Fools Rush In Read Online Free PDF Page A

while all along her side her body was molded to his. The slight jostling motion of the car increased the intimate contact and sent a prickly sensation rippling over her skin, leaving goose bumps in its wake. The scrub-covered landscape flashed by largely unnoticed as Erin wondered, a bit desperately, how on earth she had gotten herself into such a fix and, even more important, how she was going to get herself out of it.
    She didn't dare tell him the truth—not until she was positive he wasn't involved in whatever was going on.
    Erin eyed Max out of the corner of her eye. He didn't seem dangerous—not in a criminal way. And it appeared he knew nothing about last night. Of course, he'd been out of town. It was possible that the others simply hadn't had time to fill him in.
    Or perhaps they had, Erin thought, her eyes narrowing. Maybe he was just playing a cat-and-mouse game, waiting to see what Elise knew and whether she'd confide in him.
    Elise. Her jaw tightened, and Erin shifted her gaze to the arid mountains in the distance. Her search for her sister was getting nowhere fast. Darn it, she had to find her! But how? Max Delany and Global Imports were her only leads.
    The car hit a bump, jarring Erin even harder against Max, and her arm slipped off his leg and into the V of his crotch.
    She snatched it back as though she had been burned and clasped her hands together in her lap.
    Grinning wickedly, Max pried her fingers apart and returned her hand to his thigh, covering it with his own.
    When Max turned into a curving driveway and brought the car to a halt, Erin was torn between profound relief that the ride had ended at last and dread over what was yet to come.
    Though the drive had seemed interminable, it had actually taken only a few minutes. Max's home was just a few miles up the mountain from Global Imports. Like the warehouse, it sat alone on a level plateau with a commanding view of Santa Fe and the surrounding mountains. It was a sprawling, multileveled adobe structure, with many of the rear rooms climbing up the mountain face in step fashion. A few trees shaded the front corners of the house, and another sprouted in the center from what Erin assumed to be a courtyard or open atrium. Most of the landscaping, however, was a carefully tended rock garden containing hardy native plants.
    Assuming that Elise had been there before, Erin tried not to appear too curious. Max slipped his arm around her waist, and she accepted his touch with a polite smile as he led her up three shallow stairs toward the massive oak door.
    Inside, the tiled entrance hall was cool and dim. Erin would have liked to look around, but the moment the door closed behind them Max hauled her into his arms.
    The move so startled Erin that she resisted instinctively. She opened her mouth to protest, forgetting for an instant that Elise would probably melt in his arms, and felt his lips cover hers.
    She froze, eyes opened wide, hands splayed against Max's chest. Her heart thumped, and her mind went utterly blank. She couldn't have moved if the house had caught fire.
    Then her shock began to fade, and she realized that never in her life had she been kissed quite so masterfully... or so thoroughly.
    Max's lips were firm and warm, tender and demanding. They rocked against hers with a slow, savoring hunger that was wildly exciting. His tongue delved and stroked, laying claim with bold sureness; his hands roamed up and down her back, cupped the rounded fullness of her bottom and kneaded with embarrassing familiarity.
    "Mmm, you taste delicious," Max murmured against her cheek. He returned to her mouth, nipping, his tongue gliding over her parted lips. "So sweet." His bold hands pulled her closer, rotating her hips against his. "And you feel so damned good," he whispered in her ear.
    So do you, she thought in a flash of panic. That was the problem. Max's kisses, the feel of his hard body against hers, made her dizzy with need. And his scent was so wonderfully