Free Only Skin Deep by Cathleen Galitz Page A

children as much as she did. That didn’t lessen the sense of disappointment that swamped her at the thought that this night may well be over before it even began however.
    â€œDon’t you carry something with you?” she asked meekly.
    Travis glared at her. “I don’t know what you’ve heard about me, but for your information, I’m not a walking drugstore and I don’t sleep around indiscriminately.”
    Lauren was glad the local gossips had it wrong. Not that it helped do anything to solve her present predicament: that of wanting this man more than life itself and being in the position to do nothing about it. She doubted whether she’d ever be able to muster up the courage to throw herself at him again.
    â€œMaybe we should just forget the whole thing,” Travis suggested in a tone that sounded less than chivalrous as he ran a hand through his hair in a gesture of pure frustration.
    â€œMaybe I don’t want to.”
    The petulance in her own voice surprised Lauren. She hadn’t waited this long and worked herself into such a state to let opportunity pass her by so easily. All of a sudden she didn’t care if she sounded forward. She didn’t even care if she sounded desperate.
    The last time she’d had sex she’d been too inexperienced and nervous to truly enjoy the experience. Tonight was going to be different. Tonight would fulfill the fantasies of a girl who’d never allowed herself to do more than dream of Travis Banks between the sheets of her lonely twin bed.
    â€œDon’t you have something at home?” she asked. “For emergencies.”
    The hard, searching look that Travis gave her left her feeling weightless.
    â€œWe’re not at my house. If you really want to do this, I suppose I could run over there and check, but you have to promise not to pass out in the meantime.”
    As if she could possibly fall asleep! The chances of that happening were as likely as Travis reappearing with a wedding ring instead of a prophylactic. Worried that she was risking the humiliation of waiting naked for him when he had no intention of coming back, Lauren asked for the bare minimum in terms of commitments from him.
    â€œI’ll promise—if in return, you’ll promise not to get lost on the way.”
    Travis’s expression turned feral, and his voice lowered to a growl.
    â€œDon’t even think about falling asleep. I’ll be right back.”
    With that, he disappeared into the night, leaving Lauren feeling as powerful as a magician. And as helpless as a bunny plucked from a black top hat by the swish of a wand.
    Travis hadn’t bothered putting on his shirt. Lauren hoped the cold air on his bare skin would motivate him to hurry, although if he was anywhere near as hot as she at the moment, nothing short of fulfillment was likely to have any effect on his temperature. However the second that she heard the front door close behind Travis, her bravado deserted her. Her mind raced with unanswered questions that immobilized her with fear.
    What if I can’t please him?
    What if sex ruins our relationship, and I end up losing the only nice affordable rental in the county?
    And what does one wear to a full-fledged seduction?
    Never having bothered to replace the old nightgown she’d given to Goodwill, Lauren had simply been sleeping in the nude since moving out of her mother’s house. As tempted as she was to slip into an oversize T-shirt, pull the covers up to her chin and make herself invisible again before Travis could get back, she had no intention of letting him know just how nervous she really was.
    Now was not the time for belated caution.
    Now was the time to go all out and make her dreams come true—if only for this one very special night.

Six
    S tumbling through sagebrush and clumps of cactus in the dark, Travis cursed his weakness as a man. It bothered him that Lauren considered him some kind of