Page 60 of Love for a Lifetime

She lifted her chin to let Dawson know she didn’t care, but his usually friendly expression turned intense. He stepped closer, and she turned, resting her back against the wall.

“Want to make him jealous?” Dawson whispered.

Jealous? Who? She didn’t have one thought in her head for anyone except Dawson–the man currently looking at her as if he wanted to consume her. His inviting eyes begged her to fall into the rush waiting mere inches away.

Dawson leaned closer and brushed his lips over her cheek, sending a tingling dancing over her skin. She inhaled an audible breath, but there wasn’t anything she could do to stop her reaction. A second later, his rough fingertips grazed up her neck before resting at her nape. The pad of his thumb swept the sensitive skin below her ear.

The whole world fell away. The only thought in her head was the man adoring her with every touch. She was grounded to Dawson. Right here. Right now. Everything within her shifted, reaching for Dawson as if they were two magnets searching for their counterparts. Her carefully packaged mind came untied.

Dawson breathed her name in the hollow of her neck, and the vibration of his voice ran through her veins. His broad body shielded her as his hand rested on the wall beside her.

Heat rose from her middle, spreading throughout her body. The tension from her initial shock subsided, flowing out of her as she melted beneath his affection.

She lifted her hand to reach for him–to touch him the way he touched her.

Before her fingertips touched his back, his chin rose. He inhaled a deep breath and whispered, “Mission accomplished.”

“What?” The question held all of the confusion blocking her thoughts.

“You should have seen the look on his face.” Dawson pulled away, letting his hand slide down her arm as he retreated. The movement was like a sweep of the second hand past a number–holding on one second and gone the next.

Oh, her ex. If he’d seen Dawson mere centimeters from kissing her and clearly adoring her, he’d definitely gotten a show. The look on Trey’s face probably mirrored the shock in her own expression.

Staring up at her friend, she forced her chest to expand and contract. Her feelings had taken on a mind of their own, growing and twisting into a tangled web that held her captive. Every muscle in her body begged to reach for him–to link his heart to hers in irreversible ways.

When she didn’t look away, Dawson stared back at her. His head tilted slightly, silently asking what she wanted.

She wanted so much. Too much. There was a gaping hole in her chest that only Dawson could fill.

A door opened down the hallway, and both of them looked up in an instant. Mark and Bethany came out of a room with their arms wrapped around each other.

Olivia gasped as Dawson chuckled. The couple started toward them, and Dawson leaned his shoulder against the wall, blocking her from the couple’s view. Pressing a finger against his lips, he waited for Mark and Bethany to stumble past.

Dawson and Olivia might as well have been invisible. Neither Mark nor Bethany could tear their attention away from each other to notice anything around them.

When the couple was out of sight, Olivia pressed a hand over her mouth and stared wide-eyed at Dawson.

“That was unexpected,” he said.

Yeah. That and everything else about this night. Mark ending up with Bethany wasn’t nearly as surprising as Olivia’s desire to pull Dawson close and kiss him the way she wanted.

Olivia let out a breath and stared at the door where her awful date had just disappeared. “Wow.”

“Those two are perfect for each other,” he said.

“I thought he left,” Olivia breathed as she lowered her hand.

“Looks like he found a reason to stick around.”

The doors to the reception hall opened, and Asher and Haley appeared. Haley spotted them down the hallway and waved a friendly goodbye.

Dawson and Olivia waved back. If the Hardings had walked out a minute sooner, they would have seen Dawson nuzzling Olivia’s neck.

Don’t think about that.

Yeah, as if she’d be able to forget it. The lines he drew on her skin would be tingling for a while.

Olivia straightened her shoulders and brushed her hands down the sides of her silky dress. “I should get back in there. People will be leaving soon, and I need to stay and help clean up.”

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