“How can you be artificially happy?” she asked.
“You know. When you buy a new car and you think you’re happy, and maybe you are for a day or so. But then you realize it’s just a car.”
Angela leaned against him, the warmth from her body seeping into his. “So what makes you really happy?”
“Kissing you does it for me,” he said.
“Then do it,” she said.
This time, he put aside the gentle, sweet kisses they’d shared. Max wanted her to know exactly how he felt about her. His lips found hers and he slowly lowered her into the sand, stretching out beside her.
His hand smoothed over her arms and then lower, to her hip. As she drew her leg up, her skirt fell away and he touched the silky length of her calf. It was so easy to get lost in the feel and taste of her. At first, he didn’t notice the wind picking up, swirling the sand around him.
And then, a moment later, the clouds opened and it began to rain. Max rolled to his side and looked up at the sky. Nature had decided to mess with his perfect date. But to his surprise, Angela didn’t seem to care. Instead, she sat up, turned her face to the sky and laughed.
The downpour had already drenched her hair and her dress, and droplet clung to her lashes. She opened her mouth to catch the rain with her tongue and Max could only watch her. Any other woman would be racing for cover, hoping to preserve her carefully tended appearance. But that obviously hadn’t occurred to Angela.
Thunder rumbled in the distance and when lightning flashed, Max leapt to his feet and grabbed her hand. “Come on. Let’s get out of here before we get zapped.”
As they ran to the car, pedestrians were rushing for cover. He unlocked the door and pulled it open, then helped her inside. When he finally slipped in behind the wheel, she was raking her fingers through her dripping hair. “I’m getting your car all wet,” she said. “And my dress is covered with sand.”
“Don’t worry.” He pulled out into traffic and headed north on Lakeshore Drive. “My condo is just on the other side of the zoo,” he said. “We’ll stop there, get dried off and then decide what we want to do with the rest of the night.” He glanced over at the clock in the dashboard and was surprised to see that it was past midnight. “Or, I could drop you back at your car,” he added. “You probably have to be up early for work tomorrow.”
“I really wouldn’t mind getting dry,” she said.
Good, Max thought to himself. He didn’t want the night to end, either. Not yet. Not until he was absolutely sure she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
Minutes later, he pulled into the underground garage of his Lincoln Park high rise. As they rode the elevator up, he pressed her back against the wall and kissed her again, his fingers tangling in her damp hair. “This has been the most amazing night,” he whispered.
She stared up at him, a strange look in her eyes. Didn’t she believe him? Hell, that was all he needed. The first time he found a woman he was truly interested in and she thought he was playing her. So how could he prove he wasn’t, Max wondered. He could forget about luring her into his bed. That would be a good start.
“Your lips taste like rain,” he murmured. When the elevator doors opened, he took her hand and walked with her to the door of his apartment. He pushed the key into the lock, then stepped aside to let her enter.
The apartment was dark, rain glittering on the wide wall of windows overlooking the lake.
He wanted to draw her into his arms again, now that they were completely alone, and find out just how deep their attraction for each other went. Instead, he flipped on the lights. “The bathroom is just down that hall,” Max said. “There are towels in the cabinet and I’ll find you some dry clothes.”
He watched as she walked away from him, her wet dress clinging to her slender body. Somehow, he knew the night wasn’t over. It was just beginning.
Max hurried to his bedroom and rummaged through his clothes for something to give her.
He found a team sweatshirt and some warm-up pants, then grabbed a pair of socks from the clean laundry.
When he knocked softly on the bathroom door, Angie opened it a crack and he held the clothes out.
“It’s the best I can do,” he said. “They’re warm and they’re dry.”
“Is it all right if I take a quick shower?” she asked. “I’m covered with sand.”
“No problem,” he said. “I’m just going to make us something to eat. Are you hungry?”
“Yeah,” she said with a winsome smile. “That would be great.” She took the clothes and shut the door. He glanced at his watch. He had about ten minutes tops to shower, get dressed and cook something. Max headed to the galley kitchen and to his relief, found a container of gourmet mac and cheese he’d bought at Whole Foods. He popped it into the oven and headed for the guest bathroom.
As he stepped beneath the hot water, his mind wandered down the hall, to the woman who was showering in his bathroom. With any other woman, he wouldn’t have thought twice about joining her there. And with any other woman, he knew he’d have been welcome. But he didn’t want to move too fast with Angela. He was having trouble reading her signals and a single mistake might win it all.
Max glanced down and groaned. Just the thought of the two of them naked together brought a physical reaction. He turned up the cold water and stood beneath it until the spray stung his skin. Then he stepped out, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist.
He hurried back through the living room, dripping water on the hardwood floors. But he stopped suddenly when he saw Angela standing at the windows, peering down at the street. She turned and her eyes went wide when she noticed he was dressed only in a damp towel.
To his relief, the cold water had done the trick and there wasn’t an embarrassing bulge in the front of that damp towel. “Sorry,” Max muttered, clutching at the cotton where it was tucked around his waist. “I thought you’d take a little longer in the shower.”
“I didn’t want to take advantage,” she said. “It’s a nice shower. Big…enough for two.”
“I-I’m just going to go get dressed. I’ll be right back.”
When he returned from the bedroom, wearing basketball shorts and a T-shirt, Angela was still standing at the window. He stepped up behind her, then slipped his arms around her waist. “What do you see out there?”
“It’s a beautiful view. It’s so quiet up here.”
Max rested his chin on her shoulder. “The minute I saw this place, I knew I had to have it. And there was no way I’d stay at my parents’ place. My mother would drive me crazy and my father would expect me to help him with all of his household repair projects. I needed a place of my own here in Chicago.”
“So you dropped a few million on a condo? Why not rent?”
“It seemed like a good investment,” Max said. “And now that I’ve been here for a while, I like it. It feels like home.” He turned her around to face him. “What can I get you to drink? I have wine. And beer. Energy drinks and mineral water.”
“A glass of wine would be nice,” Angela said. “Red, if you have it.”
As Max walked to the kitchen, he smiled to himself. This was going well. She could have asked for a ride home. But instead, she’d stay at least long enough to finish a glass of wine and eat some mac and cheese. He found a bottle, struggled with the cork, then filled a wineglass nearly to the brim.
It would take her longer to drink a big glass of wine, giving him more time. But at the last minute he dumped half of it in the sink. She might think he was trying to get her drunk. He didn’t want to confirm all the worst things the press had to say about him.
“Take it slow,” he reminded himself. “And don’t make an ass of yourself.”