Christmas Ever After (Puffin Island 3)

Feeling ridiculously emotional, she was wondering how to respond when he lifted his hand and cupped her cheek. His fingers were warm, the slow stroke of his thumb deliciously suggestive.

The way he tilted his head meant that his mouth was dangerously close to hers.

Her need to kiss him, and be kissed by him, was almost painful.

She wanted to sink into his hard strength, slide her fingers into his silky hair and press her mouth to his.

She wondered if it was possible to be addicted to the way someone kissed.

“We shouldn’t have started this.” His voice was rough. “We should never have started this.”

“Why?”

“Because you want love, and I can’t give you that. Even your friends know it.”

“I don’t want love from you. All I want from you is what you’re already giving me.” Her gaze dropped from the perfect lines of his mouth to the hard planes of his jaw. The dark shadow told her that he’d been absorbed in his work all day. “You didn’t shave.”

“I forgot.”

“I like it. It’s sexy.”

His eyes darkened. “You could stay with Emily tonight instead of coming back to the cottage. You’d be safer.”

“And sexually frustrated.” She kept her tone light. Not for a second was she going to reveal how mixed up her feelings were. What his words had meant to her. “I don’t want to be safe. A fun, exciting, adventurous life is never safe. You don’t have to worry about me, Alec. I’m a big girl.”

“Emily would disagree.”

“She’s a worrier by nature.”

A muscle flickered in his jaw. “You’re going to ignore the warning of a friend?”

“I am, just as you need to ignore that little voice in your head that keeps telling you that you were responsible for everything that went wrong in your marriage. Maybe your ex-wife was hurt by what happened, but you were hurt, too. She has destroyed your ability to interact with women normally without instinctively looking for an ulterior motive or some sort of subtext. Underneath that tough exterior you’re a kind, decent guy, so stop all this ‘I’ll hurt you’ bullshit.” She tried to change the subject. “When I was in Harbor Stores I heard about the storm warning. Do we need to pick up food or anything? We might be trapped together for days.”

He was silent for a moment and then his hand dropped. “We have everything we need.”

She fastened her seat belt. “You do know the best way to warm up is to get naked, don’t you? Flesh against flesh.”

He sent her a look that almost blistered the flesh from her bones. “You’re proposing we do that in Main Street?”

She grinned. “Maybe we should wait until we’re back at your place.”

“We’re not going back to mine. I’m taking you to the Ocean Club.” He dragged his gaze from her mouth to the road and pulled out into the snowy street.

“You need to see Ryan?”

“No. I’m taking you out.”

“Oh.” It was the last thing she’d expected him to say. “Why?”

“Because a relationship should be more than endless sex.”

Unless the point of it was endless sex. She felt a flicker of confusion.

“Our relationship is all about orgasms. Nothing else.”

“Tonight, it is not about orgasms. I’m going to buy you a meal. We’re going to sit across from each other like normal people and have a conversation.”

“So this is—” she blew on her chilled fingers “—a date?”