Drive Me Wild Read online

  “Don’t forget to eat,” she said. “You should have let me fix you something.”

  “I’ll eat. And if I’d stayed for breakfast, we would have ended up plastered against your kitchen table. After making you a promise, I didn’t dare test myself that far.”

  “I’m impressed with your resolve.”

  “Thanks.” He pictured her pacing around the telephone table as she talked to him. He wanted to be with her so much he ached. “What are you going to do for the next two days?” He wasn’t sure he had a right to ask, but he wanted to know.

  “I’ll write.”

  “Think you can do that without watching the video?”

  “Yeah,” she said softly. “All I have to do is close my eyes and everything comes back to me.”

  “Same here.” He didn’t even have to close his eyes. He could still feel her touch and taste her skin.

  “The video may be overkill.”

  “But let’s watch it anyway, Saturday night.”

  She laughed. “Saturday night at the movies.”

  “Yeah. I’ll bring popcorn.”

  “Maybe you should just bring the oil.”

  “Now, there’s an idea.” He was so into that image that he jumped when his doorbell buzzed. “Molly, somebody’s at the door. Hold on and I’ll—”

  “No, I’ll hang up now. We could talk forever, and you need to work.”

  “But—”

  “’Bye, Alec.” The line went dead.

  With a soft curse he disconnected his cell and walked to the door. But he thought it was interesting that she’d said they could talk forever. It almost sounded as if she liked him for reasons other than sex.

  Josh stood on the other side of the door. “Good. You’re home.”

  “And it’s all your fault. Because of your phone call, she kicked me out.”

  Josh walked into the apartment, not waiting for an invitation. “I figured you were there when I couldn’t find you.”

  Alec closed the door with a sigh. “You leaned on her, didn’t you? Made her feel guilty for taking me away from work and school.”

  “I just mentioned the obvious, that you were giving up a lot of money by trying to palm off your driving assignment on somebody else. I didn’t say a word about the school thing.”

  “Damn it, Josh. Couldn’t you have simply left a message for me to call you? I know you think you’re trying to help, but I…” I could still be rolling around in bed with Molly right now. “I can handle this myself.”

  “Think so?” Josh’s gray eyes swept over him. “You were in such a rush to get over to her house you didn’t even ditch the monkey suit first. I’ve never known you to wear that outfit ten seconds longer than necessary. I think you’re in over your head, buddy.”

  “Maybe that’s how I like it.”

  “Well, try this on for size.” Josh flopped down on the sofa, hooked an ankle over his knee and leaned back. “When I was in the law library I asked a couple of people if they’d seen you. One woman in your Wednesday-afternoon lecture said you missed a major test that’s supposed to count for a fourth of your semester grade. Did you happen to forget about that?”

  Alec groaned. “Yeah, I did.” He pulled out a kitchen chair, straddling it to face Josh. “For some reason I thought it was next Wednesday.”

  “I think I know what that reason was. She has red hair and a beautiful pair of—”

  “Watch yourself.”

  “Eyes. I was gonna say eyes.”

  Alec glared at him. “I certainly hope so.”

  “Whew. This is way worse than I thought. I haven’t seen you this territorial in a long time. Didn’t you say this relationship would be short and sweet?”

  “I really don’t want to talk about it, Josh.”

  Josh leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling. “Okay. Your funeral.” He lifted his head and pushed himself up. “Guess I’ll take off and leave you to mop up after yourself. I think you might want to see if your professor for that lecture class has office hours today.”

  “For a guy who has no interest in college, you sure are an expert on the process.” Alec got up from the chair.

  “Hey, I learned all the tricks during my one glorious semester, remember? I happen to hate going to school, but if I thought it would matter whether I had a degree or not, I’d suffer through.” He paused by Alec’s front door. “There is one thing I wanted to ask you.”

  “If it’s about Molly, I think we should drop the subject.”

  “It’s not about Molly.” Some of the swagger disappeared from Josh’s stance. “It’s about Pris.”

