Drive Me Wild Read online

  “That’s so sweet. And so dumb. Listen, you—”

  “No, you listen.” Alec took a deep breath. “I’ve hated school all these years. I hate school as much as you do, but I’ve stayed with it because I thought I had to, to please my dad. As you might have noticed, I couldn’t force myself to actually finish any of those degrees.”

  “I noticed.”

  “See, Molly’s folks wanted her to be a movie star, but she stuck to her guns and became a writer, instead. I needed to hear that kind of story, I guess, to give me the courage to go for what I really want.”

  Josh looked down at his beer can, turning it around and around in his hands. Finally he glanced up again. “At least finish out the semester. Then you can think about this over the summer. This is too big a decision to make it so fast.”

  “It’s too big a decision to put off another second. I can’t finish out the semester, Josh. I’m leaving tomorrow morning for California.”

  Josh gaped at him. “You’re not.”

  “Yes, I am. I’m going after Molly.”

  THE NEXT DAY AT NOON, a maid ushered Molly out to the deck of Dana’s Malibu home. Beyond the deck’s redwood railing, the Pacific Ocean glittered under a warm sun. Next to the railing, a wrought-iron table shaded by a large umbrella was set for lunch. A vase of roses sat on the table, and the scent taunted Molly with the memory of Alec, bringing her a single red rose….

  “Molly, sweetheart!”

  Molly turned, dredged up a smile and walked into Dana’s arms for a hug. In between visits she always forgot how small Dana was and how fragile she felt through the multicolored layers of chiffon she loved wearing at home. On the silver screen Dana was a commanding presence, but in person she looked as if a strong wind would blow her off the deck.

  Dana took both Molly’s hands and stood back to gaze at her. “You’re looking beautiful, as always. Very smart in your halter top and hipster jeans. Oh, for the days when I could wear that kind of outfit.”

  Molly laughed as she looked at Dana’s unlined face and cap of dark curls. “Come on, Dana. You could wear this outfit and get wolf whistles.”

  “Sure, down at the rest home! Now, let’s eat. I’m famished.” She led Molly to the table as if she were five years old. “Irma, bring the food and the martini pitcher!”

  Five was how old Molly had been the first time she’d stood on this deck. In the middle of a cocktail party, Dana had brought out a pack of cards and played Go Fish with her youngest guest. Molly had been Dana’s slave ever since.

  “So, how are things in Connecticut?” Dana asked as the maid served crab salad and sliced melon.

  Molly sipped her martini. Dana’s house was the only place where she drank them. Maybe it was the martini. Maybe the scent of roses got past her defenses. In any case, the words came out before she could stop them. “I met someone.”

  “You did?” Dana’s famous blue eyes gleamed with interest. “Is he wonderful? Well, of course he’s wonderful, or you wouldn’t have given him the time of day. When do I get to meet him?”

  Before Molly could stop herself, she was blubbering into her crab salad and confessing the whole miserable story. Dana made sympathetic little noises and rubbed her back until Molly finally sputtered to a stop and wiped her eyes on her linen napkin.

  “I didn’t meant to blurt all that out,” she said, sniffing and looking at Dana through watery eyes.

  “Of course you did.” Dana gave her a squeeze. “I’ve had more than my share of experience in this area, sweetheart, so I totally understand heartbreak. Are you absolutely positive that this young man—Alec, is it?”

  Molly nodded.

  “Are you quite sure that Alec couldn’t become a lawyer and be involved with you?”

  “It looks that way. He has a history of giving up on his studies when something more interesting comes along.”

  Dana smiled. “I’m sure you’re more interesting than any old textbook, but darling, in my experience, which is considerable, if a man wants to become a doctor, or a lawyer, or, heaven help us, an actor, nothing will stop him, not even a beautiful woman. Woman are more easily distracted by love than men. Trust me on this.”

  “Lust,” Molly said.

  “Pardon?”

  “He was distracted by lust. I don’t know that love factored into it.”

  “Ah. But it did with you, didn’t it, sweetheart?”

  Molly nodded again.

  “So you made the ultimate sacrifice. I wonder if he’ll let you do that.”

