Heart Tamer Read Online Free Page B

gestured toward a group getting off the elevator and heading toward them.
    He clasped her upper arm again. “Then we’ll go outside.”
    She arched an eyebrow and stared at his hand encircling her arm until he released it.
    “It’s too cold out there and I left my wrap at the table. Can’t we find someplace a little more…secluded?” She paused and smiled, a slight catlike lift of her lips. A smile of seduction. Interesting… Two could play this game. 
    “Then we’ll go to my room.”
    “Your room?”
    “Aye. We’ll have that chat you’re set on having.”
    She stepped up to him so close he got a tantalizing whiff of flowers. His gaze dipped to her soft, bare nape above the coppery, chestnut hair swept back in a loose updo. He wanted to release the pins and run his fingers through her glossy hair, to unzip her dress and bury his face in her pillowy, fragrant breasts...
    “What about the guests?” she asked, interrupting his fantasies.
    “The party’s almost over. They won’t notice we’re gone. Let’s go.”
    Alec watched her bravado slip as she stood before him, wide green eyes vulnerable and lips slightly parted. All playfulness vanished as she swallowed visibly and nodded.
     
     
    Alec’s suite was simply magnificent. Kate glanced around the spacious room, awed by its sumptuous décor from the gleaming mahogany antiques to the marble fireplace before the pearl gray sofa. In her thriving business, she was invited to many destination weddings and often stayed in hotel rooms, but this one surpassed them all. For a girl who’d grown up having to share a room with boisterous twin brothers, spending a night on luxury sheets and ordering room service was her idea of sheer heaven.
    The first time she’d ever spent the night in a hotel suite was on her honeymoon with Alec. She remembered the dizzying excitement as if it were yesterday. And from the smoldering look in Alec’s heavy-lidded eyes, he was remembering it too.
    “Let’s sit by the fire,” Alec said, his voice huskier than usual.
    Kate perched on the edge of the sofa while he crossed to the sideboard.
    “Would you like a drink?” he asked.
    “No, thanks.” She needed to keep her wits sharp around him.
    Alec seemed to be in no hurry as he took off his jacket and sporran and laid them over a chair. He untied the black cravat and loosened the collar of his shirt, then rolled up his sleeves revealing muscular, brown forearms. She’d always found his swarthy skin appealing. The contrast with his topaz eyes and dazzling white smile made his rugged face all the more enticing.  He stretched his arms out and rolled his neck from side to side before pouring scotch into a cut crystal glass.
    If he was getting comfortable, she might as well too. Kate slipped out of her shoes and massaged her aching feet as she sat back on the sofa and replayed the reason she was here. Eileen had confided many things, but what bolstered her most was hearing her say, Alec would never admit it, but he’s lonely. All his friends are married, and most have children. Now I’m getting married too. He has a lot of women, but he hasn’t had a relationship with any of them…since you. Eyeing how hot he looked, she wondered if Eileen had exaggerated just to get them back together again.
    He was already drawing her to him like a hypnotist. She couldn’t afford a replay of the past where a meaningful look from him was all it took to land her in bed for steamy, heart-throbbing, knee-melting sex. The bridesmaid at the bar had said Alec was the love ’em and leave ’em type. If had been capable of leaving Kate once, he’d do it again. She couldn’t bear to feel that broken again.
    By the time Alec joined her on the sofa, Kate’s nerves were bouncing like popcorn kernels in a sizzling pan. He took a long swig of scotch, set the glass on the coffee table and turned his full attention on her. Up close, his eyes were the color of golden sherry with chocolate colored flecks.