  Alec blinked. “Pris?” Josh hadn’t talked about his old girlfriend for months, ever since he’d mentioned that she was getting married. He’d tossed the information out as if it didn’t faze him, but Alec hadn’t believed that for a minute. “What about her?”

  “I don’t know why she’s doing this, but she’s hired Red Carpet for the limo service to and from the church.”

  Alec thought it was strange, too, but he tried to pass it off as nothing. “Maybe she trusts the company to give good service,” he said with a shrug.

  “Yeah, but why the hell did she have to request me as a driver? That’s being a real super-bitch, if you ask me.”

  If Alec hadn’t known Josh for years, he might have missed the hurt hiding behind the anger. “Either she’s out for revenge or she has a twisted sense of humor.”

  “Whichever it is, I don’t want any part of it. I’d appreciate it if you’d step in that day. We don’t have to go through Edgars, because then Pris might get wind of it and pitch a fit. But if you show up on the wedding day instead of me, she can’t do a thing about it at that point.”

  “When is it?”

  “A week from Saturday.”

  Alec wondered where he’d stand with Molly a week from Saturday. Maybe nowhere. They might be over. “Sure, I’ll do that.”

  “I really appreciate it, buddy. And I’m sorry I can’t take the gig for you tonight. My sister called and my nephew’s getting an award at school tonight. She wants the whole family there, so I’m driving up to Hartford this afternoon. Ryan’s a good kid, and I—”

  “No problem.” Now that Alec knew about the test he’d spaced, he realized he had to spend some time getting his life in order. He still didn’t like being away from Molly, but if he didn’t straighten out a few details he really might put the semester in jeopardy. “Thanks for finding out about the test and say hi to Suzanne and the rest of the family for me.”

  “Will do.” With a sloppy salute, Josh opened the door and left.

  Alec gazed at the closed door for several seconds after Josh left. Unless he didn’t know Josh at all, his friend still had feelings for Pris. But when she’d pressured him for a ring last year, he’d bailed and she’d been heart-broken. Maybe she was doing this to prove she was totally over Josh. Whatever her reason, Alec didn’t want to give her the opportunity to zing his friend.

  With a sigh he headed for the shower, stripping off his starched dress shirt on the way. He’d never cared much for the monkey suit, but now he’d always associate it with Molly. Once he’d stepped into the shower, there was the bar of hotel soap to bring him more memories of her. She’d worked her way into his life and under his skin. Next stop—his heart.

  MOLLY WAS BLINDSIDED by how much she missed Alec. The moment he left the cottage, she felt cut off from a significant part of herself. She coped in the way she always had whenever loneliness struck—she wrote.

  Fortunately for her, she had plenty to do. Besides revising the sex scenes in her novel, she had to find a different killer for the mystery she was supposed to be writing for Dana. No way would she let Dana finger Sophie, but maybe the real estate guy wasn’t a good suspect, either. There was a suspicious gardener who might suit her purposes.

  After haggling over points like these with Dana through several books, Molly had learned that if she ditched both her original idea along with Dana’s l
ame contribution, she could usually sell Dana on a third alternative. Part of the drill was making Dana think she’d thought of the compromise. God love her, Dana had the ego most stars needed to survive in Hollywood. Molly had to play to that ego.

  Working on the mystery turned out to be easier than revising sex scenes. After a couple of hours of hot loving between the pages of her book, Molly craved even hotter loving between the sheets of her bed. Her body’s thermostat, previously set on medium, had been turned up to high. She’d gotten exactly what she’d asked for, and now she was writing hot. She was also writing frustrated.

  When the pressure became too much, she’d put her own book aside and wrestle with the plot of the mystery until she’d cooled off a little. By Friday night she recognized that she might have a problem. With a goal of writing sexy novels under her own name instead of cozy mysteries under Dana’s name, she was setting herself up to be permanently aroused.

