Free The Angel Tasted Temptation by Shirley Jump Page B

would mean a relationship and where Meredith came from, there was only one reason for a relationship.
    A ring.
    She didn't want one of those. And she didn't want any loose ends left here in Boston when she returned to Heavendale. "No, I don't want to do that," she said finally.
    "Uh-huh." A smile crossed his lips. "Then we're perfect for each other because I'm the last man on earth who should have a relationship with a woman."
    She opened her mouth to ask him about that, then shut it again. That would be going down the very road she'd vowed not to take. Nope. Meredith was only interested in the highway. None of those traditional detours for her.
    She pushed a smile to her face. A wind gusted past and tangled in her hair, whipping it against her cheeks. "Well, shall we go to a hotel?"
    Get it over with, quick, before she changed her mind.
    His smile widened. "A woman who says shall," he said softly. "No, we won't be going to a hotel right now."
    "But—but—" That was the agreement. That was all she wanted. Not to look at him and think how nice he'd look sitting on a porch swing beside her, sipping lemonade and complaining about the summer heat but meaning something else.
    He took a step closer, his hand reaching up to brush the hair out of her face. "Don't be in such a rush, Meredith. Savor the anticipation."
    She stepped back, breaking the contact. He was messing up the plan. "I don't need to be wooed, Travis. You don't have to make me anticipate anything."
    He shook his head. "Sorry, but I have other plans for you."
    "Other plans?" The words came out in a squeak.
    "Do you trust me?"
    "Trust you? I don't even know you."
    He pressed his right hand against her abdomen. Heat raced through her, as if he'd tossed a match into her gut."Here, Meredith. That's where you find trust."
    "That's also where you'll find the chicken I had for dinner."
    "Chicken? When you're in Boston?" He shook his head. "Seems a shame, when you're surrounded by the best seafood in the world."
    "I stick to safe meals. You can get food poisoning from undercooked shellfish."
    "And salmonella from chicken and trichinosis from pork." Travis took her hand and tugged her toward his car. He leaned forward and opened the passenger's side door for her. "Come on, live a little dangerously, Meredith."
    "I am living dangerously. I'm meeting you and asking you to ... well..."
    Unwrap a little foil with her? Hop in the sack and do the horizontal mambo with her? That sounded too crass, so Meredith let the words trail off.
    Travis grinned. "I never do that on an empty stomach."
    She slid into the seat and looked up at him. His eyes were such a deep green, like roasted spearmint leaves. "If you eat a full meal first won't you get stomach cramps?"
    He laughed as he shut her door, then came around the car and slid in beside her. "It's not swimming, Meredith. You're okay to enter the shark-infested waters with me anytime."
    That was an image that only inflamed the heat inside her. Swimming with him. Naked. Water running down that hard body, sluicing between them.
    Meredith reached forward and flipped the air conditioning on, in lieu of a cold shower.
    Travis put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb.
    "Travis, I didn't ask to be wined and dined," she said a moment later, as they wound their way out of Cambridge and through the downtown streets of Boston. "You don't have to do this."
    "I'm giving you a taste of the city. Isn't that what you want?"
    "Well, maybe a small taste since it is my first time here. And then—"
    "And then we'll get to tasting what you wanted. I promise."
    His grin sent another shiver of heat through her, despite the cold air blowing on her skin. And, damn him, it also gave her a little thrill of anticipation and joy that he'd planned something, rather than rushing off to the first Motel 6 he found that had left the light on.
    Damn him , she thought again. He'd gone and put penguins in the chicken coop of her plan. All she wanted was an end to