Born to Be Wild

by Donna Kauffman

  “You’re remembering the time I dared you to eat the ants, aren’t you?” He said it so sincerely, and looked so contrite.

  It struck her as more than ironic that Zach was actually exhibiting honest concern—and she was the one with her mind in the gutter. She couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing. In fact, she laughed until tears ran down her face, probably taking half of her mascara with it. “Actually, no,” she said finally. “I’d forgotten about that one. But thanks for reminding me.” Still fighting the giggles, she hiccuped. He must think she was a lunatic. She wasn’t too sure about her mental state at the moment either.

  Looking confused and more than a little concerned, Zach reached a hand in the car and felt her forehead. “You okay?”

  She nodded, and leaned away from the heat of his palm, feeling suddenly vulnerable and a bit foolish. “Fine. I’m fine, really. I don’t know what came over me,” she lied. “I really should be getting back.”

  He studied her for another moment, then smiled. “Well, if you won’t eat with me, would you mind giving me a lift as far as Dulles? I have a meeting with a client in a couple of hours.”

  Zach took advantage of Dara’s momentary surprise to move around the back of the car—even he didn’t dare risk going around the front—and slid into the passenger seat. He also didn’t comment when he had to tuck his knees almost under his chin to fit into the bucket seat. In this case, beggars wouldn’t dare be choosers.

  Dara closed her window and put the car into reverse. “Why are you having a meeting at the airport?”

  “Mr. Fujimora will only be in town for twenty-four hours. So I’m meeting him before his flight out for Tokyo.”

  Zach almost laughed as he watched her try to hide her curiosity. For whatever reason, as an adult she’d suppressed her true nature. Gone was the daredevil, gone was the girl whose sole purpose in life had been to push herself—and him—to the limit. She’d been so much like her dad. Zach’s smile dimmed. Was the crash that killed her father responsible for this turnabout? Zach knew that George Colbourne had been a private pilot and that he’d died when his small jet had gone down during a snowstorm in the Blue Ridge just west of their Madison County home. A snowstorm Mr. Colbourne had known about, but had flown in anyway.

  Dara had been eleven when he’d died. And while Zach remembered just how devastated she and Dane had been by their father’s death—Dara in particular as she was like a miniature version of her dad in both looks and attitude—he also knew that her wild ways had eventually resurfaced. Certainly before she’d moved away at fifteen.

  So what had happened? Was it really just as simple as she’d grown up and changed direction? Not that there was anything wrong with her career. He admired the hell out of her for the important work she was doing. But her derogatory comments about his choice of profession—which the girl he’d known would have understood and championed—had him thinking that maybe she was purposely playing life safe. Busying herself slaying other people’s dragons so she wouldn’t have to face her own.

  He watched her carefully, as she turned away to check traffic before pulling out of the lot. They’d reached the corner light when she suddenly stomped on the brake, ignoring the blare of the horn coming from the car behind her. Zach reflexively pressed his hands to the roof of the car to keep from eating his kneecaps.

  “Wait a minute, why am I giving you a lift?” she demanded. “I don’t even remember saying yes.”

  “Frank is doing some work on my shocks,” he replied calmly.

  “And just how did you expect to make your meeting with Mr. Fujimora?” The car behind them laid on the horn again. She shoved the car into first gear and turned onto Route 7. “Never mind. I’m sure wining and dining me into driving you was cheaper than cab fare. And you really lucked out this time. You didn’t even have to spring for the food.”

  “The dinner invite is still open,” he said, struggling to pull the narrow seat belt across his chest as Dara darted through traffic.

  “No thanks. I’m sure you can grab something at the airport while you wait.” She spared a quick glance at him as she rolled to a stop at the next red light. “What sort of trip are you planning this time?”

  So she couldn’t let it go. Maybe the old Dara was closer to the surface than he’d suspected. He wondered if she suspected. “I can’t tell you.”

