ONE NIGHT ONLY

Chapter 3

Goose bumps erupted over Rosa’s arms and shoulders, but they had nothing to do with the weather, which was balmy for the middle of February in Cincinnati.

The setting and the man were to blame.

They were alone on an intensely romantic terrace overlooking the Ohio River from high atop a hillside perch. Thousands of white lights blinked in the trees and everywhere else she looked.

Worst of all was the husky note in his black-magic voice and the heat blasting from his big body as he leaned one elbow against the railing and regarded her with that unreadable expression. Something about him was different than it had been minutes ago—softer, maybe—and something primal inside her awakened.

Responded.

This was dangerous, she realized. Unexpected, unsettling and…dangerous.

"Talk?" Drawing the pashmina tighter, she threw one end over her shoulder, realized she was fidgeting, and stopped. "What have you ever had to say to me?"

"More than you know." He glanced at her wrap. "Are you cold?"

"Yes," she lied.

Amusement lit his face even if it didn’t curve his lips. "You’re flushed."

Yeah. She was.

Infuriated that he could read her so easily, Rosa swore she wouldn’t give an inch to this bully. Hitching up her chin, she mustered all the haughty disdain she could manage. "You came all the way out here to discuss my body temperature?"

"No, although the subject does interest me. A lot."

Rosa gaped.

"I came out here to discuss your dress."

Rosa tried to stay focused and work up some bravado but it was hard because he was crossing all kinds of lines tonight, rearranging her known world. "Y-you don’t like red?"

"Rosa," he said with utter sincerity as he eased closer, "red is my new favorite color."

Flustered and speechless, Rosa searched his expression for the familiar animosity, but it was gone. Something new was there in its place: open sexual desire and appreciation.

This unexpected change was so stunning—she would’ve been less surprised to see Philip turn into a pterodactyl and back again—that it took her an eternity to speak.

"What are you doing?"

"Letting you know how I feel about you."

"That’s easy." Another lie. Nothing about this night had been easy, especially the slight tremble that had begun in her legs and now seemed to be spreading throughout her entire body.

Rosa locked her knees and tried to ignore the leashed excitement that shimmered around him like an aura and the unmistakable glow of adoration in his face. "You hate me. End of conversation."

"I don’t hate you, Rosa."

He was deadly serious now and she was deathly afraid. This chemical reaction she felt, this…this…suddenattraction, if that’s what it was, shouldn’t be happening between them. She was a widowed single mother who’d left the house tonight for a safe date with a dentist. She was not a woman looking for romance or even sex, especially not with her dead husband’s best friend.

Even if he was one of the sexiest men she’d ever seen.

"Of course you hate me." God, she couldn’t even think, could barely get the words out. "You’ve hated me since you laid eyes on me."

"I’ve never hated you, sweetheart."

The aching tenderness in his voice was bad enough, and the endearment was worse, but then something terrible happened. With no further warning, he cupped her face in his gentle hand, stepped closer until they were thigh-to-thigh and belly-to-belly, and set off a nuclear reaction strong enough to incinerate her poor body to dust.

PLease Comment and Vote .... Thank You...