Rock Me All Night Read Online Free PDF Page A

lifestyle, he was probably more like the toads Lauren had kissed. But he didn’t want to let this thing go so easily.
    The diner was quiet in this early-morning hour. A few people trickled in and he noted their factory uniforms. They probably worked the early shift. Two guys waved at Lauren and she smiled back at them.
    â€œLongtime listeners. They set me up with their crew chief, Joe Brigg. We’re getting him to participate in the Mile of Men.”
    He felt a surge of jealousy that he knew was irrational. “Are you still seeing this Joe?”
    â€œNah, he wanted a traditional sort of wife. And despite the fact that I’m low-key, I’m not stay-at-home material. I love my show and my listeners. Giving that up would be hard.”
    Jack didn’t know what to say to that. His life was all about change. He didn’t know from one day to the next what might strike his fancy. He ran a record label, true, but he had enough leeway in that job to take off at a moment’s notice.
    â€œBoy, do I know how to end a conversation or what?” she asked lightly, but there was more than a little unease in her posture.
    He reached for her hand where it lay on the table. He held it loosely in his own grip. Her fingers were cold, and he stroked his thumb over her knuckles, trying to warm her a little. He wanted to pull her out of the bench seat and around to his side of the table.
    Wanted to tuck her up against his chest and promise her that the days of kissing toads were gone. But he wasn’t the right kind of guy to make that kind of promise. The one time he’d tried to make something last longer than six months had backfired on him and the woman he’d made promises to.
    â€œI asked for the truth,” he said at last. He prized himself on honesty in all relationships. In fact, he’d ruined two friendships because of his fanatic devotion to the facts.
    Lauren was watching him carefully, seeming to measure the man he was. Jack had never been soconscious of the fact that he might not measure up to whatever standards she had that said “man.”
    She gave him a sad-looking smile. “You did. Should I have lied?”
    It would have been easier on him. He could have blithely continued with his seduction plan. A nice, easy affair that would have been mutually satisfying. At the end of it they could’ve gone their own ways with no hard feelings. Just pleasant memories. “No. I don’t want there to be lies between us.”
    â€œStill want to get naked with me?” she asked in that husky alto voice of hers.
    God, he’d give five years off his life to have her naked in bed and just listen to that voice talking dirty to him. “Hell, yes.”
    â€œWish you’d kept it light?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.
    Now it was his turn to be honest, and for the first time in his life he didn’t want to be. Because the truth would put a barrier between them. And he wanted to be breaking down the problems between them instead of reinforcing them. “Yes and no.”
    â€œWhy no?”
    â€œThings were uncomplicated before. You were just an attractive woman. Now you’re…”
    â€œWhat?” she asked. Her eyes met his steadily, and he felt a pressure to not disappoint this woman.
    â€œMore.” It was all he could say. He wasn’t going to tell her that she set a fire in him that had nothingto do with lust and everything to do with the longing he carried inside since childhood. A longing for something intangible that he’d always known was missing from his life.
    â€œWell, that’s one thing in our favor.”
    â€œIt’s everything.”
    She took another sip of her tea and played with the ring on her finger. Her nails were bitten to the quick and not exactly glamorous, but he liked the little flaw. The ring was some sort of Celtic knot made out of sterling. He skimmed his gaze over her, studying her.