  “What do you mean you can’t tell me?” she demanded. “You plan vacations—and I use that term loosely—not espionage.” Another honk from behind them had her muttering as she roared through the intersection.

  Zach wedged his hand between his thigh and the door and gripped the handle. “Actually, this time it’s a little of both. But that’s all I can tell you. Any more and I’d have to kill you.”

  “Very funny.” Dara glared at him briefly, then returned her attention to the highway as she moved swiftly into the other lane to avoid running up on the fender of the slow-moving van in front of them.

  “That is, if you don’t kill me first,” Zach muttered, letting loose a sigh of relief when the light ahead turned red. Had it been only moments ago that he’d silently accused her of playing life safe? Apparently that didn’t apply when she was behind the wheel.

  “I heard that, Brogan.” Dara looked over at him. “I’ll have you know I have a perfect driving record. No tickets, no accidents.”

  “So, there is a god.”

  “Ha, ha, ha,” she retorted. “For a thrill-seeker, you sure scare easy.”

  It was like watching an exotic butterfly emerge from a plain brown chrysalis. Had he read her completely wrong? He didn’t think so. She made her opinions quite clear. And often.

  So what then? Was it his presence that brought out this side of her? He couldn’t ignore how incredibly intrigued he was by that idea. Not to mention challenged.

  He loved challenges.

  “The key to a successful thrill,” he stated, recalling her latest slur on his profession, “is planning carefully and thoroughly so you have as much control as the situation allows. The further you reduce the unnecessary risks, the more fully you can appreciate the unavoidable ones.

  “Being the passenger in your car,” he continued tightly, as she deftly tucked the compact between two cars in the fast lane without turning a hair, “doesn’t remotely fulfill any of those requirements.”

  “I haven’t gone over the speed limit—”

  He snorted.

  “—by more than a mile or two,” she added, obviously enjoying his discomfort, “I used my turn signal every time I changed lanes—”

  “I hardly think one blink as you cut back and forth is what the Department of Motor Vehicles handbook had in mind regarding safe lane changes.”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” she said. “I’m beginning to think you’re nothing but a big fraud.”

  He had to bite his tongue to keep from making the same accusation. Did she have any idea how beautiful she was all fired up like this? “Fraud?” he shot back. “Take the first exit and go toward the hotel. I’ll have you know I’ve done things that would curl your toes.” He lifted his hands then quickly grabbed the dashboard as she pulled into the first parking space and stopped on a dime. “Why am I defending myself to you?”

  She turned to face him. “I’m sure I have no idea,” she said sweetly. “But I’ll admit it’s nice to play offense for a change.”

  Zach stared at her for two long beats. “You’re knocking me totally out,” he said, breaking into laughter. A second later, she joined him.

  The sound slowly faded, though their smiles remained. When Dara’s smile faltered, Zach felt his pulse speed up. Her lips parted slightly, and he had to clench his hands to keep from reaching for her. “You sure you can’t fit in a quick dinner?” he asked, his voice husky. “I imagine the Marriott here has a nice dining room.” When she didn’t immediately say no, he added, “We can use the time to go over my other ideas if that suits your strict moral working code better.”

  He’d meant i
t as a joke, but he knew the minute the words left his mouth that the moment they’d shared—their first truly genuine one—was over.

  “Sorry,” she said shortly. “Maybe some other time.”

  Zach could have kicked himself, but there was no use in wasting time on wishes. He simply nodded and tried to unhook his seat belt, but it was wedged at an odd angle beneath his thigh. “Can’t seem to cut myself loose. If I shift, could you unhook me?”

  Dara’s eyes narrowed as if to say, “Where’s the trap this time?” so he gave her his most sincere smile. “No funny stuff, I promise.”

  “If you’d said scout’s honor I’d have punched you,” she responded. “Lift up.”

  He shifted as her small fingers brushed lightly against the back of his thigh. He almost groaned in relief when the seat belt sprang free. “Thanks,” he said.

