons she couldn’t really explain, this tow-truck driver made her feel vulnerable.
    â€œI’m willing to try again if you want,” he said. “Only…”
    â€œYes?” Her car was parked in the rear lot where the lighting wasn’t nearly as good. Steve’s face was hidden in the shadows, and she couldn’t tell if he was being sincere or not.
    â€œThe problem,” he replied slowly, “comes from the fact that we haven’t kissed. I don’t mean to be forward, you understand. You want me to wear a certain look, but it’s a little difficult to manufacture without having had any, er, physical closeness.”
    â€œI see.” Dianne’s heart was pounding hard enough to damage her rib cage.
    â€œAre you willing to let me kiss you?”
    It was a last resort and she didn’t have much choice. But she didn’t have anything to lose, either. “If you insist.”
    With a deep breath, she tilted her head to the right, shut her eyes and puckered up. After waiting what seemed an inordinate amount of time, she opened her eyes. “Is something wrong?”
    â€œI can’t do it.”
    Embarrassed in the extreme, Dianne set her hands on her hips. “What do you mean?”
    â€œYou look like you’re about to be sacrificed to appease the gods.”
    â€œI beg your pardon!” Dianne couldn’t believe she was hearing him correctly. Talk about humiliation—she was only doing what he’d suggested.
    â€œI can’t kiss a woman who acts like she’s about to undergo the most revolting experience of her life.”
    â€œYou’re saying I’m…oh…oh!” Too furious to speak, Dianne gripped Steve by the elbow and jerked him over to where his tow truck was parked, a couple of spaces down from her own car. Hopping onto the running board, she glared down at him. Her higher vantage point made her feel less vulnerable. Her eyes flashed with anger; his were filled with mild curiosity.
    â€œDianne, what are you doing now?”
    â€œI’ll have you know I was quite a kisser in my time.”
    â€œI don’t doubt it.”
    â€œYou just did. Now listen and listen well, because I’m only going to say this once.” Waving her index finger under his nose, she paused and lowered her hand abruptly. He was right, she hadn’t been all that thrilled to fall into this little experiment. A kiss was an innocent-enough exchange, she supposed, but kissing Steve put her on the defensive. And that troubled her.
    â€œSay it.”
    Self-conscious now, she shifted her gaze and stepped off the running board, feeling ridiculous.
    â€œWhat was so important that you were waving your finger under my nose?” Steve pressed.
    Since she’d made such a fuss, she didn’t have any alternative but to finish what she’d begun. “When I was in high school…the boys used to like to kiss me.”
    â€œThey still would,” Steve said softly, “if you’d give them a little encouragement.”
    She looked up at him and had to blink back unexpected tears. A woman doesn’t have her husband walk out on her and not find herself awash in pain and self-doubt. Once she’d been confident; now she was dubious and insecure.
    â€œHere,” Steve said, holding her by the shoulders. “Let’s try this.” Then he gently, sweetly slanted his mouth over hers. Dianne was about to protest when their lips met and the option to refuse was taken from her.
    Mindlessly she responded. Her arms slid around his middle and her hands splayed across the hard muscles of his back. And suddenly, emotions that had been simmering just below the surface rose like a tempest within her, and her heart went on a rampage.
    Steve buried his hands in her hair, his fingers twisting and tangling in its thickness, bunching it at the back of her head. His mouth was soft, yet