In Too Deep by Sherryl Woods Page B

“I want an arrangement, as you call it, with potential. This one has none.”
    Suddenly the conversation had turned serious. Maybe that had been inevitable, but he regretted it deeply. It forced him to admit the seemingly insurmountable differences between them. After a final caress, he dropped his hand from her cheek. “Every relationship has to start somewhere, Cara.”
    â€œIn bed? That’s a risky starting point. People who start there often find there’s nothing else to keep the relationship alive.”
    â€œBut can you imagine a love affair without the passion?”
    â€œNo. But don’t try playing the which-comes-first game with me, Rod. I don’t like the rules.”
    â€œWhat does that mean?”
    â€œThat it’s a very practiced seduction technique designed to convince a woman that hopping into bed is an acceptable way of getting to know someone. In this day and age that’s dangerous. In addition, I think sex—making love—is more important than that and that feelings so strong deserve more respect.”
    Something about what she was saying struck a raw nerve. “Meaning?”
    â€œThat I’m not foolish enough to try to deny that I’m attracted to you, but that makes me want to get to know you, not just to sleep with you. Chemistry is an amazing thing. You should know as well as anyone that after an explosion, there’s usually nothing left of value. It’s only what you build in its place that has any meaning.”
    It was a powerful analogy. To his regret, Rod understood exactly what she was saying. He also knew that she was unlikely to be swayed from her principles by something as capricious as her hormones. That complicated things tremendously. He’d been hoping that making love to Cara just once would rid his body of this aching desire, that it would satisfy his curiosity about the woman who’d dared so much just to be here. There would have been no danger to her. He would have protected her from all possible consequences. Now he was faced with several very long days and even longer nights in which to imagine and magnify the ecstasy that was promised in her arms.
    He would survive the denial of a physical relationship, though. And the two of them would probably be far better off in the end. He had no interest in another destructive marriage. Even if he did, Cara was not the kind of woman he needed. She was too tied up in her career, too goal-oriented. He’d found that was the ideal woman to date. The demands were few. The immediate rewards in terms of companionship, intelligent conversation, even enthusiastic sex were many. But marriage? No way. He’d watched his own parents go their separate, busy ways for too long to subject himself to that kind of modern-day mockery of commitment.
    Even so, he refused to acknowledge that he’d long ago found the more superficial relationships to be boring and unsatisfying. He didn’t care to examine the fact that his social life in recent months had been limited to an occasional dinner with a few old and very dear female friends. Like Maria.
    Cara, however, had aroused an almost forgotten sense of urgency and yearning in him. It was damned disconcerting, especially now that he knew it was unlikely it would be eased. The frustration made him feel even more cantankerous than usual. If he’d had any of those explosives Cara had used in her analogy, he’d have gone and blown something up just for the exhilaration that accompanied watching it go off.
    â€œI’m going for a walk,” he said, abruptly getting to his feet. He needed distance. He needed time to get his rampaging libido under control. A few years just might do it, he thought with a wry grimace. He figured he had the rest of the night at best.
    â€œWould you like company?”
    â€œNo.”
    The brusque response obviously stung. He saw the swift rise of hurt in Cara’s eyes, the quick effort