His for the Taking by Julie Cohen Read Free Book Online

in his arms.
    She was lighter than he’d expected and her body curved against his almost bonelessly. He’d been right; she’d had too much wine. She stared up into his face, obviously shocked from the fall.
    ‘Nick—’ she said, and even though she’d hardly tripped the shock must’ve been something, because her breath was coming in short pants, like that of a frightened animal. She leaned against him, being supported by him, but her hands dug almost painfully hard into his arms.
    And the wine had gone to his head, too. Nick didn’t drink much, usually, and he hadn’t slept since he’d received the letter from his father yesterday. He felt his eyes slip out of focus and he felt a wave of fatigue form in his belly and make its way up and force his mouth open in a big, air-gulping yawn.
    Zoe stiffened in his arms. She found her feet and pulled away from him.
    ‘Okay, so I’m going to sleep in the spare bedroom, because that’s where I always sleep,’ she said, pushing her hair behind her ears and sounding not drunk at all, ‘and you can have the boxroom, all right?’
    ‘Actually I think I’ll sleep in here on the couch. I’ve got a sleeping bag. I want to be close to the door in case my father comes in during the night.’ He covered his mouth as another yawn overtook him.
    ‘Suit yourself. Goodnight.’ She picked up the pizza box and the wine bottle and left the room without a backwards glance. A minute later he heard her bedroom door shut, halfway across the big apartment.
     
    Zoe lay in the dark, her eyes open and staring at the invisible ceiling. Her body was intensely awake.
    She could blame the wine, but it was an excuse. It was her own fault. She’d been some kind of an imbecile to let herself relax, to let herself enjoy Nick’s company, to sit so close to all that glorious, perfect, responsible maleness.
    Idiot. She’d fooled herself into thinking it was going to be all right and that she wasn’t going to fall for this guy and she could control her rampaging hormones and just share some pizza and wine. And then he’d reached for her glass, his fingers had brushed hers, he’d drunk her wine with a careless, sexy intimacy, and she’d known she was playing with fire.
    Sixty seconds later she’d been in his arms and the desire had flamed through her like pain. Her knees had gone out from beneath her, her heart had thumped, her breath had stopped, her skin had leapt into excruciating life.
    For a single dizzying, crazy moment, she’d thought maybe he was holding her because he was attracted to her, too. The possibility had made her swoon, like a silly girl.
    She’d said his name in a breath of hope. And lifted her face for him to kiss her.
    Then he’d yawned.
    Zoe turned over and put the pillow over her head. She pressed her face into the warm sheet and wished she could bury herself there for ever.
    The hell of it was, she could still feel his hands on her. He’d had one of them on her bare arm and the other on the small of her back. They burned into her, strong and deceptively safe-feeling.
    At least she’d escaped before she’d tried to kiss him and made herself an object of pity.
    At least.
    Zoe turned back over and punched her pillow, hard.

CHAPTER FOUR
    S OME PEOPLE FORGOT their problems in sleep. They woke up to blissful ignorance, and might even make it to their morning cup of coffee before they remembered what humiliating things they had done the night before.
    Zoe had never had a moment of blissful ignorance in her life. Even before she opened her eyes she had one thought in her head: I nearly threw myself at a guy who isn’t the smallest bit interested in me.
    And the thought directly following that was: I wonder if he still looks as beautiful this morning as he did last night.
    She shoved aside the blankets and climbed out of bed, pulling on her T-shirt and the ugly skirt. She had a toothbrush here at Xenia’s but that was it; leaving actual clothes always seemed like too