Then she gave herself a mental slap. What was she doing? Always imagining things. Arthur ran a pub. Was obviously single and probably took a fancy to every unattached woman who rented the cottage. How convenient.
She shook her head, with mingled irritation and regret. “I’m here to work. I really don’t have time for…anything personal.”
“That’s a shame.” He ran his warm, leathery palm down the side of her neck so she wanted to press against it. Rub at him like a kitten.
“I have to ?nish this book. I can’t afford any distractions.”
“I’m glad I distract you,” he said, a thread of amusement running through his voice.
“You are?”
“I wouldn’t want to think I was the only one feeling…distracted.”
And now a look at Jamie Denton’s
THE MATCHMAKER.
Available now from Brava…
Ash brought his hand to her cheek, unashamed that his ?ngers trembled as he drew them lightly over her satiny-soft skin. “God, I’ve missed you,” he whispered.
Greer looked up at him, her eyes ?lled with a longing to equal his own. That was all the invitation he needed.
He dipped his head, his mouth brushing across hers in a light, feathery kiss. He expected a protest, but instead her lips were soft, welcoming. Pressing his advantage, he deepened the kiss before she thought to change her mind.
Her hands landed on his chest and he half-expected her to push him away. Instead, she curled her ?ngers into his shirt and hauled him close. He didn’t hesitate to pull her into his arms and hold on tight when she slid off the stool, wreathed her arms around his neck and pressed her too-thin body against him.
Emotion ?ooded him. He’d spent too many long nights thinking about her, dreaming about her, cursing her for leaving him. To ?nally have her in his arms, tasting her, was nothing short of heaven.
She dug her hands into his hair and swept her tongue across his. Blood pounded hotly through his veins, threatening to burn through the thin threads of his restraint. She was in no physical condition to make love but, God help him, that’s exactly what he wanted from her. He wanted her hot and naked, wanted her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, welcoming him inside her slick, wet sheath. He wanted to hear his name on her lips as she came, needed to feel her body clench around his, milking him until he had nothing left to give her. He wanted her raw and wild, begging him for more until neither one of them had the strength to do more than breathe.
He slid his hands to her bottom and lifted her. She moaned in his mouth, the sound as sweet and intoxicating as the feel of her denim-covered legs wrapping around his waist. Shoving the barstool aside with his foot, he set her on the countertop and nudged her bottom forward. His dick throbbed painfully within the con?nes of his trousers and he nearly came out of his skin when she rocked her hips, rubbing herself against his erection.
Smoothing his hands from her bottom, he slid them over the deep indentation of her waist. She was too thin, he thought again, sweeping his hands upward along her rib cage. Dangerously thin.
Although it nearly killed him, he ended the kiss and pulled her arms from around his neck. He took a step backward, hoping the distance would cool his blazing libido.
Greer stared at him in confusion. Her passion-glazed eyes nearly had him ignoring his good intentions. He dragged his hand through his hair. “When was the last time you ate a decent meal?”
Her honey-blonde eyebrows slanted downward. “What?”
He took a good long look at her. Her collarbone appeared more prominent, so did her cheekbones, for that matter, creating a deep hollow in her cheeks. “How much weight have you lost, Greer?”
With a trembling hand, she reached up and twisted the length of her hair into a loose knot. “Don’t worry about it. I can take care of myself.”
“Bullshit. If that were the case, then you wouldn’t feel like nothing more than skin and bones. Christ, Greer, you’re so thin you could put an anorexic to shame. What gives?”
She narrowed those gorgeous blue eyes. “None of your goddamn business.” She slid off the counter and bent to pick up the stool he’d knocked over.
“You look like you haven’t slept in a month,” he said, taking the stool from her and sliding it back to the island.
“I’m ?ne.”
Yeah, then why the hell wouldn’t she look at him when she said it? Because she’d never been able to lie to him, and that apparently hadn’t changed.
He snagged her wrist and pulled her to him. “The hell you are.”
“Leave it alone. Leave me alone.”
He ignored the warning in her voice. “What are you doing to yourself?”
She tugged her wrist free of his hold. “Surviving,” she ?red at him vehemently. “No thanks to you.” Regret instantly ?lled her expression. “Ash. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
He scrubbed his hand down his face. “Yes, you did,” he told her. Whatever hope he’d been harboring about convincing Greer to come back to him evaporated in that instant. And it was high time he pulled his head out of his ass and accepted the fact that his wife would never be able to forget that he’d been the one to put her in the hands of a monster.
BRAVA BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
850 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Copyright © 2006 by Dianne Kruetzkamp
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Brava and the B logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN: 0-7582-2148-7
I’ll Be Seeing U Page 25