Start Me Up by Victoria Dahl

Author:Victoria Dahl
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Man-Woman Relationships, Colorado, Contemporary, Architects, General, Romance, Fiction, Automobile Mechanics, Love Stories
ISBN: 9780373777518
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2009-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

THE BLACK SHADOWS of lodge pole pines flew by Lori’s open window. She was driving too fast, risking a run-in with a deer or, God forbid, a moose, so she forced her foot to ease off the accelerator but reached for the volume knob on the stereo at the same time and twisted it up.

The wind eased a bit, but the bass of angry old-school Liz Phair kept her frustration fed as she sped down the pass.

Vancouver. She wanted to go, wanted to stroll onto a big plane and drink champagne with her lover as they blasted across the sky toward another country. Canada wasn’t exactly Timbuktu, but it wasn’t Tumble Creek, either. She wanted to fly away for just a few hours.

But she couldn’t.

She’d realized a distasteful truth about herself the year before. Lori Love would date for travel.

An imaginary movie clip played through her mind. There she was, standing at an intersection in short shorts and crop top, waving a handmade sign that said just that: Will date for travel! The dot of the exclamation point was a little happy face. Hearts danced across the poster board. Her ass jiggled when she bounced.

Yes, she would date for travel. In fact, she’d done it already.

When she’d first met Jean-Paul, she hadn’t realized who he was. As far as she’d known, he’d been simply a handsome, older European man with a keen knowledge of cars. He’d also been driving the most beautifully restored Aston Martin DB6 she’d ever seen.

Jean-Paul had pulled into her garage by happenstance, troubled by a slow leak in his front tire. After they’d spent a half hour chatting, he’d asked her out, and Lori had been so surprised she’d said yes, regardless that she’d been only mildly curious about him.

Mysteriously, that mild curiosity had developed into a month-long relationship.

Though she’d demurred every time he’d invited her out on the town, she’d spent the night at his place half a dozen times. She’d slept with him more often than that, retreating to his bedroom after a dinner prepared by his private chef. Jean-Paul had been smart and interesting, and more than decent in the sack. And he’d also asked her to accompany him on a trip to Greece within a week of their meeting.

It hadn’t been a conscious decision on her part. She hadn’t said to herself, “I will sleep with Jean-Paul D’Ozeville because he’s going to take me to Greece.” She’d never have had sex with the man if she’d realized she was only interested in him for his private jet and well-used passport.

But then Jean-Paul had broken the news that Greece would have to wait, something had come up and he couldn’t go until the fall. And Lori had been angry. Not disappointed, but angry. She’d made an excuse to get out of his bed at one in the morning and go home. Not her finest moment.

It had taken her a few days of avoiding his calls to realize why she didn’t want to see him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.