LEAD ME ON Julie Ortolon (mind reading books .TXT) 📖

yesterday, I was on a roll. Since then, every scene I’ve written stinks. Why is it so hard for them to leave me alone and let me do what they’re paying me to do?” He hung his head in defeat. “Maybe I should quit writing. Nothing is worth this much grief.”

“You don’t mean that.” She came around the desk, half afraid he did mean it this time.

“It’s just that writing a book is mentally grueling enough. Why do they have to make it even harder?”

Recognizing a creative spirit that needed pampering, she stepped closer, placed both hands on his shoulders, and began to massage. “What can I do to make it less hard?”

He gave a dry laugh. “Not that, I assure you.”

She concentrated on kneading the stiff muscles to either side of his neck. “You really are tense. Why don’t you sit down and let me give you a back rub?”

“Allison ...” He took hold of her wrists. “This is not a good idea. Believe me.”

She looked up, confused, until she saw the look in his eyes. Hunger. Heat. “Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh,’ ” he repeated and rubbed his thumbs against her wrists, making her pulse jump. “I’m not a saint. So if you want me to stick to our agreement, you need to keep a little distance, okay?”

“I see.” Recklessness battled back good sense. “About our agreement... I’ve been thinking ... maybe we should do what you suggested and ‘renegotiate.’ ”

He stared at her, his expression guarded.

Licking her lips, she forged on. “It’s just that, well, you really aren’t going to be here all that long, so I was thinking, how dangerous would it be if we ...”

Her courage faltered and she fell silent, gazing up at him, waiting for a response.

Scott told himself to pull away. She had no idea he was the son of the man who was trying to destroy her inn, and he had no right to take advantage of her ignorance. True, he had been keeping steady tabs on the lawsuits, trying to reason with his father through the lawyers, but that didn’t change the facts. In Allison’s eyes, the LeRoches were all the same, and when she found out he was one of them, she’d see his silence as deceit.

But gazing down into her hopeful gray eyes, it was hard to think about their family history or future consequences. He could only think of now. A now that had Allison standing a hairsbreadth away, wanting to be kissed. When he continued to hesitate, a flicker of hurt entered her eyes, and he couldn’t bear it.

Telling himself it was only a kiss, just one last kiss, he lowered his mouth to hers. Sweet. God in heaven, she was so unbelievably sweet. With a moan, he gathered her in his arms and let himself sink. She returned the kiss with all the unschooled passion that drove him mad. Closing his eyes, he drowned in the pleasure of holding her again. In the back of his mind, his conscience shouted a warning but need outweighed good intentions.

He cupped the back of her head and kissed her endlessly, thinking he could live forever on the taste of her mouth alone. His hunger spurred her own and she moved against him, like a kitten rubbing him with her body, demanding to be petted. He leaned back against the desk, pulling her with him until she stood between his thighs, her soft belly cradling his arousal. The warning screamed louder, but he refused to listen as the rip current pulled him under.

Her head fell back with a moan of pleasure when he kissed her neck. “Yes,” she whispered. “We definitely need to rethink the rules. One night isn’t enough.”

No, it wasn’t. A million nights wouldn’t be enough with her. He wanted to fill his life with loving her.

The thought stopped him cold.

Opening his eyes, he stared at her and realized the alarm clanging in his brain had very little to do with the possibility of her hating him. It had to do with the things she stirred inside him, an intensity of longing that went beyond lust. An unfamiliar emotion ballooned inside him until suddenly he couldn’t breathe.

He jerked back and nearly toppled onto the desktop.

“Scott?” She braced her hands against his chest to keep from falling on top of him. “Are you all right?”

“Yes.” No! He pushed her back to arm’s length as his heart pounded. “I’m fine. It’s just... we can’t do this.” When she frowned, his mind raced. “We can’t because ... the door’s open.”

An impish grin pulled at her lips. “We could always close it.”

“And have your brother walk in on us?”

“You’re right. We’ll have to be discreet.” A wicked gleam sparkled in her eyes. “What if I come to your room tonight, when everyone else is in bed?”

“No! You can’t.”

“Why not?” She frowned.

“Because I...” I what? Nothing came to mind, and he watched the confusion turn slowly to hurt.

“Oh, I see.” She pulled away, looking mortally embarrassed. “My mistake. The other night you said... never mind ... I just thought you were still interested—”

“Of course I’m interested.” How could she doubt that after the way he’d nearly devoured her whole? “It’s just that I’m ... busy.” Okay, that worked. “I’m really, really busy right now.”

She stared at him as the embarrassment in her eyes turned to disbelief, then anger. “You’re too busy for sex? Since when is any man too busy for that?”

So maybe the busy excuse didn’t work. “Allison, I—”

The phone rang and he sagged in relief.

She reached around him and jerked up the receiver. “Pearl Island Inn.” After listening to the person on the other end, she held the phone out to him with a fumigating look. “It’s for you.”

He took the phone gratefully. “Scott, here.”

“What is this!” Penny Nichols squawked, and he’d never been so happy to hear his editor’s nasally voice.

“What is what?”

“This fax you just sent.”

“You said you wanted a book outline, so that’s what I sent you. The outline of