The last word almost caught in her throat, and she coughed, even as her traitorous body rebelled against her words. She was flushed and needy. Whenever his skin touched hers, it relieved some of the ache while at the same time spreading the desire for more.
Max spoke softly. “I know that.”
“Do you? Are you certain? Because—” She hesitated, then gazed at him. “I’m so confused. I don’t know what this is…” She waved her hand between the two of them. “But…I can say with almost complete certainty that it is becoming a rather unusual friendship.”
“I’m very attracted to you, Olivia.”
His words made her body jolt backward. “What?”
Her voice came out in a squeak. There it was again—she sounded, and certainly looked, like a complete ninny.
“I’m attracted to you,” he repeated. “And I believe you’re attracted to me, too.”
Her mouth went dry. She couldn’t say she wasn’t attracted to him—that would be a lie. “Be that as it may,” she managed, “it doesn’t… I can’t…” She sucked in a breath. “I told you—I want to be the spinster aunt. By that, I don’t mean the disgraced spinster aunt.”
His green gaze narrowed. “Do you think that’s what I’d do? Disgrace you?”
No, he’d touch her all over with those big hands of his. He’d relieve her need, bring her pleasure…
Oh, Lord. The way she was beginning to think about Max was utterly scandalous and improper. She must not think of what he’d do to her. Goodness, her body was running hot one second then cold the next. She was completely out of her depth.
“I don’t know,” she said breathlessly. She shook her head. “This discussion is highly…” embarrassing, awkward, distressing, “…improper.”
He lifted one shoulder in a shrug, but a smile teased at the corners of his lips. “You brought the subject up.”
“Because I felt it must be brought up before things went too far. I was feeling…” She searched desperately for the right word.
“…an attraction,” he finished for her.
She screwed her eyes shut. “Yes. An attraction.”
After a long silence, he murmured, “It doesn’t need to be like this.”
“Like what?” Her voice was a wisp of sound on the air.
“Upsetting.”
“What should it be like?”
Her hand was resting flat on the rock, and he lifted it in his own. When she didn’t move away, he turned it over and placed a soft kiss in her palm, his lips and fingers warm against her skin.
Olivia found the gentle touch so wildly erotic that she had to focus on her breathing—it was speeding up so quickly, the world blurred.
“It should feel good,” he murmured against her palm. “Exciting.”
“It does,” she said on a near groan.
He lowered her hand and squeezed it between both of his own. “Don’t be afraid of me, Olivia. I will do nothing to you that you don’t want. And I would never, ever see you disgraced.”
God help her, she was tempted. So tempted. Every cell in her body demanded that she submit, that she say, Yes, Max. Take me. Do whatever it is with me that you please.
But she couldn’t. She had to protect herself, her family, her future.
“This can’t…we can’t. I want to be your friend, but I think we should try to stay apart for a while, until…” She stumbled over the words as her body screamed for one thing and her mind—a mind that had been trained for many years to believe it held a specific place in the world, and that place would never involve a man’s touch—screamed that this wasn’t right.
His fingers slipped away from hers, and his expression grew somber. “I’m a patient man, Olivia. I’ll give you the time you need. But understand that I’m not going anywhere. When you’re ready, I’ll be right here. Waiting.”
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Other Books By Dawn Halliday
About Dawn Halliday
Bonus: Highland Obsession
Bonus: Secrets Of An Accidental Duchess
Sins of the Highlander (A Highland Erotic Romance) Page 17