The Driven Snowe Read online

  She smirked at him. “Is it?”

  “If you deprive yourself, you’re going to just lose it and binge,” he said. “Better to let yourself have what you’re craving—have exactly what you’re craving,” he said, and smiled to himself as he saw her eye his body, then quickly look away. “Otherwise, you’ll wind up indulging in other areas, and be unhappy and unsatisfied.”

  He could see that her body desperately wanted to go along with his reasoning, but her deep brown eyes were still clinging to the logic she’d started with. “I can understand your point,” she said seriously, “but I don’t think you can separate what we’ve done from the possibility of having a relationship.”

  He always had in the past…but now wouldn’t be a good time to make that point. He tried changing tacks instead. “Why don’t you want to be in a relationship?”

  “I have a lot of things I want to do, and see, and experience. I don’t want to get that all clouded up because I’m involved with somebody. From what I’ve seen, and from what all my women friends have told me, men are simply too…distracting. Actually, the term they use is ‘high maintenance.’ If you’re in a relationship, that usually takes precedence over everything else, and I have too much to do to get bogged down that way.” She glanced at him curiously. “I’d suspect men feel the same way. Isn’t that why you haven’t really had relationships?”

  “I would rather say I just haven’t found somebody I can be happy with.”

  She squinted at him, then shrugged. “Well, that’s my reasoning.”

  He wasn’t getting anywhere with this logical debate. His body was starting to “distract” him even as she made her argument in her clear, schoolteacher tone. He didn’t want to reason with her. He wanted to…

  Maybe that’s what I’ve been doing wrong. His body wholeheartedly agreed with him.

  “I won’t argue with you. But we do have one problem.” He stroked her thigh with a gentle, barely there touch. “Do you honestly think that one night was enough?”

  He heard her catch her breath as he moved forward slowly, giving her ample time to stop him, to tell him no. To his intense relief, she didn’t…she simply stared at him with those deep, soulful eyes. He nibbled at her earlobe, feeling satisfied as she gradually pressed herself against him, putting her hands up against his shoulders.

  “A good experiment takes place over an extended period of time,” he pointed out, kissing her neck as she clutched at his back and her breathing shallowed. He lifted his head, brushing teasing caresses against her cheeks, along her jawline, down her neck. “You don’t want to get involved. I can respect that. But I really think you’re not giving yourself enough of a chance to fully enjoy the experience.”

  They were in a dark corner—away from everyone. The pounding beat showed that the DJ was mixing full force, and no one was coming back to this empty part of the dance floor. “Allow me to demonstrate,” he said, tugging her gently onto his lap, straddling him.

  Her pupils had dilated further, making her dark brown eyes seem black. He noticed this as he held her there, poised over his erection, just staring at her as she settled breathlessly. She had to feel it, pressing hard at the junction of her thighs, against those jeans that fit her body like a second skin.

  He didn’t even have to nudge her. He just stared, as she shivered slightly, and he felt her body move against him, her thighs clenching enough to make him push up to meet her. He watched as she took a deep breath, and moved her head down to meet him with an “I-can’t-believe-I’m-doing-this” expression.

  Her kiss was surprisingly gentle for the fire he’d seen in her eyes. She started just touching velvet-soft lips to his, parting slightly, moving in that slow searching way that made him feel every movement of the muscles in her mouth. It was maddening. He wasn’t sure how, but just by a slow kiss she made him wonder what it would feel like to have that gentle, moist suction over every inch of his body. His erection tensed.

  He couldn’t take it anymore. He teased her lips with his tongue, and the kiss exploded. She was breathing hard, meeting him stroke for stroke. She tore away to mimic him and worked on his neck. He’d never thought himself particularly vulnerable to that sort of pressure, but the feeling of it was enough to almost push him over the edge. Her hips…the rhythm she’d displayed on the dance floor was no joke. She was grinding against him in a seductive sway that was mind-blowing. He stroked her breasts, rubbing the nipples through the thin cotton fabric of her tank top. He heard her gasp as she pressed herself farther into the cups of his hands, and made out the mewling little cries of pleasure he’d reveled in when he made love to her before.

