Lost in His Arms by Carla Cassidy Read Free Book Online Page A

the power that radiated from him, the strength. She’d always known he was a man comfortable with himself, a man who appeared to need nobody.
    Elizabeth had always prided herself on the fact that she needed nobody. She’d once believed she needed Richard, but had quickly discovered that need was tremendously overrated and the people you believed you needed inevitably let you down.
    In the past couple of days, she wished she’d found Talbot emotionally deficient and physically repugnant. Once again she directed her gaze out the window and sighed.
    She didn’t need anyone, especially not Talbot McCarthy, her ex-brother-in-law. But damn him. Damn him for making her want him.

Chapter Four
    T albot tried to focus on the road, but it was difficult when the sunshine streaming in through the windshield stroked rich highlights into Elizabeth’s hair and the memory of her slender body pressed against his through the night played in his mind.
    Was she wearing those red panties, with the lace riding high on her hips? He could easily imagine the scarlet wisp of lace against her lightly tanned skin.
    He gripped the steering wheel more tightly and stepped harder on the gas pedal, eager to get back and put this entire experience behind him.
    He would drop Elizabeth at her apartment, then head to the family home in Morning View, Kansas. Once he was back in his own house, surrounded by his own things and busy with the business of running McCarthy Industries, he would quickly forget these three days with Elizabeth.
    Surely he would forget how her body fit perfectly against his, how her eyes looked sexy and darkened when she first awakened. Surely he would quickly forget the scent of her hair, the fragrance that seemed to be as much a part of her as her blue eyes.
    Hearing the reasons for her fear of the dark had opened up a dimension of her he’d never realized, a vulnerability he wished she hadn’t shared with him.
    The death of his parents, the virtual demise of his own family, had left a gaping hole in Talbot’s heart, and he’d yet to meet the woman he thought might help fill that hole. One thing he knew for certain, it could never be Elizabeth, especially if Richard had been contemplating reconciliation.
    He glanced at her again. She was so beautiful with her dainty features and that luxuriant hair. She looked delicate, but Talbot knew that her physical appearance was deceptive. She was emotionally stronger than any woman he’d ever known.
    â€œWhy did you stay with Richard for so long? You must have realized in the first couple of months, the first year, that things weren’t going to work out between the two of you,” he said.
    She frowned. “I was young, and I was pregnant with Richard’s child. At first I thought he’d change, mature. I thought eventually there would come atime when I would be more important to him than his buddies, when he’d work toward a future, instead of living in the moment.” She paused. “I knew the odds were against us from the very beginning because both of us were so young, but I desperately wanted it to work for us.”
    â€œBut you stayed for so long. Nine years.”
    She looked out the windshield and didn’t answer for a long moment. “I tried, Talbot. I kept thinking there would come a time when I’d have a husband and a child, instead of feeling as if I had two children. That time just didn’t come.”
    â€œI always admired your strength.”
    Her gaze met his, and in those blue depths, he saw surprise and a small glimmer of gratitude.
    She laughed, and the deep, throaty sound filled the interior of the car. Talbot realized how rarely in their past he’d heard her laugh.
    â€œI don’t know whether it’s strength or stupidity and more than my share of stubbornness.” She raked a hand through her hair, causing it to ripple across her shoulder.
    Her smile faded and once again the tiny