The One Who Got Away Read Free

Alpha-Gamma-Delta clothes there lived the soul of a wild woman.
    â€œEverybody hungry?”
    Taylor turned to Steve. “Starving. Where are we eating?”
    â€œI thought we’d go over to the Venetian tonight. Eat at The Grand Luxe.”
    â€œGreat.”
    He turned to Lisa, his gaze adoring. “I’ll go get a cab,” he said.
    â€œI’ll come with you. Give Taylor and Ben a chance to catch up.”
    They walked away, leaving her alone with him and awkwardness swallowed her whole. She smiled, turned toward the big glass doors with the guitar-shaped pulls.
    â€œIt’s been a while,” Ben said, moving closer to her, ratcheting up the heat in the casino by a good ten degrees. “You look great.”
    â€œThanks. So do you.”
    His low chuckle made her look. The moment their eyes met, she was lost—eighteen again, fumbling, frightened, drowning in lust.
    Ben watched as Taylor’s eyes dilated, the pale blue shrinking to a thin halo. Her lips parted, revealing the tops of her even, white teeth. Her cheeks turned from pastel pink to dark, and he thought of her breasts, remembering clearly the shape of her nipples, the color of her areoles matching exactly her blush.
    He let his gaze wander to her lips: plump, glistening, inviting, then down her remarkable neck, long and elegant, like Audrey Hepburn’s, only Taylor wasblond, a real blonde, with long straight hair that flowed down her back, that rippled in the artificial lights of the lobby. Her figure had changed, all for the better. At eighteen, she’d been so slender he’d been afraid of hurting her. Now, her hips had become womanly, her breasts a perfect handful. But she still had the silky skin of a teenager.
    That weekend so long ago had rocked his world. Had made him realize what making love could be. Had taken him from fair-to-middling to a pretty damn skilled lover. He’d remembered it from time to time, always with a smile. But he’d never once thought there could be a repeat. Time and life had a way of softening the edges of memories. He had no desire to refocus, to see the inevitable chinks and flaws that ride along with reality.
    Oh, who was he kidding. He’d beg if he had to.

2
    â€œW E’D BETTER get out there,” Taylor said. “They probably have the cab ready.”
    â€œRight.” Ben waited until she started walking toward the front entrance to move next to her, to place his hand at the small of her back. He felt her shiver as he touched her.
    She cleared her throat. “So you’re living in New York.”
    â€œYep. Manhattan.”
    â€œI love that city. Where?”
    â€œWhat used to be called Hell’s Kitchen. Now it’s almost as trendy as Tribeca.”
    â€œYou must hate that.”
    â€œI do. But there’s nothing to be done. I’ve got my office in the same building, two stories down. I don’t want to move.”
    â€œWhat’s it like being a private eye?”
    â€œIt’s just like in the movies. Smoky bars, jazz playing in the background, fallen women, men with dark pasts and unregistered guns.”
    â€œCute,” she said, as they got outside.
    The heat shocked him again, like when he’d come from the airport. Not that it wasn’t hot in Manhattan, but here it didn’t stick to your skin like wet towels.
    Taylor must have noticed his reaction. “It was in the low seventies when I left this morning,” she said. “Oh, there they are.”
    Steve was standing beside a Yellow Cab. “You’re in San Francisco, right?”
    She nodded. “Right near Lombardi. The apartment is too expensive, but I love riding my bike there.”
    â€œTen speed?”
    â€œHonda Shadow.”
    He stopped short. A motorcycle? Interesting. “You’ll have to tell me all about it.”
    Before she slid into the cab, she smiled at him. “Oh, I plan to.”
    He watched her maneuver onto