  Alec could handle that problem beautifully for her, but she couldn’t count on Alec to lower her frustration level on a regular basis. He was a very busy guy, and would continue to be busy for some time to come. But she didn’t want anybody else for the job.

  She’d never considered that getting the experience to write the way she wanted would trip a switch inside that now seemed welded permanently in the on position. Or that the one man who could put out the fire would have too many other pressing things to do.

  In any case, she couldn’t go back, couldn’t erase that afternoon in the hotel room, nor would she want to. Life was more intense now, and she liked that. Instinctively she knew this affair would make her a better writer, even if it made her crazy and broke her heart.

  WHEN SATURDAY FINALLY arrived, she waited eagerly, counting the minutes until Alec would appear. When they’d talked on Thursday, she’d pretended to have errands today, when in fact she had none. But she was embarrassed to admit to him that she was willing to spend their entire time together in bed, so she’d dressed for an outing and was determined they’d have one.

  Her short, flouncy skirt had flowers on it in honor of spring, and her green blouse was the color of new leaves. She’d even added a wide-brimmed straw hat that definitely announced they were going out, not staying in. Maybe she wouldn’t look as desperate for his touch as she felt.

  At one-thirty his black Blazer rumbled to a stop in front of her house. Heart racing, she grabbed her summer straw purse and went out the door. They met in the middle of the flagstone walkway.

  He reached for her, gripping her by both arms, his eyes hidden by his aviator shades, his expression tense. “God, Molly.” His fingers flexed. “You wouldn’t believe how much I’ve missed you.”

  She swallowed. “I probably would.” She trembled, wondering if they should just go back in and quit pretending they were civilized human beings.

  His gaze flicked to her hat. “I guess you weren’t kidding about the errands.”

  Yes, I was. Take me now. “No. I need to go to Mystic and look for some gifts for my parents.” Gifts for her parents had become her all-purpose excuse, apparently.

  A muscle twitched in his jaw. “All right, then. Let’s go.” He kept a grip on her elbow as they walked toward his truck.

  The underside was rusty from too many New England winters spent on salt-packed roads, but the part that still retained a finish gleamed from a recent wash and wax job. Her conscience pricked her. Alec didn’t have time to clean his vehicle.

  But he’d done it, and she should at least let him know she’d noticed. “Your truck looks good.” She took off her hat so she wouldn’t knock it off when she got in.

  “As good as it can, considering it’s about ready to be put out to pasture.” He opened the door and helped her into the Blazer with the same flourish he used with the elegant Town Car, reminding her to buckle up before he closed the door.

  She set her purse on the floor and her hat in her lap. She’d bet the interior had been vacuumed recently, too. The worn upholstery didn’t have a speck of dirt on it. He’d gone to all that trouble for her, she was sure, just in case he ended up taking her somewhere today. She was very glad she’d followed up on the errand plan so his effort hadn’t gone to waste.

  Alec climbed behind the wheel and closed his door. “Maybe I shouldn’t do this, but I have to.” He leaned over and kissed her.

  Immediately lost to the world, she whimpered and clutched his head to bring him closer.

  With a groan he thrust his tongue deep. Then, before the kiss could turn into something else, he pulled away, cleared his throat and started the engine. Soft jazz, their usual traveling music, came from the tape player. He might not have a CD changer, but he’d made sure they had their music, all the same.

  As he drove away from her cottage, he glanced at her. “Notice that I had the discipline to stop kissing you, even though I wanted to rip your clothes off.”

  Still reeling from the kiss, she struggled for breath. “I…noticed.”

  “You seem determined about the errands.”

  “I do?”

  “You wore a hat. That’s a pretty clear signal that you don’t want to start with the usual hanky-panky.”

  “Well, we have the whole day and night, so I—”

  “We have all the way until tomorrow afternoon, Molly.” He took a deep breath, as if hit by a case of nerves. “Unless you have an objection to putting up with me that long.”

  She felt like moaning with pleasure at the thought, but she didn’t want to appear pathetically eager. “Sounds good to me,” she said in the understatement of the year, “but are you sure that you can spare the time?”

