Bound to Happen by Mary Kay McComas Read Free Book Online Page A

he knew he shouldn’t and wouldn’t act on the desire. Especially with this woman, who obviously would have no idea what was happening to her. She had probably broken a hundred hearts just being so incredibly naive. Men had probably been throwing themselves at her feet for years, but for some reason, she’d never noticed it.
    How many women had specific reasons attached to everything they felt? Better yet, he thought, how many refused to feel something because they had no reason to? Had he ever met a woman who didn’t use “just because” as a reason or an excuse to react to any given situation? Joe didn’t think so.
    Idly he traced the shape of her body from shoulder to hip with his hand. It would be interesting to pit her against the other women he’d known, he thought. Would her overabundance of logic be an asset or a detriment? Would lying and cheating be on her list of acceptable ways to get what she wanted? Or would this woman be as honest as she was rational in achieving her goals?
    Joe was trying to visualize a trustworthy woman with a syllogistic mind, when Leslie began to stir in her sleep. She turned toward him and burrowed closer, seeking his warmth. Joe frowned and shied away. Resting beside her was one thing, having her pressed up against him was quite another. It didn’t matter that he was totally dressed and wearing a down parka besides. Just knowing that with the flick of a zipper she’d be completely exposed to him from the waist up was like lighting a string of firecrackers under his libido.
    He tried to ease himself away without waking her, but she only renewed her unconscious efforts. He was giving some serious thought to leaving their makeshift bed altogether, when she groaned and began to shiver. Joe grimaced even as his arms folded about her, automatically pulling her close to him, trying to warm her. He slid his hand between them and unzipped his jacket. Instinctively Leslie was drawn to the greater heat of his body. She wrapped her arms about him securely, while Joe enfolded her in his coat, trying to share as much of it as he could with her.
    Leslie wiggled into a comfortable position, tucking her head neatly under Joe’s chin. He heard her soft moan of satisfaction and rolled his eyes heavenward. The woman was enough to try the patience of a saint, he decided. And everyone who knew him knew he was no saint. Her hair smelled sweet and clean, and holding her was too easy; she fit in his arms too well.
    Was he supposed to sleep like this, he wondered skeptically. His mind dared him to try, while his body made its own intentions perfectly clear. There would be no sleep for Joe Bonner tonight, was the message he got.
    Joe sighed heavily in resignation. “Women,” he said very like a curse. Then he closed his eyes and fought for control as Leslie stirred in his arms once more.
    Leslie was toasty warm, but the right side of her body was sore and aching. She tried to readjust her position, but it did little good. Her eyes, heavy with sleep, opened slowly.
    The world was cloaked in grayness. Just looking at it made Leslie cold. A gelid wind brushed across her left cheek, and she blindly buried her face deeper into the soft warmth at her right. Thick, hard bonds tightened about her possessively, and a peculiar sensation rippled through her body in response.
    Leslie’s eyes opened wide, and this time she was alert to her surroundings. Her nose was pressed tightly against red plaid flannel, and out of the corner of her eye all she could see was army green.
    She quickly came up on one elbow and peered down at Joe Bonner. He opened one eye, then closed it again, saying, “Now what?”
    Embarrassed beyond belief, Leslie stammered and said, “I … nothing … I’m sorry. I must have gotten cold in the middle of the night … or something.”
    “Must have,” he agreed, yawning rudely in her face. “And it still is the middle of the night, so go back to sleep.”
    “No. No, I think the sun is