Against Her Odds: when dedication meets desire Read Online Free Page B

anymore, but that
was fine with Val. She found herself sandwiched firmly between his muscular
chest and her front door. When his thigh wedged in between her legs she heard
herself moan as she flexed her body against his. She’d never had such instant
chemistry with a man in her life and, as much as she wanted to turn the
doorknob and tumble into bed with him...or even onto the floor with him...she knew
that she couldn’t do it. She eased back and he responded instantly.
    “I’d better go,” he said, his low voice now
as ragged as his breathing. “Before you have to watch a grown man beg.”
    She laughed breathlessly, straightening her
dress. “All right. But you’ll have to come back soon.”
    “Believe me darlin’, after that, you
couldn’t keep me away,” he promised her, unable to stop himself for pulling her
close for one more kiss. He liked the way her hands tightened on his shoulders
when they kissed. He loved the way she gave herself over to the moment. Now he
was more hopeful than ever that someday he might get to take her to bed with
him.
    When he finally released her, Val unlocked
her door and stepped inside. Her shaking legs barely took her to the couch and
she couldn’t help but giggle over that. It had been way too long since she’d
felt this good after a date.
    The feeling lasted until she checked her
cell phone, which had somehow ended up set to silent. Something in her small
purse must have pressed against it. The station had called. Twice. Her heart
dropped to her stomach.
    “Oh no!” She hit redial quickly. “Hey, it’s
Val. What do you need?”
    “Nothing now,” the night manager answered
cheerfully. “There was a fire at the warehouse, but we got it covered. Don’t worry
about it.”
    Don’t worry about it? Val wanted to scream!
“Okay. Well, thanks for calling me though.”
    “Sure. See you tomorrow.”
    She hung up with a disheartened groan. What
had she done to deserve this type of karma? She was a good person, damn it! Her
phone buzzed again and she answered quickly.
    “How’d the date go?”
    “Oh, it’s you.”
    “Well, thanks a lot!” Becky said
indignantly. “Does that mean it didn’t go well?”
    “No, it actually went great. But while I
was out, I completely missed the chance to cover a real story.”
    “Oh yeah, the fire. Well, I know that isn’t
what you like to hear, but what’s done is done. Tell me about your date! How
did he take the speech? Did he stomp off vowing to find a woman who would
settle down and bear his children? Hopefully in my general direction?” Becky
teased.
    “No,” Val informed her. “He took it well.
No complaints.” In spite of her irritation that she’d missed out on what could
have been a career changing story, she found herself remembering his kiss. She
brushed her fingers over her lips as if he’d left a physical imprint on her.
“It ended well too.”
    “Oh really?” Becky sounded interested.
“Spill it.”
    “It’s not what you’re thinking. You know I
don’t do that type of thing on the first date. It was...it was just a kiss.”
Quite possibly the best kiss of her life, but she wasn’t obligated to tell her
friend everything.
    “A good kiss?”
    “A very good kiss,” Val confirmed.
    “You like him!” Becky gasped.
    “That is why I went out with him,” Val said
in confusion.
    “No, I haven’t ever heard you sound like
this about a guy. You didn’t even get upset with Jerry when he moved to
Australia and you had been dating him for six months.”
    “It was a great opportunity,” she answered.
“I would have done the same thing.”
    “Sure. Because you were hardly interested
in the guy. What would you do if Cason moved to Australia?”
    “I’d wonder why he was doing it when his
farm is here. Honestly, Becky, you’re getting way ahead of yourself. I do like
Cason. I would very much like to kiss Cason again. But I’m committed to my
career and this conversation isn’t going to change