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At the moment, he was sitting in the bench seat of the bay window, watching Morgan wander through the place. He wanted to give her time to explore on her own and she was taking advantage of it. Her wide eyes seemed to take in every detail as her fingertips grazed over different surfaces. She hadn’t even spoken to him since she’d signed the paperwork on the kitchen island. She gasped as she spied the original heart pine floors in the living room, and he knew he had her. The place had only been staged a few days ago, but he got the feeling he hadn’t needed to bother with the expense.
“This is amazing work,” she said at last. There was a flush to Morgan’s cheeks as she turned to him. He recognized that expression. It was love. At one time, she’d looked at him that way. Now he’d have to settle for her loving his handiwork. “It’s stunning, really.”
River got up and walked over to where she was standing and admiring the fireplace with the original glazed tile surround. “I’m glad you like it.”
“The location is amazing, too. It’s so close to Broad Street and Waterfront Park. It doesn’t get much better than that in Charleston.”
“That’s what I thought when I found the place up for sale. It needed a lot of work—I think they hadn’t renovated since the ’80s—but I thought it was worth it. You haven’t even seen the upstairs yet. You’ll adore the master bath, I’m pretty sure.”
Morgan’s eyes lit up. She turned toward the staircase and this time he followed her upstairs. She explored the three bedrooms and the luxurious Carrara marble bath, then turned to look at him with a suspicious narrowed gaze. “You set me up, didn’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
She crossed her arms over her chest, drawing his attention to the press of her firm breasts against her shirt. “You said it would be easier to meet here, but you really just wanted me to see the place. We could’ve met anywhere, but you knew I’d love it.”
River could only shrug as he shifted his gaze back to her eyes. “How could you not love it? It’s an amazing town house. Yes, I set you up,” he admitted with a grin. “But I only wanted you to see it before I put it on the market in case you had to have it. I expect it to sell pretty quickly when I do, so I didn’t want you to miss your chance. There’s no pressure.”
She sighed and turned back to admire the original crown molding in the master bedroom. He followed her gaze as it fell onto the king-size bed and plush headboard on the center of the far wall. Normally, his stager would’ve used a queen bed, but the room was big enough to accommodate a larger one.
“I already have a place. In DC. I don’t need a house here, River.”
“I thought it was a rental.”
“Does that make a difference? It’s still a home in a town I love.”
“Then don’t buy it,” he said dismissively. “I only wanted you to know you have options. There’s no reason for you to spend every summer living with your parents. You’re a grown woman—almost thirty—with the financial means to do whatever you want. As much as you come back to town, I’d think you’d want your own space here in Charleston. Even just as an investment property. The market here is pretty hot.”
“Thanks for the reminder of how old I am,” she said with a cutting, sarcastic tone. “What you don’t quite understand is how large my parents’ home really is. With all the boys in their own places, I basically have an upstairs wing of the mansion to myself. It’s not like I’m tripping over my parents.”
River took a step closer to her, closing the gap between them. He stretched one arm out and braced it on the doorway as he leaned in. He didn’t crowd her personal space, but he was close enough to feel her warm breath as she exhaled and smell the scent of her perfume. “So you can do whatever you like, right? How about entertain a gentleman?”
Her gaze nervously met his and her tongue shot out to wet her bottom lip. She didn’t have to answer that out loud. They both knew her father didn’t care if she was fifteen, thirty or fifty, there would be none of that under his roof. He was as overprotective as he ever was.
“That hasn’t been an issue,” she said. “I come to Charleston to work, nothing more. I’m too busy to worry much about a personal life these days.”
There was something about the way she looked at him when she spoke. Something that made him want to move closer, even as she insisted she didn’t have time for a physical relationship. “It sounds to me like all you do is work. All work and no play makes Morgan a dull girl.”
Morgan’s green-gold eyes focused on his lips as he spoke. The memories of their brief, innocent kiss at the empty plot of land flooded his mind as he looked at her. It hadn’t been a great, passionate connection in reality, and yet it had felt that way. Kissing Morgan was the same as it had always been—like being struck by lightning. His whole body lit up at her touch, every nerve alive with wanting her.
In that instant, it was as though the last decade and the drama that drove them apart had never happened. To force himself to move on, he’d told himself so many things. That she hadn’t loved him. That she was just a spoiled rich girl using him to get back at Daddy. That the connection they’d shared was nothing special.
But when she’d touched him again, he knew it had all been lies. She might’ve regretted moving too fast and bent to her father’s will, but he hadn’t imagined the magnetic draw they shared. It was just as strong as it had ever been.
“Trust me,” he said. “I’m an expert on working too much.” River dropped his arm to his side and moved closer. He looked down at her, only inches away, but she didn’t move. “You can ignore your needs...push them aside...but they don’t go away. They build up inside of you. A burning, churning feeling in your belly. Eventually, you have to let off the pressure or you’ll do something stupid.”
Morgan’s gaze didn’t move from his own. Instead, she put a hand on his chest and her lips parted softly in invitation. “Something stupid like this?” she asked with an arched brow.
Her touch was searing through the cotton of his dress shirt. The heat made his brain start to short circuit, making the idea of having her be all he could think about. “That’s...debatable. If you’d asked me a week ago, I’d have said it was a bad idea. A terrible idea. But if you’re going to keep touching me like that, I will argue this is the perfect way to let off steam. I’d be happy to, uh, help you in that department.”
He was rambling nervously, but he couldn’t stop the flow of words. Not when she was this close and looking at him the way she was.
Morgan ran her palm over his chest, sliding it up the side of his neck to cradle the back of his skull. He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. “That’s very kind of you.”
“Morgan...” His breath caught in his throat as he said her name. If she was just flirting, she was playing a dangerous game. He wanted her. If she didn’t want him, she needed to step away.
She didn’t. She pulled his head down until their lips met. It was an explosive kiss, the contact igniting the fire inside of River that he’d fought to keep down. Any reservations he might have had about tasting Morgan again fizzled away as she bit his bottom lip and he groaned aloud.
She’d gotten feistier than he remembered her to be. He liked that. A lot. River wasn’t sure who moved how, but one moment, they were standing and the next, he was pressing her body into the mattress previously beside them. There wasn’t a break, not a hesitation, but an evolution of their kiss. It deepened, it intensified and with it, River felt the desperation start to bubble up inside
