Hold on to Me Read Free Page A

not to get involved with anyone.
    And damn Steve not only for dying on her, but for putting her in the middle of this nightmare to begin with.
    Tears she wasn’t going to let fall—not yet—burned behind her eyes. She had to stay focused on what to do next. Only when she knew Shannon was safe...then she’d let the emotions in.
    She drew in a ragged breath, lifted her head, and peered across the lawn with its big trees toward Mitch’s craftsman-style house. Lights burned in the front windows, and some kind of muffled music echoed from inside. Shannon had stayed with him while Simone had been in Washington, DC on business, and she’d known from the phone calls during the week that the two had had a ball together.
    Her chest tightened even more. Someday, hopefully, she’d make him understand. But right now she just needed to make this as quick and painless as possible. The less he knew, the better off he’d be.
    Like you?
    She pushed the irony in that thought aside, drew in one last breath, then pushed the car door open and crossed the dimly lit street toward his front lawn. Since Mitch usually went in and out through the garage, she knew the front door was locked. Wishing it was open, she lifted her hand to knock, then waited for Shannon’s excited voice to echo through the house.
    The only sound that met her ears was a very familiar string melody.
    Van Morrison. He was listening to the present she'd given him for his birthday last month. He was listening to the song she’d played when she’d given him his other birthday present: her, in the little red leather number she’d promised him months ago.
    “These are the Days” slowly played out behind the door, and her heart contracted as she remembered the gleam in his eyes while she’d danced seductively around her bedroom in the ridiculously tight outfit. Followed by the frantic way he’d kissed her when she’d finally gotten close enough for him to grab.
    Like a man starved. Like she was his everything. Like he’d never let her go.
    She closed her eyes on a wave of emotion that burned everywhere. She wasn’t going to be able to do this. She wasn’t—
    The door pulled open. Startled, Simone looked up. A slow and seductive smile spread across Mitch’s rugged face, and in his eyes, a dark, rolling heat brewed. One she knew oh so well.
    “Mitch—”
    His arm snaked out around her waist and pulled her tight against him. And before she could catch her bearings, he slid his other hand into her hair, then lowered his mouth to hers.
    Warmth. Safety. Bliss. She felt herself moving, felt him tugging her inside the house, kicking the door closed, and pressing her back against the hard wood. But all she could focus on was the way he all but devoured her whole with those sweet, tempting, masculine lips.
    Desire and need—so much need—bloomed inside her. She opened on reflex, pressed her hands against his warm chest, and groaned when his tongue slid into her mouth. He tasted like wine. Like spice. Like the same damn hunger consuming her. Slowly, he changed the angle of the kiss, stroked his tongue against hers in a languid way, lifted both hands to gently cradle her face as if she were the most precious thing.
    Thought fled. Reason disappeared. All she felt in the moment was wanted, desired, cherished.
    He eased back slowly and stared down into her eyes. That slow, sexy, wicked smile she loved so much spread back over his lips. “Hi.”
    “H-hi.”
    He brushed his thumb across her oversensitized cheek. “I missed you.”
    She’d missed him too. So much more than she’d realized until this very moment. She swallowed hard, unable to move, to think, to do anything but stare into his fathomless eyes. “I-I see that.”
    Gently, he tipped her chin up again, kissed her lips delicately as if she were made of glass, then trailed his tantalizing mouth across her jaw to feather whisper-soft kisses against her earlobe. A shiver raced down her spine, and a moan slid from