CHAPTER 10: MY CHANCES
918 Words
He stretched his legs out towards the fire and smiled. His sister was also a fiery redhead, while his brother-in-law was one of the most protective and honorable men Stark had ever met.
Dave had initially become engaged to his sister in an attempt to protect her reputation. He'd even given up a shot at the throne for the good of the country.
"They're both very kind. Direct. Down-to-earth. Protective. And we both enjoy flaying a strip or two off her hide whenever the mood takes us. We've had some interesting run-ins." He said.
"Huh. I'd have said your hide was too tough to flay." She swiveled to inspect him, causing a strand of hair to drift across her face.
She gave him a swift, searching glance that made him want to pull her into his arms and discover if she tasted as good as she looked.
"Maybe I should call them for suggestions." She said.
"I think you are managing just fine on your own." Jack Stark replied.
The strand of hair continued to cling to her face, and he reached out without conscious design, intent only on brushing it aside.
It was a simple contact, the tips of his fingers barely grazing the fine-bone curve of her eyes. And yet, his instantaneous reaction caught him off guard.
Heat poured through him, as though he'd fallen headlong into the popping flames just a few feet away. The slight hitch in her breath told him he wasn't the only one affected.
She stared at him, her eyes startled. He'd thrown her badly.
He felt it rippling through her and saw it reflected in the tautness of her features. Her eyes darkened to a shade of blue that the sky took on somewhere between dusk and nightfall. And her mouth—that plump, ripe mouth—trembled in a way that tempted him almost beyond endurance and made him want to kiss away her apprehension.
One touch!
It had been one casual, thoughtless touch—a touch that never would have happened if it hadn't been for that rich red hair and those glorious eyes.
But the instant he'd run his fingers across her creamy skin, he'd lost it. If they'd been anywhere else, he'd have tumbled me to the floor and taken her, and to hell with the consequences.
What was it about the woman that reduced him to his basic and primitive instincts? He was a man who prided himself on his self-control and used that control, along with his innate intelligence and ability to see the big picture, to get what he wanted.
How was it possible to lose all that with a single touch? It had never happened before, not once in all his thirty years, nor with a single one of the women he'd taken to his bed.
He tossed back the last of his whiskey before shooting her a hard look. "We're in trouble. You realize that, don't you?"
She shrugged.
With that one single touch, wanton desire spilled across her skin in a wave as hot, humid, and gripping as Georgia in August.
With the heat came the sizzle, a buzz of sensation that went from her cheek straight to the pit of my stomach. She was barely aware of what he said after releasing her.
"Damn it! I'm about to get myself into deep trouble." She said.
She shot to her feet to give herself some breathing room. Her hand tightened around her glass, and she tossed back her whiskey in a single, disjointed movement before returning his look with a hard one of her own. "That can't happen again."
"How are you going to stop it?" He was genuinely curious.
"Distance would be a good start." She responded, trying to adjust the gap between them.
Her frankness made him smile. He stood as well, throwing a question over his shoulder as he returned his glass to the sideboard. "Is it any better now that I'm across the room?"
"Yes." She thrust a hand through her hair.
"I agree."
She regarded him warily. "So what do we do now?" A knock sounded at the door, and Marie's voice boomed through the heavy wood. "Dinner is on. Shake a leg in there."
Stark crossed the room until they stood toe to toe. Somehow she managed to stand there without giving away the wash of emotion cascading through her. But she couldn't hide the truth from herself, no matter how hard she tried. She wanted him to touch her again, and she wanted it with a passion that almost had her quivering.
"I suggest we eat." She said this with her eyebrow.
He said, in reply to a question she'd already forgotten, "What happens after that is up to you."
"Noting is going to happen," she stated without hesitation.
"Noting other than you climbing into your fancy car and returning to Georgia."
"Then neither of us had anything to worry about." He inclined his head toward the door.
"Shall we go?" She gestured.
She hesitated, anxious to recover some of the ground she'd lost and remind them both of why she'd agreed to dine with him.
"You promised that I'd have your full and undivided attention. That you'd give me a fair shot at changing your mind about buying your farmland." He said it with a smile on his face.
"I gave you my word, and I'll keep it."
She has to be satisfied with that. Together, they crossed to the dining room
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