by LETO, JULIE
“But they didn’t have nothing,” she said.
He nodded, able to agree with all his heart now that this week with her had taught him the truth. “They had love and passion. Commitment. We could have that, too. We can have everything we want.”
“I’m afraid, Max.”
“Of course you are. So am I. It’s great, isn’t it?”
A glow of new sunlight pinkened the sky just behind Max, adding a phosphorescent glow to the challenge in his eyes. She swallowed, tasting the lingering wine, remembering the feel of his kiss. “‘Great’ isn’t the word I’d choose. I don’t like being afraid.”
Max’s mouth twisted into a mischievous grin. “That’s because you’re afraid of too many things.”
She gasped loudly. “What? There’s the fear of heights and the fear of…” What? Loving him? No, that didn’t really scare her at all. The act was elemental, natural to the woman she’d become over the past few days. Was she afraid of losing herself in Max the way she had with Rick? No, that wasn’t it, either. Max loved her, respected her. He’d never allow her to abandon the dreams and ambitions and quirks that made her who she was.
As the dawn brightened, the impatience in his gaze grew more and more obvious. She tugged her bottom lip with her teeth. She feared losing him, but one glance into those dark green eyes and she knew that her fear was completely unfounded.
“You won’t leave me, will you?”
He only shook his head. That’s all she needed. The rest she knew with her own heart.
“Okay, then I’m just afraid of heights.”
Max’s mouth twitched, then he stood quickly, drawing her up into his arms with a bounce. “Let’s see if we can’t take care of that one, too.”
“What?”
Before she could react, he swung her up on top of the cab of the truck. Parked on the precipice as they were, she glanced down and felt as if she was about to tumble onto the slowly waking city.
“Ack! Max!”
He let go of her long enough to climb up beside her. Their combined weight dented the top with a metallic pop.
“Oh, God!” she gasped. The man was insane! Wonderful, handsome, giving beyond belief, but certifiably crazy.
And so was she. Crazy in love.
“Don’t worry about the truck,” he assured her, grabbing her by the waist when her legs failed to move. “I’ll buy Stephano a new one.”
“I’m not worried about the truck. Yes, I am. Is the emergency brake on? Max! We’re going to fall.”
He moved her in front of him and wrapped his arms around her waist. Curving his body around her, he buried his face in her hair, inhaled, then nuzzled her neck. “Too late. I’ve fallen for you, Ariana Karas, and there is nothing you can do about it.”
She closed her eyes, focusing all her attention, all her rioting nerves, on the feel of him holding her, steadying her, erasing the overwhelming dizziness caused by the vertigo, until all that was left was her light-headed reaction to being in love.
“If that’s the only falling you plan for us to do today, then I’ll survive.”
His chuckle renewed her sense of impending danger. “I want you to more than survive, sweetheart. Open your eyes.”
“They’re open,” she lied.
He cleared his throat. “Ariana, do you remember the last time you wouldn’t open your eyes when I told you to?”
“When we made love on the balcony,” she admitted, hardly needing to think to recall the sensual means he’d used then to convince her. “Wait a minute! I thought you didn’t remember that night?”
Her eyes flashed open in protest, just in time to catch the wiggle in his eyebrows. “Little bits and pieces have been coming back, mostly in dreams. All of them so decadent I thought they might have just been naughty fantasies.”
She huffed back into the safety net of his arms. “You should have told me.”
“We have a few days left of our wild week. I thought I’d show you.”
He pulled her fully against him, his hard arousal pressed to her back. One arm held her steady, wrapped protectively across her midsection while his other hand wandered down her thigh, then up, skirting beneath her blazer over her ribs.
“I thought we were done making love out in the open, Max.”
“Who’s making love?” he asked innocently. “I’m not making love. I’m just touching you, holding you, showing you the city in the dawn of a new day.”
Though the sensations of his touch made her vision hazy, she picked out a few famous sites they’d yet to visit. The top of the pyramidlike Transamerica Building. The round, nozzle shape of Coit Tower. The vast green expanse of Golden Gate Park. But with Max’s hands wandering, brushing over her breast, skimming the top of her waistband, she couldn’t think of any sight more attractive than that California king at his house.
She twisted around until she faced him, rocking unsteadily despite his tightly coiled embrace. Her fear of heights was obviously going to take a little longer to overcome than her fear of falling in love. And she’d never felt freer in her entire life.
“We’ve got the rest of our lives to see the city, Ari. I just want to see you. Naked. In my bed, your bed, anywhere.”
“Anywhere?”
He laughed. “Don’t tempt me. I’d make love to you right here if I had my way. Maybe I am an exhibitionist at heart.”
“And that’s just one thing I love about you,” she said with a smile.
He kissed her deep and long, until she nearly forgot they were standing on the cab of a truck parked at the top of the hill. With the wind and the warming sun, she imagined they were floating on a cloud.
“What I really want is for you to marry me.” He whispered the proposal in her ear, then leaned back just enough to gauge her reaction.
Only she didn’t have a reaction. She didn’t know what to do or what to say. She’d never dreamed…never guessed. “Max, that’s a big leap. Are you sure?”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t sure. Take the leap with me, Ariana. I promise we’ll make it.”
Ariana lifted herself completely into his arms, then jumped up and wrapped her legs around him while shouting like someone who’d just won the lottery. She didn’t care who heard her. She didn’t care who saw. She was going to marry the man she loved with all her heart and soul. And knew their union would last for a lifetime.
Because she knew firsthand that Max was a man of his word.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0912-1
TOO HOT TO TOUCH
Copyright © 2011 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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TOO HOT TO TOUCH
Copyright © 2011 by Book Goddess, LLC
EXPOSED
Copyright © 2001 by Julie Leto Klapka
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d Exposed