with Vegas rules…”
“The deck with the palm trees?”
Lara laughed. “Uh-huh. I like that little face that appears, the one that grins when you least expect it.”
“Ah, the wonders of the chip,” the stranger said, and they fell into easy conversation—except she really wasn’t quite sure what either of them was saying.
She thought about that electrical jolt she’d felt when she’d put her hand in his. It hadn’t been static electricity at all; it had been a tingling sense of sexual awareness. She’d never felt it before but that didn’t mean she was incapable of recognizing it.
And why not? This man, this stranger named Slade, was, to put it simply, gorgeous.
Tall, dark and handsome. Three little words but, when applied to him, spectacular. Coal-black hair. Smoky-gray eyes shaded by thick, black lashes. A blade of a nose set above a firm mouth and a square, dimpled chin. And even inside that custom-tailored suit, Lara could tell he had the kind of body the guys at her health club sweated for but never quite managed to achieve. He had a nice sense of humor, too, and he was intelligent…
And, just like that, the voice of the girl in the TV interview zipped through her head.
If I’d picked up a stranger in a bar, some guy with good looks and enough brains to carry on an intelligent conversation…
Lara knew she was blushing but she couldn’t help it. A stranger in a bar? My God, what was wrong with her? Here he was, this hunky stranger, looking for a way to pass the time while the snow kept them trapped in the airport, and here she was, thinking that he’d be the right man to father her baby.
Not that there was anything wrong in thinking about it, because she’d never do such a thing. Of course not. Have sex with a stranger? Not her. But she knew how easy it would be. An exchange of business cards, the suggestion that he look her up if he came to Atlanta or even something more specific, say, a deliberate plan to meet somewhere for a weekend…
Lara let her thoughts drift. No, it wouldn’t be difficult at all. He was interested in her, that was obvious. And he had a way about him that suggested he’d be good in bed, that he’d know how to bring a woman pleasure. Not that pleasure mattered, in a situation like this. It was all hypothetical, and you didn’t need to enjoy sex just to get pregnant. Still, he’d know all the right moves.
She knew she was blushing again but she couldn’t help it. Such wacky thoughts to be having, especially for a woman who had a sexual past uninteresting and unvaried enough to almost be embarrassing. But as long as she was indulging herself in this fantasy, there was no harm in imagining that he’d be good in bed. After all, she’d only have the one chance at getting pregnant. Weren’t there statistics that showed orgasm increased those chances?
Something must have shown in her face because suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he stopped talking and just stared at her. She was on the verge of grabbing her stuff and fleeing when he asked her if she wanted some coffee.
What she wanted was to stop thinking these insane thoughts.
Tell him no, she told herself, and then get up and walk away…
“Yes,” she said, “I’d love some.”
He rose from his chair. She did, too. They walked to the rear of the lounge, poured some coffee, sat down on a small sofa in a corner and she tried, really tried, to concentrate on what he was saying and to stop thinking nonsense, like how it might feel if he kissed her.
Thoughts like that had never occupied her mind before.
They did, now.
And when he refilled her cup and his hand brushed hers, she felt as if she’d been shot through with a low-voltage electrical charge. A stranger in a bar, she thought again, and she forced a little laugh.
“Whoops,” she said. “One of us needs to be grounded before we go up in flames.”
She knew, instantly, it was the wrong thing to say. It sounded like a come-on and she hadn’t meant it like that…had she?
It was obvious what Slade thought. His eyes darkened, and a little muscle knotted just beside his mouth.
“Going up in flames might be fun,” he said in a voice that sent shivers up her spine.
She felt a tremor go through her, and she began chattering inanely about something else. Anything, to lessen the growing tension. He could handle this; he was that type of man, the kind who probably left swooning women behind him wherever he went. But she couldn’t. She felt as if she were letting her sanity slip away.
Silence built between them.
“You’re beautiful,” he said softly.
So are you, she thought, and blushed. “Thank you.”
“What does your hair look like, when it’s loose?”
The intimacy of the question stunned her. “What?”
“Your hair. Is it long? Does it fall over your shoulders, and your breasts?” He took the cup from her and put it on the table beside him. “This isn’t just another pickup line,” he said softly. “You know it’s not.”
She looked into his eyes and what she saw was her undoing. No man had ever looked at her this way, had ever made her feel this way. Desirable. Sexy. Seductive. She knew what he was thinking, that he was imagining what it would be like to undress her, take down her hair, kiss her and stroke her and make her sob out his name…
An announcement blared over the loudspeaker. Thank God, Lara thought, and focused her attention on the disembodied voice.
All flights were grounded until further notice. The airline would try to make arrangements for overnight accommodations for passengers who wanted them.
Lara cleared her throat. “Well,” she said, and gave a forced laugh, “well, that’s that.”
Slade nodded, and she was sure he understood what she meant. “Yes.” He smiled politely. “Are you going to wait it out here?”
“Uh-huh. How about you?”
“Yes,” he said, and then, so quickly that she wasn’t sure it had happened, his eyes went from smoky-gray to deepest charcoal. “The hell with this,” he said. “Come with me.”
Lara didn’t pretend not to understand. “No,” she whispered, “I can’t.”
“Are you married?” She shook her head. “Engaged?” She shook her head again. Slade moved closer, until she could feel the warmth of his breath on her face. “Neither am I. We won’t be hurting anyone.” He reached out and took her hand. She let him do it, though she knew it was a mistake. “Come to bed with me, Lara.”
There it was, out in the open. What he’d been thinking, what she’d been thinking. And here was her chance. But she wouldn’t take it. Sleep with a strange man, deliberately try to get herself pregnant without his knowledge…
“No.” She shook her head and said the words again. “I can’t.”
“We’ll
