Free Escaping Christmas by Lisa DeVore Page B

feel his hands on her. Closing her eyes, she imagined what it would be like.
    “Zach, I…”
    “Go work on that book. Imagine that life with me. Maybe then you’ll believe. Maybe, then, we can both believe.” He lifted a box and headed toward the door. “I’m going to throw a couple logs on the fire and take that nap.”
    Alex folded her arms in front of her, although the cold was the farthest thing from her mind. She glanced down at the boxes that remained. A life with Zach Camden? Could it be possible? She had wanted marriage, kids…but she had planned it all around Owen. How could she let herself believe again? Taking a deep breath, she went to the desk and grabbed the notebook.
    “The pen’s in the left side drawer,” she heard from the couch.
    “Thanks,” she muttered, pulling out the chair. The desk was situated in front of the window. “Do you mind if I opened the shutter?”
    “Not at all. Whatever inspires you, honey.”
    She stole a glance in his direction. Sprawled out on the couch in jeans and a black concert t-shirt, he couldn’t have looked sexier. He had one arm behind his head that showcased his tattooed bicep. Alex sighed and turned her attention back outside. The snow wasn’t falling as hard and she was a bit sad about that. Soon, Zach would be going home and she would be left to forgetting him.
    She settled in, facing the window and tapped the pen to paper. What to write about? How the hero was really a cheating husband and the heroine met her Prince Charming in the middle of nowhere? No. She didn’t want that tramp around Zach, not even if it was within the pages of a book. Alex thought of his advice, to write about what she would imagine their marriage to be. Leave the movie characters out of it. Then it hit her…the plot didn’t have to be someone coming between them, but the danger could come from the elements. She would allow their real life story to inspire this one, just as he’d said. Every story had to have a hurdle…this one would be about survival. She wrote furiously for two hours.
    Alex held the pages in front of her and rotated her shoulders. She jumped when strong hands massaged her neck. She exhaled with pleasure. Then the warmth of his lips found a path down her neck. She trembled. Zach wrapped his arms around her from behind and whispered, “How did the writing go?”
    “We’re off to a good start.”

Chapter Twelve
    “Yeah?” he asked, pulling her to her feet. “Did it include any of this?” He nuzzled her neck and she leaned her head to one side, lost in the moment. His lips found hers and she responded, sliding her arms around his neck.
    “I’m only on Chapter Four,” she answered in a labored breath while his hands slipped inside her sweatshirt. The touch of his hands running up and down her back nearly set her ablaze.
    He stared into her eyes. “Let me know when we get to the chapter I make love to you.”
    “Zach…” Her heart was beating so fast. She couldn’t think.
    “What is it, honey?”
    “I want you,” she whispered.
    “And I want you,” he answered. “But, not with anyone between us.”
    “I’m not thinking of anyone else.” She ran her hands inside the front of his shirt, sighing at the warmth of his skin. His muscles tensed as she traveled upward.
    Zach pulled her hands away. “Not now.”
    The rejection filled her eyes with tears.
    “Lexie, don’t think I don’t want to.”
    “I understand, really. I’m damaged goods and you have to fix me first.” She turned away from him.
    “Look at me.”
    She refused.
    “I said look at me, Lexie,” he demanded.
    Her arms folded in front of her. “What?”
    “Are you really seeing me?”
    What did he want from her?
    He ran his hands up and down his face and let out a sigh of frustration. “I want more with you than a roll in the hay. I know you find that hard to believe. It’s not going to change.”
    “Then show me.” Desperation filled her voice and she hated the sound of