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The night was still enough for her to hear herself breathing They had walked some distance away from the hotel when she said, “I love this It makes you want to take off your shoes and run”

“Go ahead” Tanner’s voice was as deep and sht

Whitney glanced at hi just that He rabbed a handful of her dress and ran The soft dirt, still warm from the sun, surrounded her toes She threw up her arms and twirled

A deep chuckle filled the air, bringing her to a halt She looked at Tanner

“Don’t stop on my account”

She studied hi with his back to the moon as if he were a warrior of old She wanted to reach out and take his smooth-shaven face in her hands and kiss him for all she orth

She didn’t have to He ca so close she could hear him breathe but he didn’t touch her “Whitney, I need to kiss you”

Needed to? Had anyone ever needed to kiss her? She stepped to him His lips found hers This was no practice kiss, this was aher so

Tanner pulled her against hiue joined hers and danced a nized as theirs alone She held on and took the spine-tingling, heart-revving and ed in desperation forto him

Tanner broke away, inhaling before he took her lips again This tiled, became heavy His arousal was evident between the Tanner touch herto him as if he were her lifeline

In a lol he said, “Let’s go inside I want you”

Whitney was tempted to throw caution away and act on the fiery e to a ith Tanner It was too rohts, filled her days, and if this continued he would fill her heart That would be a road to nothing but misery

If she agreed to his request ould happen to her self-respect, her business? What would happen to what she wanted out of life? A husband who loved her Someone who invested his life in hers, theirs She wanted a loving ive What was between theh

“I can’t” She stepped back, herto hio in by myself”

“Are you running, Whitney?”

She looked at hiuess you could call it that I knohen so to end well We aren’t s out of a relationship”

Tanner watched as Whitney becaht Heck, he wasn’t even sure what she wanted was real He’d seen his mother fawn over his father, but was that love or obsession? His father had certainly not cared for hissomeone?

He followed Whitney at a distance,sure she safely entered the front door of the château Along the way he picked up her shoes She had such tiny feet for a wo will

Once again he was pushing when he’d said he wouldn’t He’d apologized to Whitneyto do it again

He went to the library off the entrance hall and poured a drink Taking a seat in a chair near a , he nursed his drink, giving Whitney tiet his libido under control

It was late when the sound of footsteps drew his lanced behind hi for him but Charlotte He returned his attention to the , hoping she hadn’t seen him Sadly, that wasn’t the case

“Why, Tanner, is that you? I thought you’d be upstairs with your plain little woman”

If his hackles hadn’t already been up they would have stood on end at that reh him He made no attempt to keep the aversion out of his words “You know, it’s been a long ti”