In Bed with Beauty Read Online Free PDF Page B

thing between us.”
    Sarah wasn’t like other women he knew, but suddenly she didn’t seem so different. This was a relationship conversation. And he didn’t know what he was looking for from her but it wasn’t a relationship. He’d learned the hard way that Davidson men didn’t do the long-term man-woman thing very well. “I’m leaving Thanksgiving weekend. I can’t stay longer even if I wanted to.”
    “We’re talking vacation fling, right?” she asked. She drew triangles on his thigh with her fingernail. Her nails were painted a deep red color. The same shade as American Beauty Roses. He knew roses because his father’s obsession had been his rose garden.
    Roses had the softest leaves. The only thing softer had been Sarah’s skin when he touched her. He wanted to touch her again. To stop this conversation in a physical way. His mouth on hers. The two of them locked together, close as only a man and a woman could be while the lights of the city flashed by beyond the windows.
    “I’m not on vacation,” he said, vaguely.
    “Don’t be obtuse.” She moved her hand from his leg.
    Control, Harris. He reminded himself. The problem here was simple. Sarah needed to know where he stood. And then she could decide if she wanted to spend time with him. A few weeks could be a hell of a memory, he thought. “It’s hard not to be. Why are we having this conversation?”
    She said nothing.
    “Are you trying to justify coming to my hotel with me tonight? Because I can think of a better way to convince you than words.”
    Again silence.
    “We’re two adults contemplating an affair,” he said.
    “I’m not trying to justify it.”
    “Then what?” he asked, realizing he was willing to play her game to have one night with her.

    Sarah had spent a long time alone. She dated when she had the time but it took a lot for a guy to make her want to leave the safety of her routine. Harris made her want to do that and it scared her because she knew a few weeks would be all they would share.
    She was honest enough with herself to admit she sometimes used her family responsibilities as a barrier between her and the men who asked her out. At other times she used her obligations as a test. So far no man had ever measured up to her expectations. Honestly, she’d been okay with her situation until Harris had shattered the illusions of what she thought she’d wanted and made her realize that she’d forgotten her dream.
    This conversation, his pointed questions, told a story. Was she trying to come up with a reason to go back to his hotel with him?
    Sometimes she wondered if she wasn’t looking for a man who didn’t exist. That mythical Mr. Right, who’d be a lover, a partner and a friend. It seemed easy in books and movies and funny on television but the cold reality was—she was too much an optimist to say it—she knew the truth. There might not be a Mr. Right.
    “I…I’m not too sure I know what I want from you, Harris.” That much was true. She’d never felt so chaotic. This was crazy, he was a man. That was all. And despite her recent Magic 8-ball affirmation, she knew that it took more than cosmic luck for a man and woman to fall in love.
    “Why make it difficult?” he asked.
    He leaned toward her. Damn, he smelled so good. Clean, spicy—masculine. She shifted a little on the seat, trying to get closer to him without seeming to.
    “Honestly, that’s not what I’m doing. I expect more than an affair from the men I’ve involved in my life.” Sarah had learned the hard way that unless you asked for what you wanted in life, you were often disappointed. Too bad she’d always been afraid to ask for what she really wanted.
    He brushed his forefinger down the side her face stopping at the base of her neck. She wanted his mouth in just the same spot. Her skin tightened and her pulse quickened.
    “An affair is all I have to give.”
    She shifted in her seat, pressing her legs together. She wished he’d stop