  “I’ve worked my tail off since Thursday so that I could spare the time. The one thing keeping me going was the possibility I could be with you for twenty-four hours. If it’s okay with you, you’re my reward for good behavior.”

  “I’d like that.” The prospect was more than fine with her, even though she knew they were both getting in deeper by spending so much time in each other’s company. But maybe there was a way they could make this relationship work.

  He reached over, took her hand and threaded his fingers through hers. “Me, too, Molly. I’d like that…a lot.”

  She loved the way her hand felt in his. They hadn’t done much hand-holding, and yet it seemed like the most natural thing in the world for them to be doing it now.

  “Thank you for giving me a ride in your truck today,” she said.

  “It’s not quite what you’re used to, I guess.”

  “The truth is, I feel honored to be riding in your truck.”

  He laughed. “Honored? I don’t understand that at all.”

  “Usually you’re driving me somewhere because it’s your job, and the Town Car is nice, but it’s…impersonal. This truck is yours, so it has more of your personality.”

  “I hope you’re not saying I’m rusty.”

  “No!” She laughed. “I only—”

  “Because I’ll admit before Tuesday I was a little out of practice, but I think by now the machinery is oiled up pretty good.” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “Don’t you think?”

  “I do.” She grinned at him. “I wasn’t talking about the rust. I was talking about the rugged, manly image of a black truck.”

  “Aha.” He puffed out his chest. “Now we’re talkin’.”

  “With those big, muscular tires.”

  “Yeah, baby.”

  “And fantastic traction on slick, slippery surfaces.”

  “Mmm-hmm. I love it when you talk dirty.”

  They had fun together, she realized. They always had. “I love watching you drive this macho truck. I have to say it suits you much better than the Town Car.”

  He grinned. “Thanks, I think. Here I am trying to better myself and become a fancy lawyer who buys luxury cars as a hobby, and you’re saying I look more at home behind the wheel of a rusty old Blazer. Maybe I don’t have the makings of a high roller.”

  “Being a high roller is highly ove
rrated.”

  He gave her a quick glance. “And you know, don’t you, Molly?”

  “I do know.” Riding along with her hand in his, she knew that she should tell him this much, at least. “My dad’s a film director. Owen Drake.”

  “Holy shit.” His fingers tightened in hers. “No wonder you could run a video camera.”

  “I’ve never been trained, but you can’t help but pick things up.”

  “I’m sure. Owen Drake. Wow.”

  She decided that she might as well add her mother’s name into the mix. “You might not know my mother, but she’s—”

  “Cybil O’Connor. The Haunted Lagoon.” He looked over at her. “I can see the resemblance now.”

  Molly sighed. “I guess The Haunted Lagoon is still on every teenage boy’s must-see list, huh?”

  “I’ll never watch it again, I swear.”

  “It’s okay. I’m fairly used to having a mother who made one of the all-time favorite nude scenes in Hollywood history.” She had a sudden thought. “But don’t tell Josh any of this, okay? I try to keep a low profile. I really don’t want anybody in the area to know. I’m trying to stay anonymous here.”

  He nodded. “I totally understand. This is safe with me.”

  “I knew it would be.”

  He was silent for a while, as if processing what she’d said. “It’s funny, but one of my pipe dreams was becoming an entertainment lawyer. I thought it would be cool to go out there and mingle with the stars.”

  Well, there went any thoughts she might have had about telling him about the ghostwriting. People sometimes made pipe dreams come true. And just because she didn’t like that life, he might, and she didn’t want to give him a secret he might accidentally spill during a cocktail party in Beverly Hills.

  “That probably sounds dumb to you,” he said.

  “Not at all. You might love it. I grew up in that world, and now I want to try and stay as far away from it as I can get.”

  “I can understand that, I guess. You’re a private kind of person. But with your writing ability, you’d sure have the connections to get a screenplay sold.” He paused. “Or is that why you go back all the time? You’re writing screenplays already?”