  If this kept up, he was going to take her, right here in this dance club. It wasn’t the place or the time. He had to get a grip.

  With more control than he thought he possessed, with more willpower than he’d ever needed to use before in his life, he nudged her back. To his surprise, he was breathing hard himself. She growled in frustration, something he found unreasonably sexy.

  “Like I said,” he whispered, panting, “there’s more to this than just one night.”

  “I don’t want a relationship,” she repeated, although he could feel the wave of attraction flowing between them. “But I still want you. So where does that leave us?”

  He frowned. There was no way he was going to lose this woman. “How about a contract, of sorts?”

  She laughed abruptly. He loved the sound of her laugh. “Didn’t you get insulted last time when you thought I’d offered to pay you?”

  He laughed with her. “I don’t mean that kind of contract. I meant an agreement, a clear definition of what we’re doing before we do anything.” He smiled, stroking a hand over her hair. “I just want you to feel comfortable, Angela. No pressure, no regrets. And I’ll make sure you enjoy every single minute.”

  She eyed him warily. “You’re not serious about this.”

  If he thought it would get him closer to her, he’d sign his name in blood. He threaded his hand in her hair and tugged her down for a quick, searing kiss. “Did that feel like I was joking?” he asked.

  She shook her head, her eyes looking a little wild…a woman at war with herself. “How will I know that we won’t get involved?” she said, in a small voice. “I don’t know, Josh. This is all so sudden. I just want you so much. I’m not thinking. I can’t think.”

  He needed to keep her in that state. At least until he could convince her that this was the right thing, for both of them. He needed to show her that she wouldn’t be trapped by him, of all men. “I don’t have a track record with relationships,” he pointed out, hoping to reassure her.

  Her eyes narrowed. “But you do have a track record,” she said slowly.

  He hadn’t even been thinking of other women, so her statement caught him off guard. “Yes, I do. I can’t pretend that I don’t, Angela.”

  “Yes, but how will I know that you aren’t…” She trailed off, staring at him, obviously hoping he’d understand.

  It took him a second, then he sighed. “No. If you decide to, ah, spend time with me, I promise I won’t be spending time with any other women. If you knew me, you’d know you wouldn’t have to worry…but then, you don’t know me, do you?” He thought for a moment. “I said it’d be like a contract. Let’s make it semi-official then.”

  “You want to run this by a lawyer?”

  He chuckled. “No. I mean, we can set a time limit, and I promise that during that set limit, I won’t see any other women. And after that set limit, we call it quits. No harm, no foul, no regrets.” He looked at her meaningfully. “Unless, of course, we agree to extend the bargain.”

  She bit her lip. “I…I don’t know. This is all so fast. And it’s strange. It’s like something out of a movie.”

  “I know,” he said, leaning his forehead against hers. She moved to press a satin-soft kiss against his temple, and he felt a tremor that wasn’t purely sexual hit him in the gut. “Clubs are always sort of unreal…and the way
I met you was practically alien. Maybe this is dumb. All I know is, I want you, and I want this.”

  She pulled back enough to look at him, then kissed him…one of the sweetest kisses of his life. “A month.” Her voice quavered. “I think I could handle a month.”

  “A year.”

  She pulled back a little more. “Are we…bargaining?”

  “Like I said, it’s a contract.” He grinned at her shock. “I’m a tough negotiator. Ask anybody.”

  He held his breath, waiting for her reaction. To his relief, she smiled slowly, moving back to him again. “Two months,” she said, her voice holding a hint of challenge.

  He stroked her cheek. “What say we just split the difference, and go for six?”

  She stayed quiet for a long time, and Josh suddenly wondered if he’d blown it for good.

  “That Friday night…” She took a deep, shuddering breath, and for a brief moment, Josh ignored his need to ravish her. The shadows in her eyes, the clenched tension of her body, all made him want to just hold her until her fear subsided. She might categorize it as concern or reasonable apprehension, but it was obviously fear. “It was a wonderful blur. I had an agenda. I can still barely believe it really happened.”