  “No problem. I’d apologize for the cramped quarters, but—” She shrugged in mock sympathy.

  Before Zach even thought about what he was doing, he lifted a hand to her cheek and leaned across the small space separating them. “It’s not the cramped quarters I object to,” he said, tracing his thumb against her cheekbone.

  FOUR

  Zach paused, giving her a tiny window to pull away, to say no, to do anything that would bring him back to his senses and make him stop. He’d calmly, rationally decided to pursue this during the long sleepless night after that first meeting in her office. But somehow, he’d envisioned being in control while doing it.

  He wasn’t. Not even close.

  And she simply stared at him.

  Then her lips parted, and he couldn’t wait another instant. He slid his hand to the nape of her neck and pulled her mouth to his. His first taste lingered at the tentative brush of her palm against his chest. He wanted to sink his tongue deeply into the sweet, hot recesses of her mouth; to feel, taste, and touch all of her, all at once. But restraint made it twice as good, so he dipped a little, coaxing her back into his mouth.

  The first touch of her tongue on his made his uncomfortable position in her cramped front seat almost unbearable. But instead of stopping he wove his other hand into her hair, angling her mouth so he could deepen the kiss.

  His heart was pounding, his blood roaring in his ears, making him feel like he was in a free fall from outer space with no parachute or safety net to catch him before he crash-landed.

  And he didn’t give a damn.

  It was only the realization that this was moving too fast—and that the backseat wouldn’t hold them both—that forced him to stop.

  Foreheads touching, both took a moment to allow their rapid breathing to slow. Dara was the first to shift away, and Zach let her go.

  After another long moment Dara turned back to him, a small, tentative smile on her lips.

  He fought the urge to reach for her again. Damn if he’d ever felt this way before, all shaky and uncertain, and so edgy, he could climb right out of his skin. He’d scaled jagged rocks with only his bare hands for support, skied steep mountains on a surfboard, dived off cliffs into rock-strewn waters, leapt from planes with only a triangular piece of nylon above his head.

  None of it compared to this.

  “I thought you said no funny stuff,” she said, the rough quality of her voice belying her attempt at humor.

  Zach ran a finger over her kiss-swollen lips. They were warm and damp. Damp from him. And just knowing that something of him still clung to her, made him even harder. God he wanted her so bad, he hurt. He was even more disconcerted when she didn’t move away from his touch.

  “What we just did was a lot of things, Dart. But it wasn’t funny.”

  The intensity in his voice, in his eyes, made Dara look away again. She watched the steam on the windows evaporate, wishing her mind would clear as quickly.

  “Dara?”

  His voice was gentler now, yet that only emphasized the vulnerability and fear she thought she’d heard just seconds ago. No, she must have been mistaken. Zach Brogan, scared of a little kiss? Not in this lifetime.

  It was wishful thinking on her part because she was feeling all those things and didn’t want to be alone. Worst of all was the idea that it had been just a little kiss to him. She’d kissed and been kissed by other men since Daniel. Some of them had been passionate. But this.…

  He made her feel wild and reckless, when she was no longer either of those things. No longer drawn to those traits in others. It evoked images in her mind of him jerking her clothes off, his mouth and hands on the rest of her body, of how it would feel when his bare skin touched hers for the first time.

  No. It was no little kiss.

  Praying her thoughts were not being broadcast through her eyes, she took a shallow breath and lifted her gaze to his. “What?”

  “Is dinner still out of the question?”

  She felt a small tug near her heart and smiled. “I really should get back to work.” Was it her imagination, or was there a flash of relief in his eyes? That stung more than she cared to admit.

  She shifted in her seat, taking the steering wheel with one hand and putting the other on the gear shift. “Just give me a call, or have Beaudine call, and set up appointment when you get the rest of the trip planned.”

  Another endless second elapsed, but she refused to look at him again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his hand lift, then drop back in his lap. Good, she didn’t want him to touch her now. Did she?

