your other things, Liam. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I have been out of touch, hoping to meet a nice guy on a singles’ cruise. What was I thinking?”
“But it’s not that simple, is it?”
Her cheeks paled. “Okay. So I want the white picket fence, too. And a man with a job where he’ll stay put. A man who’ll be there to share in our child’s milestones—a man who’ll be around to make love to every night, if I want. To know he’ll be around for me and not in another part of the world. Or an ocean away. I guess that rules you out, hmmm?”
He winced. She shrugged, letting him know that she accepted her presence in his life wasn’t in the cards. He should kick up his heels, but there was no joy in knowing that once she left this room, he might never see her again.
“Why is a man who travels out of the question, for you?” he demanded, perversely curious in spite of his resolve not to get involved with her.
“My first husband had already served six years in the army when that car crash took his life. For much of the time we were dating, then married, he was deployed overseas. Been there, done that, and I’m not going there again.” She clamped her hand over the twist of her towel. “I wouldn’t expect to be joined at the hip with my next husband, if that’s what you’re thinking. Just together when it matters.”
“Like you and your one-day fiancé?” he taunted.
“There’s a man out there who will want me and want the things I have to offer. Like you.” Her gaze swept over him, and settled on the erection that chuted his pants.
Liam’s jaw knotted. Despite her marriages and that she was so wrong for him, he lusted after her like a crazed bull in a meadow.
“You want me. You just don’t want me forever.” She shrugged and slid off the massage table with surprising ease, given her bum ankle. “I can live with that.” She landed on her good foot.
His gaze scraped hotly over her lips, the points of her collarbones, the intriguing dips and swells of her body’s outline beneath the towel. He met her eyes. “You have no clue how easily I could take you. Use you. Forget about you.”
“So I’m just a blip on your radar?”
He wasn’t going to lie. “I play for the pleasure of the game. Not the prize.”
There—he’d delivered her a last and final warning. One more minute of her limping around in nothing but that towel and he wasn’t going to be responsible for his actions.
“May I have a sip?”
Liam walked over to where she stood and handed over the bottle.
Evangeline closed her lips over the rounded tip. Water poured into her mouth, and her throat convulsed as she swallowed.
She linked her gaze with his, handed back the bottle, then took his free hand in hers. She brought it up to where the corner of the towel had been tucked inside the hollow between her breasts.
“Not a good idea,” he said roughly, his hand going still. “I’ll want more than a sip.”
“Take as much as you want.”
“You won’t get your baby this way.” Sharply, he alerted her to the weapons he had at his disposal. “I’ve got condoms.”
Her brows knitted together. “I’m on the pill, too, for now. Please…just don’t change the course we’re on.”
“And afterward? You’ll go find some other man to have a life with. Someone to give you that baby, right?” He demanded that she’d commit her future to someone else.
“I want a family. But right now? I need you. So make up your mind.” She unwound the towel from her body and stood before him. “Now.”
Liam’s breath squashed out of his lungs. He stared, awestruck, at the sight before him: Evangeline naked. No longer the subject of his dreams, but a warm-blooded beauty.
Need kindled in her eyes. She held the towel to her side, prepared to bring it up again if he denied her. Her uncertainty gave her a fragile air that held him hostage to what she wanted.
His gaze swept down her throat to her nipples. Those dusky morsels
“But it’s not that simple, is it?”
Her cheeks paled. “Okay. So I want the white picket fence, too. And a man with a job where he’ll stay put. A man who’ll be there to share in our child’s milestones—a man who’ll be around to make love to every night, if I want. To know he’ll be around for me and not in another part of the world. Or an ocean away. I guess that rules you out, hmmm?”
He winced. She shrugged, letting him know that she accepted her presence in his life wasn’t in the cards. He should kick up his heels, but there was no joy in knowing that once she left this room, he might never see her again.
“Why is a man who travels out of the question, for you?” he demanded, perversely curious in spite of his resolve not to get involved with her.
“My first husband had already served six years in the army when that car crash took his life. For much of the time we were dating, then married, he was deployed overseas. Been there, done that, and I’m not going there again.” She clamped her hand over the twist of her towel. “I wouldn’t expect to be joined at the hip with my next husband, if that’s what you’re thinking. Just together when it matters.”
“Like you and your one-day fiancé?” he taunted.
“There’s a man out there who will want me and want the things I have to offer. Like you.” Her gaze swept over him, and settled on the erection that chuted his pants.
Liam’s jaw knotted. Despite her marriages and that she was so wrong for him, he lusted after her like a crazed bull in a meadow.
“You want me. You just don’t want me forever.” She shrugged and slid off the massage table with surprising ease, given her bum ankle. “I can live with that.” She landed on her good foot.
His gaze scraped hotly over her lips, the points of her collarbones, the intriguing dips and swells of her body’s outline beneath the towel. He met her eyes. “You have no clue how easily I could take you. Use you. Forget about you.”
“So I’m just a blip on your radar?”
He wasn’t going to lie. “I play for the pleasure of the game. Not the prize.”
There—he’d delivered her a last and final warning. One more minute of her limping around in nothing but that towel and he wasn’t going to be responsible for his actions.
“May I have a sip?”
Liam walked over to where she stood and handed over the bottle.
Evangeline closed her lips over the rounded tip. Water poured into her mouth, and her throat convulsed as she swallowed.
She linked her gaze with his, handed back the bottle, then took his free hand in hers. She brought it up to where the corner of the towel had been tucked inside the hollow between her breasts.
“Not a good idea,” he said roughly, his hand going still. “I’ll want more than a sip.”
“Take as much as you want.”
“You won’t get your baby this way.” Sharply, he alerted her to the weapons he had at his disposal. “I’ve got condoms.”
Her brows knitted together. “I’m on the pill, too, for now. Please…just don’t change the course we’re on.”
“And afterward? You’ll go find some other man to have a life with. Someone to give you that baby, right?” He demanded that she’d commit her future to someone else.
“I want a family. But right now? I need you. So make up your mind.” She unwound the towel from her body and stood before him. “Now.”
Liam’s breath squashed out of his lungs. He stared, awestruck, at the sight before him: Evangeline naked. No longer the subject of his dreams, but a warm-blooded beauty.
Need kindled in her eyes. She held the towel to her side, prepared to bring it up again if he denied her. Her uncertainty gave her a fragile air that held him hostage to what she wanted.
His gaze swept down her throat to her nipples. Those dusky morsels
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