  He waited while she paused, then finally whispered, “So what are you saying, Angela?”

  “Convince me,” she blurted out, her hair tumbling over one shoulder. “I mean…I’ll see you one more time. If it seems like I can…handle that, then I’ll agree to six months.”

  He kissed her, relishing the way she clung to him. Tonight wasn’t going to be that night—at least, not from her point of view. Still, it was a window. He could work around it, maybe…

  “If that’s what it takes,” he said.

  She smiled…a smile so sweet, that the suggestion that they make tonight her trial run froze in his throat. “So when would you like to do this?” he asked instead.

  She frowned. “I…I have a lot of classes. I’m sort of booked.”

  He paused. That didn’t sound promising. “Until when?”

  “Next Friday.”

  He groaned to himself. Seven days until he could hold her again?

  “All right.” He kissed her, lingering until her breathing sped up. “I’ll see you on Friday night.”

  As he got up to walk her to her car, he swore to himself that he was going to make it the beginning of something incredible…a night she wouldn’t forget.

  4

  THE FOLLOWING FRIDAY, Josh could still picture Angela, almost feel her in his arms when he closed his eyes. But he had neither seen nor felt her since their episode in the deserted part of Club X. In the meantime, he’d had plenty to focus on with Solar Bars, but the night ahead was making him as antsy as a grade school kid on Christmas Eve.

  “You know, you’re the only one who really works at working lunches, Josh.”

  “If I don’t, who will?” Josh said, grinning at his friend. They were sitting in Joe’s Burgers, papers strewn around the Formica tabletop, binders propped open on the napkin container. Their sleeves were rolled up. Joe was standing behind the counter, shaking his head, his grizzly face amused. Josh and Adam had been having working lunches at Joe’s Burgers since they moved the company to Manzanita five years ago. “Besides, I’ve got a big date tonight.”

  Adam looked stunned. “You’re going out on a date? Tonight?”

  “So what?” Josh looked up from the report he was rifling through. “It’s Friday, isn’t it? Lots of people go out on dates on Friday.”

  “Not a Friday before the auditor gets here, you don’t.”

  Josh sighed. The auditor. Not that Solar Bars had done anything wrong, but the way they’d posted earnings, and the growing size of the company—they were due, he’d figured. They’d been lucky to get away without an audit for this long.

  Ordinarily, he’d be sweating it out with the accounting team, checking over every figure they came up with. “I trust Bill,” Josh said slowly, referring to his corporate controller. “He and the accounting staff can handle it.” He felt his shoulders tense, and forced them to relax.

  Adam stared at him.

  Josh finally put the report down in disgust. “All right, what?”

  Adam shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just that—well, this isn’t a critique, you understand. It’s just that you like to get involved in every little aspect of everything.” He broke into a grin. “Remember that time, when you would have fallen headfirst into the granola mixer if I hadn’t stopped you?”

  “Are you kidding? You never let me forget it.”

  “But you still do stuff like that—work with the line crew every now and then, check in on accounting, pester my R and D people, hunker down in the trenches with the marketing team. You like to be hands-on, all the time. It’s what’s made Solar Bars the company it is,” Adam said seriously.

  “Thanks,” Josh said. “But what does that have to do with my social life?”

  “That’s just it. You’ve never put anything from Solar Bars on hold for a date. This is unprecedented.” Adam sounded more than curious—he seemed downright intrigued. “So. Anybody I know?”

  “Not exactly,” Josh hedged.

  Adam stared at him, a broad grin creeping across his face. “You did it. You found the virgin.”

  Josh groaned. “I don’t think you should refer to her that way,” he said.

  Adam’s grin grew even wider. “That’s true, you took care of that.”