  “He might. For one thing, I’m afraid he thinks I have a boyfriend here in California.”

  “Why on earth would he think that?”

  Molly took a long, shaky breath. “Because I never told him why I come out here so often. So, naturally he could assume—”

  “Well, you need to tell him why.”

  Molly blinked. “Just like that? You don’t even know him. We’ve kept this secret so well because nobody knows except you, me, my folks and Benjamin. I think it’s risky to add another person to that list.”

  Dana sighed and settled back in her chair. “I think it’s risky to keep secrets from those we love. I’ve been wondering if I need to tell Jim.” Her cheeks turned pink. “We might start living together, and I couldn’t very well keep up the charade, but I’m wondering what he’ll say.”

  Molly reached over and squeezed her hand. “Tell him the truth. Tell him we work together on the books.”

  Dana gazed at her. “No, we don’t, and you know it. I’ve only pretended that. You write them, Molly. I only kibitz.”

  Something in Dana’s expression made Molly bold. “Dana, what would you think if…if we made this the last book we did?”

  Relief flooded her features. Then she quickly concealed it. “I couldn’t do that to you. You have a career going.”

  “I want to write under my own name. I think I can do it. No, I know I can.”

  Dana’s eyes widened. “Oh, thank God. I’ve been wanting to wrap this up, especially with Jim on the scene, but it’s been so good for you, and I didn’t want to take away your chance to write for a living.” She picked up her martini glass. “Here’s to the retirement of Dana Kyle, bestselling author, and the rise of Molly Drake, a new publishing star on the horizon.”

  “I can’t believe this. Are you sure you want to end Dana Kyle’s career as a writer?”

  “Yes. And look, darling, something has to work out for you. If it can’t be love, then maybe it can be your career. Now, toast with me. To your success.”

  “All right.” Smiling, Molly clicked the rim of her glass against Dana’s. “To success.” As she drank, she thought about Dana. She had a career most women would envy, but she’d lost her true love and had spent years searching for the right man to share her life. Molly hoped she wasn’t doomed to repeat that pattern.

  THE HOME OF OWEN DRAKE and Cybil O’Connor wasn’t listed on the tourist map labeled Homes of the Stars, and Alec knew better than to try the phone book. Finally he figured out the answer. In a Tom Hanks kind of move, he walked into a florist shop in Beverly Hills and paid an obscene amount of money to send flowers to Molly Drake, daughter of Owen Drake.

  He admitted to the counter clerk that he didn’t know where the Drakes lived, but he added a large tip with the understanding that the florist would know. The clerk promised that the flowers would be delivered. Alec included a note telling Molly that he’d be in the cocktail lounge of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel at six that night, if she was willing to see him.

  The hotel was an instinctive choice—it was where they’d filmed Pretty Woman. He was looking for all the good karma he could find, and if the place had worked for Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, it might work for Molly Drake and Alec Masterson. It was the best he could do.

  For the rest of the afternoon he walked along Rodeo Drive carrying his small gym bag and wondering if he might run into Molly coming out of one of the shops. He didn’t see Molly, but he was positive Jennifer Aniston
walked past, and he could swear the guy getting into the Jag parked at the curb up ahead of him was Hugh Jackman.

  No doubt about it, Molly lived in a completely different world here in California. But she’d given up this life for her grandmother’s cottage in Old Saybrook. He kept reminding himself of that to shore up his courage.

  At five-thirty he went into the hotel lounge and ordered himself an imported beer. He didn’t feel right sitting at one of the raised tables with a domestic brand in front of him. Money was flowing out of his pockets in a steady stream, what with the last-minute plane ticket, the cab ride from LAX and the flowers. Fortunately Josh had agreed to let him buy into the business with sweat equity when the time came.

  As he sat nursing his beer, he thought about what he had to offer Molly. Not much. Looking at his financial picture nearly made him pay for the beer and leave. But he couldn’t do that. He was through giving up on things. Now that he’d decided what he needed in his life—Molly and a business partnership with Josh—he was going after them, no matter how scared he was.

