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The Virgin's Makeover, Judy Duarte
To Love and Protect by Susan Mallery
Mother by Design by Susan Mallery, Christine Rimmer and Laurie Paige
Secrets & Seductions by Pamela Toth
Royal Affair by Laurie Paige
For Love and Family by Victoria Pade
The Bachelor by Marie Ferrarella
A Precious Gift by Karen Rose Smith
Child of Her Heart by Cheryl St.John
Intimate Surrender by RaeAnne Thayne
The Secret Heir by Gina Wilkins
The Newlyweds by Elizabeth Bevarly
Right by Her Side by Christie Ridgway
The Homecoming by Anne Marie Winston
The Greatest Risk by Cara Colter
What a Man Needs by Patricia Thayer
Undercover Passion by Raye Morgan
Royal Seduction by Donna Clayton
He took her hand and held it snugly in his, resting them on the seat between them as he drove.
They'd gone a few miles before he found a stretch of beach and parked above it. Taking an extra jacket from the back of the vehicle, he draped it around her shoulders, and they descended wooden stairs to the sand below.
Meredith was glad to feel his strong fingers close around hers again. They strolled along the beach, well away from the chilling cold spray of the surf. The sound was like the relaxation tape she'd used during her childbirth classes and labor. Chaney had been with her during those times. Meredith wondered what she'd tell her friend about this night and these developments.
Putting her feelings about Justin into words would be like trying to capture an ocean wave in her bare hands.
Justin studied the lovely woman beside him in the moonlight. He felt out of his element with Meredith. Though she was obviously self-reliant and capable, he sensed an underlying vulnerability that kindled his protective instincts. Buying her meals and paying for their shared activities had been about as far as he'd dared go without compromising her independence.
She was right when she'd said they'd met under relaxed conditions and he certainly found her exciting and mysterious. He hadn't been with a woman for a long time. He hadn't known he would want to be. And he certainly hadn't expected to desire this particular woman.
Though she held a lot of herself in reserve, she seemed comfortable with him. . .and attracted to him. She neatly evaded subjects she didn't wish to discuss, such as her family and her baby's father. He could only assume the two were a bad combination. But she was more than happy to discuss her passions: Anna, her work, the camp she wanted to start. Those were the safe areas.
"You took on a big task," he said finally, "having a child alone."
She nodded. "I wanted a child, and I was discouraged with the idea of needing a husband to make one. I figured I was doing okay by myself, how much more difficult could one little baby be?"
"More difficult than you imagined?"
"It's complicated. More complicated than it should have been. Besides the problems with my family, I've been besieged with doubts about my ability to raise her the way a child of mixed race should be raised."
"Because she's half black."
"I had no concept of what she would need or want to know when she was older. What do I know about black heritage?"
"What if she'd have been half Italian? Or half French? Would that have seemed so foreign to you?"
"Honestly? Probably not."
"Because of skin color."
"It is the visible difference. I was. . .intimidated."
"A lot of parents wouldn't recognize the importance of teaching their child about their heritage or bother to help them blend in. Anna is going to have all the skills she needs because you'll be equipping her."
They paused and studied the waves lapping against the sand. Here and there rocks jutted from the constantly moving water.
"I'd be happy to help any way I can," he offered, drawing her gaze. "I take the boys to cultural events now and then. We could go together."
"Thank you," she said softly. "That means a lot to me." She turned to study the ocean. "Your friendship means a lot to me."
Meredith's pale profile was illuminated by the moonlight, and in that moment Justin recognized more than ever that her delicate beauty belied an inner strength he admired. Her fragility was a seductive deception, an age old lure. The wind lifted her hair and blew strands across her cheek.
He raised his free hand to gently move away the tress. She turned her gaze up to his, and his breath caught in his chest. If he wasn't too out of practice and was reading all the signals right, she'd been affected by his words at dinner. And she wasn't immune to his nearness.
Releasing her hand, he used both of his to thread his fingers into the hair on each side of her face and run them through the cool length.
Her head dropped back and her eyes drifted closed.
The invitation too much to resist, Justin buried his hands against her scalp and leaned forward. When his lips met hers she made a breathy sound, part sigh, part sob that set him on fire.
She was a sensory overload for a man so long without female stimulation. Her lips were warm and pliant, and she tasted of coffee and chocolate.
She moved against him spontaneously. With both of their jackets opened, her full breasts pressed against his chest, and she raised one arm to wrap it around his neck as though to secure the kiss for her lingering pleasure.
Her other hand flattened on his shirt, where he knew she could feel the beat of his thundering heart. It felt so good to hold her, taste her, that he had to restrain himself from grinding his body into hers.
He lowered his hands from her hair to slide them inside the warmth of the jacket she wore, around to her back. She felt incredibly good, so feminine and soft, and he held her fast against him.
Quite naturally, without one or the other initiating it, their lips parted and the kiss deepened. She made that inciting little sound again, and this time he felt it against his tongue.
She pulled her mouth away, but bracketed his face between her hands so he wouldn't move. She kissed his chin, then his jaw, and the breeze cooled the trail of dampness.
Justin lowered his face to the lee of her neck and inhaled her intoxicating scent.
This was how it began. It had been so long for him that it felt like the first time he'd waded the shores of sexual discovery. In the darkness he heard her intake of breath as he touched his lips to hers again.
Her breathing was fast and shallow, and she pulled her mouth from his to catch her breath while she cupped his face in her palms and caressed the corners of his lips with her thumbs. One thumb rubbed across his damp lower lip, twice, three times before she plucked a kiss there.
Incited, Justin took her mouth in a possessive kiss this time, pulling her close caressing her shoulders and back. She felt small and delicate beneath his hands, and the silken texture of her lips had him in a daze. He dropped his mouth to her neck, tasted the pulse point at her throat.
He sensed her discomfort then and paused.
"Maybe we should go now," she said breathlessly.
Before things went too far? Or in order to get back to the hotel so they could continue? He waited for a clue, some indication of her desire.
"Okay," he said, pulling away and adjusting the jacket around her.
They made their way back to the SUV. She threaded her fingers through her hair, straightened her skirt and fastened her seat belt.
Justin snapped his in place and ran a hand over his face before glancing in the rear view mirror and getting the vehicle headed back. Arousal, hot and needy, slugged through his veins. He reached for her hand, and she clasped his, drew it to her lips and pressed a moist kiss to his fingers.
When he turned to look at her, she smiled at him. . .a secret sexy smile of want and expectation. A dozen erotic images flashed in his mind's eye.
It wasn't finished. It was only beginning.
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