The Drifter Read Online Free PDF Page B

nice to see you again, Charlie.”
    “It’s nice being seen.” He leaned forward and dropped a kiss on her lips. He’d meant it to be a new beginning, a way to express the sentiment he’d just verbalized. But the moment his mouth touched hers, Charlie felt the ground beneath him shift.
    He stared down at her mouth, his breath growing tight in his chest, his thoughts spinning in his head. He wanted to kiss her again, yet he knew it probably wasn’t a good idea. But Charlie had operated on sheer instinct for so long that he couldn’t stop himself, even if he tried.
    He slipped his arm around her waist and gently pulled her body against his, their hips meeting. He found her mouth again only this time, the kiss was far from innocent. He knew exactly what he needed to answer all his questions. And at the moment, that’s all he wanted—answers.
    Her reaction surprised him. She didn’t try to resist, but melted in his embrace, her mouth opening to his tongue and her body arching into his. He had one answer—Evie wanted him as much as he wanted her.
    Charlie grabbed her waist and set her on the edge of the worktable, then pulled her thighs against his hips. Though she was four or five inches shorter thanhe was, this gave him perfect access to her face and mouth, to her neck and shoulders.
    “We shouldn’t do this,” she whispered, twisting away from him and pressing her forehead into his chest. “After you leave, I won’t be able to walk into this kitchen without thinking about this.”
    “I’m not leaving anytime soon,” Charlie said.
    She looked up at him. “But you will leave,” she stated, her voice cool and emotionless.
    “We can’t stay in this kitchen forever. I’m hoping we’ll both leave.”
    “That’s not what I mean,” Eve countered with a weak smile.
    “Right now, I don’t have plans to go anywhere. I’m happy right here.”
    She sighed softly, then wrapped her arms around his neck. “A week,” she said. “That’s all I need. Just promise me a week.”
    But as Charlie kissed her again, he knew that his stay in Boulder would last a lot longer than a week. He needed a new direction in his life and a strange vision on the top of the highest mountain had sent him here.

2
    A WEEK WOULD NEVER be enough, Eve thought as she lost herself in the delicious warmth of his mouth. But if he stayed longer, she might be tempted to fall madly in love with him all over again. And if he disappeared too early, she’d be left unsatisfied and longing for more. No, a week would have to suffice.
    She smoothed her hands over his chest, remembering how wonderful it felt to touch his skin. He was older now, but his body was still lithe and muscular, everything in such perfect proportion. Wide shoulders, narrow waist, long legs. If they’d been anywhere but her restaurant, she would have stripped the clothes off of him in less than a minute and dragged him to the nearest bed.
    But Eve wasn’t that same impetuous young woman she’d been five years ago. Back then, she’d believed in love. Now, she was more apt to put her money on lust. There was something to be said for purephysical pleasure, without the expectations that romance brought. And even though she still bore the scars of their last affair, Eve felt confident she could handle whatever he sent her way this time.
    She was in a different place in her life now, a place where her career came before everything else, including a relationship with a man. A short-term affair would fit right into her schedule. She had a few weeks before the meetings began with her Seattle investors. And the production team was putting together a final proposal on the television show and wouldn’t need her to do a sample episode until next month. Charlie Templeton had shown up at precisely the right time.
    When he moved to unbutton her jacket, she impatiently completed the task, tossing it aside and leaving her wearing only a simple camisole beneath. Charlie pressed his mouth