Only Forever Read Online Free PDF Page B

approached the big-screen television in one corner of the room and pushed the On button.
    Immediately the Midas Network leaped out at her in living color, life-size. She turned the set off again and began to pace, tempted to sneak out before this nonrelationship with Nick De-Angelo grew into something she couldn’t handle.
    She was just reaching for the doorknob when his voice stopped her.
    “Don’t go,” he said quietly. “I’m not going to hurt you in any way, Vanessa. I swear it.”
    She couldn’t move, couldn’t drop her hand to her side or turn the knob and make her escape.
    “Something really important is happening here,” he went on. “Can’t you feel it?”
    Vanessa let her forehead rest against the cool panel of the door. “Yes,” she confessed in a strangled voice, “and that’s what scares me.”
    He stepped closer to her and laid his hands very gently on her shoulders. She was filled with the scent of his clean hair, his freshly washed skin. “I won’t let anything happen that you’re not ready for,” he promised, and when he turned her around to face him, Vanessa was powerless to resist.
    She looked up at him with eyes full of trust and fear, and he let his hands drop to her waist. He was careful not to hold her too close, and yet she was achingly aware of his total, unreserved masculinity.
    “I’m going to kiss you,” he said matter-of-factly. “That is, if you’re ready.”
    She slid her arms around his neck and stood on tiptoe, exhilarated and, at the same time, terrified. “I’m ready,” she answered, her mouth only a whisper away from his.

3
    “W ant a shower now?”
    Vanessa, her energy drained by the kiss, had sagged back against the door when it was over. Her eyes opened wide, however, when Nick’s words registered. “I beg your pardon?”
    He turned and walked off toward the open kitchen, looking too good for comfort in his jeans and cut-off shirt. His stomach muscles made hard ripples when he lifted his arm to open a cupboard door, and Vanessa felt vaguely dizzy.
    At that moment there was only one thing in the world she wanted more than a shower. She followed him, careful to keep the breakfast bar between them. “I don’t have any clean clothes to put on,” she ventured to say.
    Nick shrugged. “Some of Gina’s things are still here. You’re about her size, I think.”
    The name made Vanessa round the breakfast bar. “Gina?” she asked, looking up at him.
    He kissed her forehead. “My sister,” he assured her.
    The relief Vanessa felt was embarrassing in its scope. “I’ve never had to shower on a date before,” she confessed.
    Nick chuckled at that. “Never?”
    Vanessa looked up into his dancing eyes and felt a painful tug somewhere in the region of her heart. She wanted to appear glamorous and sophisticated, but the truth was far different. She’d never been with any man besides Parker, and, when and if she went to bed with Nick, it was going to be almost like reliving the first time. At last she shook her head and answered, “Never.”
    He started to put his arms around her and then stopped. “Do you like Chinese food?” he asked.
    Vanessa nodded.
    “Good. You’ll find the clothes and the shower down the hall—first room on the right. I’ll go get our lunch while you’re changing—okay?”
    “Okay,” Vanessa answered, not knowing quite what to make of this man. She knew Nick was attracted to her, and yet when he had an advantage, he didn’t press it.
    The room Nick had directed her to was large, though it obviously wasn’t the place where he slept. There was a private bathroom, however,and Vanessa locked herself in before stripping off the clothes she’d worn to run in the park.
    When she finished showering, she found the promised clothes in closets and bureaus and finally helped herself to a jumpsuit of navy corduroy. She buttoned it to her eyeballs and was just entering the living room when Nick returned with cartons of fragrant