Rock Me All Night Read Online Free PDF Page B

experts, so Lauren knew firsthand that you had to keep hammering away at the same question until you found the real answer.
    â€œIt’s just been my experience. I’m forty-five. I know a lot about myself and my habits.”
    â€œAnd you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?” she asked around the tightness in her throat. Forty-five. She probably had sounded like a child to him. Saying that she still wanted happily ever after. Her gut argued that she hadn’t. That the truth she’d seen shining in Jack’s eyes was the same desire as hers.
    â€œWatch who you’re calling an old dog,” he said lightly.
    She watched the streetlights out the window and tried to pretend it didn’t matter. That his superficial answer to her very real question didn’t hurt. Why should it? She’d just met him. Though it felt different in her soul.
    â€œLauren…”
    She didn’t look at him. Didn’t want to right now. Paul Simon played quietly in the background, and Lauren closed her eyes and concentrated on the lyrics of the song instead of the man who perplexed her and made her yearn for a deeper connection with him.
    He cursed under his breath. She felt the car slow and then stop. She opened her eyes. He’d pulled onto the shoulder. She shifted her head on the back of the seat to watch him.
    â€œWhy are you stopping?” she asked. His features were stark with only the dashboard illumination. He scarcely resembled the stylish man that she knew him to be. And she wondered if this was the real Jack Montrose seated next to her in the dark. When all the trappings of looks fell away, all that was left was the heart of who he was.
    â€œBecause I can’t chase you when I’m driving,” he said.
    â€œI don’t understand.”
    He twisted to face her, cupping her jaw in both of his hands. It was the third time he’d touched her face, and she couldn’t help the elemental awareness that shot through her.
    â€œLet me explain it. I’m sorry I can’t promise you more than six months. That I can’t say that you’re the one woman who will make me want more than any other one has. But it’s just too soon.”
    â€œHey, you were the one who said you wanted to get to know me naked.”
    â€œI still do. But naked doesn’t mean lasting.”
    â€œI know,” she said softly.
    Jack tugged her into his arms. He held her looselybut securely. She relaxed and let go of the hurt that had been building in the pit of her stomach. He smelled like fresh pine, and she burrowed closer to his warmth, inhaling deeply.
    â€œYou confuse me,” he said, rubbing his chin against the top of her head.
    â€œI’m just a woman.”
    â€œAnd therein lies the mystery.” She tipped her head back and their eyes met. “I can’t make any promises. But dammit, woman, I can’t let this go either.”
    â€œMe, too.”
    She lifted up and met his mouth as it descended on hers. His lips brushed softly over hers, keeping the embrace light until her mouth tingled and she ached to know his taste. She opened her mouth, but he lifted his lips and dropped kisses down the column of her neck.
    She lifted her hands, plunging them into his thick hair and lifting his head, bringing his mouth back to hers. She opened her lips against his. Breathed in his breath and gave him back hers. Then she skimmed her tongue over the seam of his lips and pushed it inside, tasting him as deeply as she could.
    Something long hidden inside her heart sprang to life, and as the timbre of the embrace changed and Jack took control of it, she acknowledged that maybe six months with Jack wouldn’t be so bad. Because she knew she’d always regret it if she let him leave her life after just one night.
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    Lauren tasted as he knew she would. Like sunshine and vitality and a hint of spiciness. He’d made love to many women over the course of his life,