  “Watch it.” Josh’s voice was steel-edged. “Yes, I’m going out with Angela tonight. Angela,” he said, with emphasis. “Wow. Angela must be a damned fast learner,” Adam said, laughing despite Josh’s warning glance. “Girl must be a gymnast or an acrobat or something to get you to take a step back from work. What do you have planned for tonight? As if I need to ask.”

  “I’ve got plans,” Josh said. “We’re going into Sacramento, catching a show, dinner, the whole nine yards.”

  And by the time the night was finished, he was going to know everything there was to know about one Angela Snowe—and she was going to know that her next six months, perhaps longer, were going to be booked solid by Josh Montgomery.

  “You’re doing it again.”

  Josh dragged himself back from his thoughts. “Doing what?”

  “That corporate-takeover smile,” Adam said, his jovial tone curbed. “This is a lot more serious than I thought.”

  Josh made a negligent gesture. “She’s different. I appreciate the different.”

  Adam started to say something, then stopped abruptly. “Well. Here’s something I can appreciate,” he said finally, nodding at something behind Josh.

  Josh turned, then narrowed his eyes. “Shelly? Is that you?”

  She had honey blond haircut in a stylish shag, and her very full breasts were straining at the buttons of her cherry-red blouse. She wore a short denim skirt and a pair of heels. He could see how Adam would be attracted by her. He could see how any man in the joint would be.

  “Josh?” she said. “Josh, is that you?”

  He stood up, reaching arms out for a friendly hug. He noticed that her full chest pressed against his a little longer than he was expecting, then brushed the thought aside. “I haven’t seen you since high school,” he said, smiling fondly. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

  She smiled, the same luscious smile that had his whole defensive line drooling, back when he’d played football at Manzanita High. “It’s been a long time,” she said, her green eyes looking at him with open admiration. For the first time, he felt uncomfortable with it, thinking of big brown doe eyes—the kind that looked at him with a mixture of innocence and longing.

  I’m just saying hello. But the little pang didn’t go away, and he frowned.

  “So how have you been?” he said quickly.

  At this, her pretty face frowned slightly, showing a spasm of bitterness that she wasn’t quick enough to hide. “I’ve been…well, things haven’t been so good.” Her right hand
moved reflexively to her left hand, rubbing her ring finger. “I’ve recently been divorced, actually.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Josh said, and meant it. Shelly had always been a pistol in high school, a flirt and a terror of sorts, leaving broken hearts in her wake.

  “I’ve just moved in with my parents, until I get back on my feet again. It’s just temporary,” she assured him, as if waiting for him to judge her. “I’ve gotten a job at the Travel Center, as a travel agent, so it’s just a matter of time before I get a place of my own.”

  “Planning on staying in Manzanita, then?”

  She nodded, her eyes surveying him under long lashes. “That depends on whether I find anything worth staying for, I guess.”

  “Well then. I guess I’ll be seeing you around.”

  She lightened up a little. “That would be wonderful. It’s been such a long time, and I don’t know anybody in town anymore, it seems.” She looked sad, and he felt sorry for her. “Manzanita’s not the little back-fence community I remembered.”

  “It’s better,” he said, patting her shoulder. She moved in for another bosom-heaving hug, and he kept it brief. “Maybe we’ll do lunch sometime,” he said, easily.

  Her responding smile was intent. “I’ll hold you to that.”

  She turned, moving her hips in a walk as seductive as an aphrodisiac. Josh noticed that every male in the place was riveted.

  Josh sat back down in his booth.

  Adam looked at him, bewildered. “So, do you know every fine woman in a five-mile radius, or what?”

  “I’ll get you a list. I’m sure I’ve got their phone numbers somewhere.”

  “Lunch, nothing. Why don’t you take her out to dinner?” Adam was all but drooling. “That is one fine woman.”

  “I’ve already got a fine woman,” Josh said, laughing, then stopped abruptly, realizing what he’d just said.

  Adam heard it, too, and his eyes narrowed. “Do you, now?”

  Josh pointed to the binder propped open in front of Adam. “Just tell me about those new soy bars you wanted to come up with. The carob-soy protein bars.”