Read Online More Than He Expected by Andrea Laurence - Free Book Online Page B

him to taste the same fruit twice.
    But maybe the truth of the matter was that he knew the second
bite might be sour. He knew how women thought. Even though they smiled and told
you they were okay, they were lying. And when they said they weren’t looking for
anything serious, that just meant that you could wait a year or two before
proposing. His mother had told his father something like that, then had
immediately gotten pregnant so he would marry her. As far as Alex knew, they’d
been miserable nearly every day since.
    That would never be Alex. Unfortunately, women always wanted
more than he could give, so he drew his line in the sand. One time around the
block and on to the next woman before things got hairy. His methods had served
him well over the years. Every romantic entanglement had an escape hatch large
enough to drive his Corvette through it.
    But Gwen was different.
    Alex had had that thought a hundred times since he had first
seen her at the welcome breakfast, and it was always about a different facet of
her. She aroused him. Surprised him. Irritated him. Stirred a ridiculously
protective instinct in him. And worst of all, Gwen had kept his interest. Months
had gone by without him seeing her, yet she regularly plagued his dreams. The
temptation of her had him breaking his own rule and rearranging his Fourth of
July plans to see her again. That had never happened before.
    And it was only so she could end up rejecting him. That was a
new thing, too. He wasn’t so pleased with how things had gone so far, but it
wasn’t over. He had no doubt he’d be victorious and get Gwen back into his
bed.
    The sound of a whistle caught his attention. The first half of
the match was over. A man announced over the loudspeakers that it was time for
the divot stomp and invited everyone out onto the field.
    Alex watched as Gwen and Adrienne joined the others on the
lawn. They laughed at each other, flipping over stray tufts of grass and looking
fairly ridiculous. Gwen seemed to be having a lot of fun. He had the urge to go
to her and wrap his arm around her waist to keep her steady as she hopped across
the field. He wanted to hear her laughter up close. But she didn’t want him
there, so he held his spot, leaning against an ancient oak tree with his hands
in white-knuckled fists at his sides.
    Things between them had ended okay before, he thought. She
hadn’t asked him for more from their relationship. At the same time, she hadn’t
jumped at the opportunity to be with him again. Gwen was a contradiction. He
didn’t know where he stood with her. That alone was enough to make him want to
push her and find out. That and his own burning need to possess her like the
latest and greatest Apple gadget.
    Alex still hadn’t gotten to the bottom of what drew him to
Gwen. Whatever it happened to be was as strong as ever. Strong enough to urge
him to break down her walls, even though she claimed to be happy in her
isolation. But what was the point, really? If he pushed her the way he wanted
to, what could he give her in return? He’d tried to buy her jewelry all those
months ago. He thought he’d been successful at the time, only to find out she’d
relented because she’d found the perfect symbol of abstinence. That wasn’t
exactly what he’d had in mind.
    Gwen had pushed away his physical advances. All Alex had in his
arsenal was sex and money. If she wasn’t interested in either, he was out of
luck unless he could find another way to get her attention.
    If she was after some kind of domestic existence like the one
he’d very nearly dodged the day before, he couldn’t help her there. But he
wasn’t sure she even knew what she was after. The way she’d blown hot and cold
last night, he didn’t know if the promise of something different between them
would win her favor or send her running in the opposite direction. She’d said
that she wasn’t in the right place for something serious. Moments later, she
wasn’t receptive to