Liam bit off a potent urge to ask her to take off her glasses. He knew she wore them to protect her sensitive eye, so he refrained. Barely. They’d sat there and talked for the past half hour and almost the entire time he’d been hungry to look into those soft, dark eyes… When he wasn’t admiring her elegant arms, or the slope of her shoulders, or her legs or her firm, full breasts.
He felt guilty about it, but he wasn’t really sorry that the cleaning lady had switched on that light the other night. He was greedy. If that light hadn’t gone on, he wouldn’t have been gifted with the vision of Natalie’s exquisite face and huge, startled eyes.
He wouldn’t have sacrificed that.
Why did he have this almost overwhelming need to touch her again, like he had the other night? She’d quivered in his arms like a shaking leaf, but she’d felt so soft.
She’d fit against him perfectly. He couldn’t quiet the desire to explore every nuance of that fit.
It was a mistake to ask her to dinner. He saw how tense she’d gone at his suggestion and he sank back in his chair.
“It’s just dinner, Natalie.”
“I know that,” she replied quickly.
He felt bad. Gone was the impenetrable woman with the quick tongue. She seemed flustered. He thought it would be prudent to give her some space to gather herself. He stood. “I’ll go and defrost some steaks and then take a quick shower. Are you going to be okay out here for a few minutes?”
“I…yes,
but—”
“Great, because I’ll be back before you know it. I’ll tell you the rest of what I found out over dinner.”
“There’s more?” she asked, sitting up straighter.
Bingo, Liam thought. He’d hit the right button. He wondered, though, when she spoke next.
“Don’t defrost the steaks,” she said suddenly. Liam was positive she was about to say it would be prudent for her to leave.
“I was just at the grocery store. I have steaks in the car. If we don’t eat them, they’ll go bad.”
He forced himself not to grin too widely as he asked her for her keys and went to retrieve the meat.
While Liam showered, Natalie wandered through the yard and climbed out onto the rocky breakwater that partially surrounded the small beach. The breakwater seemed ancient. Natalie wondered if it had been created by the cottage’s first owners. She stood on a slick slab of dark gray granite, breathing deeply of the fresh air.
“Don’t fall. Those rocks are sharp enough to do some damage,” Liam yelled from the terrace.
Natalie spun around. He stood on the terrace, his hair still damp from the shower, the wind causing his blue cotton shirt to billow around his torso. She hopped from one rock to another and rose up the incline to the terrace.
“The wind has really picked up,” she said as she sprang up the steps. She paused when she saw his expression. She smoothed several loose wisps of hair that had escaped her bun, suddenly self-conscious under his stare.
“Hmm,” Liam mused as he regarded her. “Guess I don’t have to warn you about falling on the rocks. Might as well tell a gazelle not to be clumsy.”
Embarrassment and pleasure flooded her in equal measure. She glanced away. “Why don’t you let me make the salad? I can do a few grades better than mediocre.”
“Sure, if you don’t think you’ll mind the smell.”
Actually, the odor from the floor stain was barely noticeable and Natalie said so when Liam led her into the house. Thanks to all the open windows and the wind coming off Lake Michigan the house smelled as fresh as a wild meadow.
“Oh!” she exclaimed in surprise when she followed Liam into the kitchen. “You didn’t tell me you put in new cabinets. They look wonderful. And the floors…they’re gorgeous,” she said, peering into the empty dining room just off the kitchen.
“Thanks,” Liam said. “How’d you know the cabinets were new?”
“Oh…I looked at the cottage several years ago when I was shopping around for a place.”
He chuckled before he opened the new stainless steel refrigerator and started pulling out supplies for a salad. “You’re a lot smarter than me if you didn’t buy it.”
“Oh, no. Don’t say that. This house is amazing.”