  At ten minutes to six, Molly arrived, her face pink with fury. The rest of her looked wonderful, though, with her cute little halter top and low-slung jeans. She slammed her purse down on the table and climbed onto a stool across from him.

  He loved her so much, he couldn’t manage to say a single word.

  She could, though. “Exactly what do you think you’re doing here? What about your exam? What about your paper? What about—”

  “Us?”

  “You’re doing it, aren’t you?” She was quivering with anger. “You’re giving up being a lawyer because of me. So help me, Alec, I—”

  “No, not because of you.”

  Her jaw dropped and she seemed to momentarily stall out.

  “Molly, I love you, but that’s not why I’m giving up on becoming a lawyer.”

  “It is so! You’re using me as…” Her eyes widened and she gulped. “Wait a minute. What…what did you say, again?”

  “I love you, but that’s not why I’m—”

  Tears filled her eyes. “You love me?”

  “With all my heart. And you love me.”

  Tears streamed down her cheeks. “No, I don’t. Not if it’s going to mess up your life.”

  Finally he gave in to the need to touch her. He reached over and took her hand in both of his. This was how they’d begun, holding hands across a table, deciding to spend the afternoon in a hotel room together. Or maybe they’d begun the first time he’d laid eyes on Molly Drake.

  She used her free hand to swipe at her eyes. “Alec, go back to Connecticut. You’re so smart, you can still save your semester if you take the next flight and get right to work.”

  He smiled and squeezed her hand. “You’re making my point for me. Only a woman who really loves a man would give him up, even though she wants him so much it makes her cry.”

  “I’m no good for you!” She grabbed the napkin from his side of the table and wiped her nose. “Don’t you see that?”

  “I see that you’re perfect for me. I only hope that after I tell you what I’ve decided to do with my life, you’ll decide I’m perfect for you.”

  She wiped her nose again and sniffed. “You’d make such a good lawyer. And you’ve already studied so hard to get to where you are. I can’t stand the idea of you quitting now.”

  “Maybe you will after you hear what I have to say.” Speaking carefully, he explained everything, beginning with his parents’ hopes for him from the time he was in grade school to his bungled attempts to fulfill those hopes. He’d always thought he was persuasive, which was the reason he’d decided to give law a try. He hoped to hell that he could be persuasive now.

  At last he’d laid his case in front of her. He’d even mentioned George, the happy bookstore owner. He paused, his pulse racing, and waited for her reaction.

  “What does Josh think?”

  “That I’m an idiot. But I’m counting on you to understand. Your folks wanted something different for you, too.”

  Her fingers tightened in his. “Alec, on that subject, there’s something I want to tell you about why I’ve been coming to California so much. I—”

  “It doesn’t matter. If it’s a boyfriend, then you’ll just have to get rid of him. Because you’re going to marry me. I’m the right guy for you, as long as you don’t mind being married to somebody who chauffeurs people around for—”

  She launched herself in his direction, nearly toppling the table and his beer as she came off her stool and pulled him off of his. “I love you!” She grabbed him and kissed him with such enthusiasm that he grew dizzy and had to hold on to her really tight. At last she paused to take in some air.

  “Wow. I guess you do love me.” Alec wasn’t about to let go of her, but he wondered what the patrons of the bar were thinking of this display. Well, they were in Hollywood, so maybe it wasn’t all that unusual.

  Then again, maybe they were attracting some unwanted attention. From the corner of his eye, Alec saw a twenty-something kid sidling up to them.

  “Excuse me.” The kid addressed Molly. “But aren’t you Owen Drake’s daughter? I forget your name, but I remember the red hair.”

  Molly turned and gazed at the guy for a long moment. “No. I’m not.”

  “Are you positive? You look exactly like her.”

  Alec’s arms tightened possessively. “Actually, she’s Molly Masterson, the writer.”

  Smiling, Molly glanced quickly into Alec’s eyes. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “Personally, I like the sound of it.”

  Joy danced in her green eyes. “Me, too.”

  “Hey, I’ve never heard of a writer named Molly Masterson,” the kid said.

