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And yet, she couldn't seem to separate from him. God knows she'd tried like hell the past couple weeks, to no avail. Even when he wasn't physically present, she felt him. His earthy scent clung to her clothes and on her pillow when she laid down at night. Ridiculous, since he'd never been in her room. They had some weird psychic bond that defied explanation.
Hell, considering her own inherent magic, who was she to deny that mystical forces surrounded them? Look at what she was capable of, and she thought herself an ordinary person.
Maybe Max possessed some type of powers, and she was drawn to that part of him.
"Thinking?"
She shrieked at the unexpected sound of Max's voice. She hadn't even heard him come down the dock. Laying her palm against her breast to calm her speeding heart, she said, "You scared the shit out of me."
He squatted down next to her. "Sorry. You were deep in thought and obviously didn't hear me. What are you doing?"
"Thinking."
"About?"
"Stuff." Like you. And me. And us. And this infernal battle waging war in my brain right now.
"Want to talk about it?"
"Not really."
He shifted and sat, resting on his left arm. Shannon took in the sight of him, admiring the way his jeans fit snug against his powerful thighs, the way his T-shirt hugged his chest. Damn he had broad shoulders, too. If she'd bothered to pay attention she'd have noticed that, but she was so busy picking the right words of denial out of her mind that she hadn't focused on the gorgeous man who sat next to her now.
"I brought us a snack." He reached behind him and pulled out a basket containing a bottle of white wine and two glasses, a wedge of cheese and some bread. "Thought we'd have a little picnic and talk. If that's all right."
She frowned and looked toward the house. "Where's my family?"
"They left."
She sniffed, more than a little bit irritated at the oh-so-obvious setup. "Still doing a bit of matchmaking, aren't they?"
"Apparently." He smiled. She'd never noticed his dimples before on both his cheeks, so close to his curving mouth. A sudden desire to press her lips to one of those indentation made her lean back a bit, still unsure of where she wanted to go with all this.
Max poured the wine and handed her a glass. He sliced a thin wedge of cheese and lifted his fingers to her mouth.
She hesitated, the act seemingly so familiar. Still unsure how intimate she wanted to get with Max, she reached for the cheese, intending to feed herself.
But Max snatched it out of her reach. "Uh uh. Let me."
Warily, she opened her mouth and he slid the cheese inside, his fingers lingering as she closed her lips over the slice of brie. She shuddered at the taste of fine cheese and the equally exotic flavor of Max's finger.
He popped a slice into his own mouth and washed it down with a swallow of wine. She watched the movement of his throat as he swallowed, then took a long drink of her wine to escape the sudden dryness in her mouth.
When he lifted a piece of bread toward her mouth, she shook her head. "I can feed myself, Max."
The gold and green in his eyes danced like the flickering rays of sun filtering through the trees. "I know you can. This way is more fun."
She didn't disagree with that, and allowed him to continue to feed her. A simple act, and yet so incredibly erotic that she wanted to try it out herself. She reached for a small wedge of cheese on the plate and lifted it to his lips.
One corner of his mouth curled in a wry grin, and he opened, letting her slide the cheese onto his waiting tongue. Before she could snatch her fingers out, he captured her wrist and held it in place, then closed his lips around her fingers, sucking them into the moist heat of his mouth.
Desire shot between her legs. Her panties dampened and the very air around them seemed to still and warm. When he slowly pulled her fingers from between his lips, she knew what it must feel like for a man to sink into heat like that.
Damn near burned her alive, and that was just the play of his mouth on her fingers.
Their gazes caught and held as Max leaned in. The musky scent that she attributed to him mixed with the wine tingeing his breath. A heady combination that she found near impossible to resist.
But resist she would. At least for the moment. For someone who'd always been self-assured, she sure as hell felt torn between her desires and her common sense right now. And she didn't know which one was the right one to follow. "I haven't seen the inside of the house since it's been set up. How about a tour?"
Max paused, then tilted his head to the side, studying her. She turned away from his intense scrutiny to watch the last of the sun flitting behind the trees.
"Okay, let's go," he said.
He stood, picked up the basket and held out his hand to her, keeping his fingers entwined with hers as they walked into the house.
She kind of liked the feel of her small hand in his much larger one.
When they got inside the kitchen, he set the basket on the counter and turned to her. "Let's take that tour."
He led her through the expansive kitchen and into a formal dining room that stood empty.
"I lived in an apartment, so the set in the kitchen nook was all I had. No reason to have anything formal."
She smiled at his explanation, imagining his bachelor pad back in Boston.
The furniture in the living room was lovely, though. Instead of manly leather, as most single men possessed, a warm beige sofa and matching loveseat graced the living area. Two high-backed Queen Anne chairs in a beautiful pattern of golden browns and rust complimented the couch, along with a few impressive antique end tables and a coffee table. A heavily scrolled pattern etched the rounded feet of the mahogany tables. They were breathtaking and obviously well preserved.
"My grandmother's tables," he murmured, stopping at the doorway leading to the front hall. "My mother insisted that each of us had some of Grams' furniture, and I always liked those pieces."
"They're lovely."
"Thanks."
He waited while she approached the stairs, letting her walk up ahead of him. She was conscious of his eyes on her as she made the trek up the stairs, making her want to rush her pace, but she forced herself to take normal steps. She waited for him at the top, conscious of the way his gaze traveled over her as he made the last few steps.
There were four bedrooms upstairs, and two full baths. She remembered the night she'd come in here with Max, and had fallen in love with the bath in the master bedroom. Gorgeous creamy marbleized tile, with a double vanity, a sunken whirlpool tub and a shower that several people could fit into made it every woman's dream bathroom.
"I won't be using two of the bedrooms...yet," he said as he led her down the hall. "One I've converted to my office since I do a lot of work at home, and until I get a main PR office in town somewhere, I'll just set up here."
She nodded, admiring the enthusiasm in his voice. Maybe she was wrong about his motives for moving here. If she'd bothered to think about him as a businessman instead of just a guy trying to reach the top of the Storm dynasty by way of getting into her pants, then she'd have realized this sooner.
And she'd accused him of having a huge ego? Hers was boundless. She'd thought he was really trying to get to her family's money through her, when he didn't need it at all.
But that only left one reason he had been trying to get close to her since the day that they met. He wanted her. Just her. She found it less uncomfortable to think he was just after her money.
"I think I like this room the best," he said, drawing her out of her musings by leading her into the master bedroom.
Wow. Her gaze immediately went to the sliding glass door, which led out to an expansive balcony that overlooked the lake. A king size bed centered the long wall, decorated by a gray and cream bedspread in a satiny finish. Wide, thick pillows were piled on the bed. It was beautiful, but not garish. Inviting, warm, and sensual. "You could fit ten people on that bed!"
&
nbsp; "Two would be just fine," he said with a wink.
She swallowed past the nervous lump in her throat, although for the life of her she had no idea what she was nervous about. Yes, she felt something happening between them, but it wasn't like they'd never had sex before. After all, the balcony episode remained first and foremost on her mind every single day.
This felt different. More important, somehow, but she didn't know why.
Quit second guessing things and just go with it! Geez, woman, have you ever had a spontaneous moment in your entire life? Does everything have to be about control?
"Come out here with me. I want to show you something."
