Midnight's Kiss Read Online Free Page B

Ronnie herself?
    Arran couldn’t wait to find out.
    “Enough, Pete,” Ronnie said with a shy smile. “You know sometimes we get lucky in our digs, and sometimes we don’t.”
    “Ah, but you’re luckier than most.”
    “Come, I’ll show you to your tent,” Ronnie said to Arran.
    He wasn’t fooled. She had cut Pete off before he could say more about how she found her artifacts. “Verra intriguing,” he murmured to himself.
    With a wave to Pete, Arran followed her as they walked across the area roped off by the government; the rope border allowed them to dig but also kept others out.
    Thousands of conversations, shouts, the sound of shovels plunging into the ground, and even the ring of hammers striking rocks filled the air.
    As if reading his mind, Ronnie smiled. “No one ever realizes how loud the sites can be.”
    “Aye. I wasna expecting this. The noise, nor the sheer amount of people.”
    “We could use about a dozen more. So this is your first archeological dig?”
    “It is. I willna be a hindrance, though.”
    Arran didn’t miss the way she looked him up and down once they reached the set of tents that stood in a semicircle in front of dozens of caravans.
    “No, I don’t expect you will. Why my dig, though?”
    “It’s my country. I want to see what the past holds.”
    She gave a small nod of acceptance. “This is your tent. You’ll be sharing with Pete for a few nights before he returns to the States for business.”
    Arran ducked into the tent through the zippered opening. He saw two cots, one on either side of the small tent. It wasn’t optimal, since he’d have to share, but it could have been worse.
    “This will do fine,” he said over his shoulder before he tossed his two bags on the cot that was freshly made.
    *   *   *
    Ronnie tried not to look at his ass, she really did. But she’d never seen a man fill out a pair of jeans the way Arran MacCarrick did.
    And it wasn’t just his jeans. From his wide shoulders and muscular chest to the way that torso narrowed to jeans resting low on slim hips and encasing long legs, he fascinated her. Ronnie would bet that beneath that black tee were abs so defined, she’d be able to count each of them.
    In one word, he was yummy.
    He was the embodiment of tall, dark, and handsome. It was his smile, the one that said he knew secrets of the flesh she could only imagine. A smile that beckoned her to throw caution to the wind and let her body lead.
    But she’d already made that mistake once. One tall, dark, and handsome man was enough for a lifetime. It didn’t matter that Arran exuded a sexual magnetism she found herself inexplicably drawn to. He had charisma and confidence in spades.
    Add that to a tight, muscular body a blind woman could drool over, and Ronnie knew she was in trouble with a capital T. Arran flashed that smile and stared at her as if he could look deep into her soul and uncover her wildest dreams and desires.
    For a moment, she almost let him.
    For a moment, she could see herself with him. Naked. Limbs entwined, breaths harsh and uneven, skin slick with sweat, and desire ruling her, leading her.
    Ronnie couldn’t dislodge the image now that she’d conjured it. And felt it. Her body throbbed, as if it yearned to be touched. By Arran.
    Her heart thudded in her chest as she fought against the pull of his body. It would be so easy to give in and let her passion and his virility dictate everything.
    The newest member of her team was friendly enough, but she didn’t miss the way his gaze moved around the site, as if trying to study everything without being seen.
    Saffron had funded many of Ronnie’s digs, so she wasn’t about to tell her no when Saffron asked if a friend could help on the site. Yet now Ronnie had the urge to call Saffron and learn all she could about Arran.
    It wasn’t just his rugged good looks that set her off kilter. It was the gleam in his golden eyes, the way he stood, as if he were ready for battle.
    Which