Marry in Haste... Read Free

that white dress. When she’d responded to his smile by coming to his table, his bruised ego had felt much better.
    Not only his ego had felt better. As he’d gotten a whiff of perfume or shampoo or whatever it was that smelled like flowers, watched her silky hair slide over her creamy shoulders, and recognized the intelligence sparkling in her hazel eyes, he’d wanted her. Their fingers had brushed as they’d talked; their eyes meeting again and again. His knee had grazed hers more than once, and he’d asked himself—Did he want her so much because Stephanie had rejected him? Was that why he’d invited Mallory to his table? Did fun mean pleasure?
    He’d never treated women as objects and he wasn’t about to start now, certainly not because he was angry or bitter or frustrated. But those feelings had left as soon as Mallory had sat at his table, and now….
    All he wanted to do was to carry her off to his motel room. As she responded to his kiss, she linked her hands behind his neck, pressed into him, and fervently met his tongue. She was arousing him as much as he hoped he was arousing her. This wasn’t his style. He didn’t meet women in bars and take them back to his room. Yet a woman’s kiss had never aroused him in just this way, making him hungry with a need that could rage out of control. He’d always controlled desire and passion and how much he’d given and how much he’d taken. But kissing this woman named Mallory was an extraordinary experience.
    Before he did something indecent on the dance floor, he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. “How about more champagne?”
    Her expression was bemused when she leaned away slightly and lifted her chin. “All right. I am thirsty.”
    Curving his arm around her waist, he led her back to their table. This time when he poured the champagne, she clinked her glass against his. “To leaving the past behind.”
    Looking into her beautiful hazel eyes, he smiled and echoed, “To leaving the past behind.”
    Â 
    When Mallory awakened, there was warmth all around her. The sheet grazed her shoulder and something tickled her nose….
    The moment she became conscious that she was naked and lying beside a sexy male, her cheek pressed against his chest, she sat bolt upright, leaving at least a foot between her and the man in the king-size bed.
    Then she remembered. The bar… dancing…Reed… She didn’t even know his last name!
    Appalled and ashamed at behavior that was so unlike her, she put her fingers to her temples, realizing she had a terrible headache. Not only that, but she couldn’t remember anything past dancing and drinking glass after glass of champagne. When she yanked the sheet up to her neck, she saw her dress, bra, panties and sandals scattered alongside the bed, and she groaned. What had she done?
    Her quick bounce to the headboard must have awakened Reed. Rising up on one elbow, he slowly smiled at her. “G’day.”
    The sight of his tousled hair and rugged face, his broad shoulders and his bare chest, let alone his barely covered— “Good day?” she asked, her voice rising on the last word. “I don’t think so.” She scrambled out of bed, taking the sheet with her to cover herself, then realized she’d left him naked.
    Her cheeks flamed with the horror of what she’d done last night—or what he’d done, or what they’d done together. Suddenly the past month of indecision about Winston, the phone conversation she’d overheard that told her he was a dangerous man, the frantic drive out of San Francisco, leaving her engagement ring and a note to explain to her mother, all caught up to her.
    â€œHow dare you do this to me?” she erupted.
    â€œDo what?” Reed looked just-awakened, rumpledand terribly sexy. “Wish you a good morning Aussie-style?”
    With her gaze firmly