  “You will.” Alec glared at him. “Now, scram.” He thought he sounded like Robert De Niro, the way he said that. Hollywood was getting to be a fun place.

  With a shrug, the kid left.

  Molly continued to gaze up at him adoringly. “So you really don’t want to hear why I’ve been making all these trips to L.A.?”

  He did, but she seemed to like knowing that he’d take her, secret and all. “Someday. When you’re ready to tell me.”

  She looked so happy, she glowed. “That’s how I know you love me. You’ll take me, anyway.”

  “I’ll take you any way I can get you.” He leaned down and kissed her again, just to make sure this was all real. Then he gazed into her eyes. “And you’re sure it’s okay that all I want to do is be partners with Josh in the limo business?”

  “More than okay.” She cupped his face in both hands. “And you can drive Molly Masterson, the writer, anywhere, anytime.”

  He held her close and pictured all the years of loving this amazing woman. The moment needed a good, movie-style line to make it complete, and he had just the one. “I think—” he paused and leaned down to feather her mouth with his “—that I’ll just drive you wild.”

  EPILOGUE

  A year later

  FOR A WOMAN who was exhausted, sweaty and unbelievably sore, Molly felt damn good. Alec stood by her hospital bed holding a swaddled Cybil Denise, named after her two grandmothers. Denise, the new grandma, was going crazy with the camera, while Alec’s father, Jerry, couldn’t stop grinning, and his sister, Lauren, kept begging to hold the baby.

  Alec didn’t look as if he’d hand her over anytime soon. He stared at his daughter with such adoration that Molly decided she’d have to be the disciplinarian in the family. Cybil’s daddy would give her the moon and a golden box to put it in.

  With the way things were going with A Sweet Ride, the new car service he and Josh had launched six months ago, baby Cybil would be showered with presents from her daddy. Neither of the men could have predicted that their old boss would declare bankruptcy, leaving the customer base to flounder. Josh and Alec had moved swiftly to open A Sweet Ride, buying up the limos at auction so the business was ready to roll in under a month.

  Molly hadn’t seen mu
ch of Alec since then. She’d consoled herself with a particularly hot memory. Nine months ago he’d surprised her with an impromptu trip into the city and an amazing night in the same hotel room where they’d first made love. Molly was positive that was when they’d created Cybil Denise.

  Alec had promised that once the baby came he’d cut back on his hours. From his awestruck expression as he gazed at his child, he wouldn’t have any trouble keeping that promise. Molly looked forward to having Alec around a little more. Other than the carpenters adding a second bedroom onto the cottage, she hadn’t had much company recently except for the characters in her new book.

  “Come on, Alec,” Lauren begged. “Give her to me. You have those father-of-the-kid things to do, like call everybody you know and brag on your ability to reproduce.”

  “I do wish you’d call my parents,” Molly added gently. “And Dana. And Josh. And Benjamin.”

  “Benjamin?” Alec frowned. “Can’t we just send him an announcement?”

  “No, we can’t.” Molly laughed, and discovered that laughing hurt. She didn’t care. It was so worth it, to be here watching the man she loved more than life holding their beautiful child. “Benjamin specifically asked to be called. He should still be at the office.” Ever since Benjamin had trashed her first book, even though he’d since raved over the rewrites, Alec hadn’t been able to warm up to the guy.

  Alec sighed. “Okay. After I call your folks and Dana and Josh, I’ll call ol’ Benny.” He reluctantly eased Cybil into Lauren’s eager arms. “Be careful. Support her head. Don’t let her get in a draft. Make sure you—”

  “Oh, good grief, Alec.” Lauren adjusted the baby in her arms and peered into her wrinkled little face. “You are in big trouble, C.D. Your daddy isn’t going to let you do anything fun, so you’ll have to—”

  “She is not going to be called C.D.,” Alec said darkly.

  Lauren gave him an impish grin. “We’ll see. Now make your calls.”

  Molly tried to stay awake as Alec called both her parents, Dana and Josh. But she was so very tired. She managed to rouse herself long enough to tell them each that she loved them when Alec held the phone to her ear. Then she closed her eyes again while he dialed Benjamin’s number.