  “I have a trip to bid on and another one scheduled to leave this week. I’m not heading it, so I should have the rest of this together no later than the middle of next week.”

  She merely nodded in response.

  After another pause, he said, “Dara?”

  Please don’t make me look at you again, she thought desperately. Just leave and let me regroup here. Even as she thought it, she turned to face him. “Yes?”

  “Thanks for the ride,” he said sincerely.

  Everything would be okay, she assured herself. This had just been one of those weird moments they’d both quickly forget. She didn’t really want Zach.

  He’ll go back to teasing me and flirting with me as he does with all the women he comes into contact with. And I’ll go back to—I’ll just—

  Zach got out of the car and shut the door then leaned down, and rapped his knuckles once on the closed window. She looked over automatically in time to see him wink before he sauntered across the parking lot.

  The rest of her breath departed on a loud sigh. Yes, he’ll go on teasing me and flirting with me, she thought again as she watched him disappear behind another row of cars.

  “And I’ll keep being more turned on than I’ve ever been in my entire life,” she finished out loud. She could really hate him for that. “I’m an idiot,” she muttered. Kiss or no kiss, she really didn’t want to go back to work, and kiss or no kiss, she really wanted to spend more time with Zach Brogan. A whole lot more time. Maybe masochist was a better description.

  She jerked the car into reverse and peeled out of the lot. The longer she was around him, the harder she knew it would become to remember all the reasons she had for not getting involved with a wild man again. That type simply didn’t appeal to her anymore. Not really.

  Slow and steady. Stable. Those were the kind of men she chose to date now. A man who’d grown up and learned to take responsibility for his life and for the lives of those he loved. A man more committed to home, hearth, and a nice nine-to-five job, than to looking for the next high, the next joyride. That only led to foolish risk. To tragedy. To pain. Especially for the ones left behind.

  And Zach was far from slow and steady. His motto was live for the moment. He’d seen her as an unattached, consenting adult. Someone to play with for a while.

  But a man like Zach wasn’t cut out for the long term or stability, much less taking any sort of responsibility for those he cared about or those who cared for him.

  And if she let herself get involved with him, in any way, no matter what rationale she u
sed to protect herself, Dara knew that when the fall came, she would be the one not wearing a parachute.

  Saturday was the sort of bright sunny day that made staying inside feel like a criminal offense. Dara shifted her attention away from her window and back to her desk. Her paper-strewn, folder-filled desk. She sighed, and pushed her chair back. She loved her job. It fulfilled her professional needs and her personal ones. But today her stable, steady life felt a whole lot more like dull and boring. Maybe a cola would help her focus on the reports she had to fill out.

  “That and not wondering every other second what Zach is doing with a perfect summer day like this,” she muttered. She stopped several feet from the door. “Oh, the hell with this.”

  She spun back to her desk, stacked the most urgent third of the pile into a canvas tote, then grabbed her purse and marched out of her office before common sense reemerged.

  Guilt began to creep in as she neared the front door, making her glance around, despite the fact that she knew she was the only one there that day. The feeling vanished the second she pushed through the door. The warm breeze brushed her skin, and the blinding sun made her shade her eyes as she locked the heavy plate glass doors.

  “I’ll work tonight,” she promised herself, her mind already sailing away on thoughts of what she would do first. The day seemed full of endless possibilities.

  Music suddenly blasted through the air, making her jump. She barely held on to her tote bag. The tune was instantly recognizable, and she couldn’t stop the grin that stole over her face as Roy Orbison belted out, “Oh, Pretty Woman.”

  She scanned the lot, instinctively looking for the black pickup, but except for her car, the area in front of the building was empty. Dara swallowed the pang of disappointment, then laughed ruefully at her fickle nature. Hadn’t she spent a good part of every hour since she’d left him convincing herself to get him out of her life as soon as possible?