Free Full Throttle Yearning by Aurora Rose Lynn Page B

them. The end.” She ran out of the room and down the stairs, feeling like Cinderella missing a glass slipper. When she reached her motorbike under the star-encrusted night sky, she breathed a heavy sigh of utter relief.
     
    From the bedroom window, Charlie watched as Roxie started the bike and it roared to life, breaking the night’s silence. She pumped the gas several times before she finally raced off into the darkness. The noise gradually decreased until there was nothing but the chirping of crickets to be heard.
    Raw emotion churned in his gut. He turned around and surveyed the bed on which he’d recently found comfort and joy. That whole speech about a rich boy and a poor girl had sounded awfully contrived. He’d heard enough lies in court to know, which once more confirmed his rising suspicion that Roxie was hiding something she didn’t want him to understand. This time he would act on his doubts, just as he would if a client had ordered him to leave no stone unturned. He lifted his cell phone and hit speed dial five, his friend the private eye, whom he trusted the most to keep a secret.
    Off the freeway, in a well-lit parking lot, Roxie zoomed in alongside a new model pickup truck. She felt as if she were choking. How could she have left Charlie, saying what she had, after the best sex ever? He was one in a million, and of course she wanted more of him, but she’d left his world behind and she wasn’t sure he’d fit in to the one she’d made for herself.
    She restarted the bike and headed for home. LA was a city that never slept, and even at midnight there was plenty of traffic on the freeway with her. Thankfully, it wasn’t crawling along in lanes that were bumper to bumper. Still, the drive took longer than she’d expected. She had plenty of time to think.
    In her apartment, she sipped a refreshingly cold orange juice and leaned her hip against the counter. Next door, the neighbors were having a raucous party, but she shut out the sounds of laughter, shouts and crashes.
    She had been attracted to Charlie from the first second she’d seen him. He seemed genuinely concerned about her welfare…and that struck her as odd coming from a man who maintained the lifestyle he did. She had to hit upon a new job so he wouldn’t be able to find her.
    Why hadn’t he called her on the fact that she’d pretty much stolen his parking space earlier? Had the sex been so important to him?
    Face it, Elizabeth Audrey Harrier. The sex was important to you too. You wouldn’t have gone out of your way to make the trip to Malibu if it hadn’t been. In the morning, you need to find a new job so Charlie can’t trace you.
    The tall glass slipped in her hand and hit the sink with a loud crash. She hurried to clean up the mess, running water from the faucet.
    I don’t know how I’ll tell Gerry. He’s been so kind to me, hiring me on right away, but I have to leave, even the notion isn’t sitting well with me. Charlie’s rich, he has the resources to find me if he wants. Just like Father—and why hasn’t he found me?
    The question troubled Roxie. Her father, like Charlie, had every resource one could think of at his command. Then why not find the recalcitrant daughter? What part of the puzzle was she missing? She was intelligent, educated at an Ivy League school, yet she couldn’t figure out why her father did what he did. She laughed a little at that. Men were, quite probably, the greatest enigma ever.
    The neighbors pounded several times on the wall adjoining the kitchen. Or was it the neighbors? Trepidation ran up and down her spine as she remembered the feeling of being watched earlier. Why hadn’t she felt those ominous eyes at Charlie’s as they made love?
    She sighed and settled onto the cot with its light throw. Had Charlie been serious about doing a sixty-nine? She’d heard about it but never tried it. If he asked her again she’d go for it. But he wouldn’t find her.
    Then again, she owed Gerry two