Page 44 of Reckless Kiss

“I am. I can’t help it.”

“Let’s go inside,” she said, kissing the side of his neck and then nibbling on his earlobe. “There’s a really comfortable bed.”

Archer moved his head back, breaking contact from hertalented tongue and mouth but kept his hard-on and hands where they were.

“I can’t,” he said, then groaned.

“Right,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder. “No sex rule.”

“Actually, I have to meet my aunt in an hour, and I cannot be late. If we went inside, I wouldn’t be leaving until sun up with neither of us getting any sleep.”

If Archer wasn’t mistaken, she heard the gorgeous woman squirming on his lap whimper. He felt exactly the same. So why couldn’t he just have a fling with Erica, fake marry her, and then walk away? Why couldn’t they have a little bit of fun?

That’s right, he thought, because he wasn’t a fling type of guy. One night or all in, that’s the kind of man he was. And there was no way he would be able to have one night and no more with Erica.

“You could come back after your meeting?” she said.

Archer dropped his stare to her hand. Her fingers had found his erect nipple and her thumb gently stroked back and forth over his t-shirt.

“That would be a terrible idea, Erica,” he said, not entirely convinced of what he was saying.

“Why did you come over?” she asked amiably, nodding to the box.

He was thankful she knew when to stop pushing him. He lifted her as he stood and placed her back on her armchair. Archer stepped away to go to the box and brought it over. He took out a photo album, flicked to the page he wanted, and turned it to face her.

He smiled as she stroked the picture of him and his siblings on Stuart Island.

“What’s your favourite colour?” he asked.

“Are we talking shoes or a sweater?”

“Jewels,” Archer replied, observing her reaction.

Her fingers stilled on the picture of four teenagers, arms thrown around shoulders laughing at the camera. He couldn’t remember who had taken the photo for the life of him. He knew it wasn’t his dad, and his mother was long gone since the picture was taken. Someone had taken it and developed the film, putting it into a photo album. Somehow the album that didn’t belong to him found its way into his bedroom.

“Pearls are my favourite, but if I had to choose a coloured gem, I’d pick rubies.”

“Okay,” Archer answered, hoping like hell there was a pearl ring in the selection his aunt offered.

“Just okay, no clues to tell me why you want to know?”

“It’s a surprise,” he answered because he had no idea when, where or how he would actually propose to Erica. They’d struck a deal, but he still wanted to propose, so they had a story to tell without lying.

“Are you going to propose Mr Turner? Have you asked my father for permission?”

Archer laughed at her southern drawl, sounding like she was straight from Mississippi. It was a flawless accent, and he wished he could reply like he sounded like the actor Matthew McConaughey. Then he felt his face fall as he thought about her family and friends.

“Should I meet your family? In all this mess, I hadn’t considered your family.”

“No,” she said, waving away his question. “If you want to walk away after three months, there’s no point in them knowing we were ever married. People get married in secret all the time. This island will give us the perfect cover.”

There was no getting away from her tone that theywouldn’t last. Erica said he would be the one to walk away, but he thought the opposite would happen. She’d already worked it all out. It dowsed his desire to take her to bed. Even a short fling didn’t work for him. All or nothing and Erica was already planning his exit.

“Archer?” Erica asked, bringing him back to look at her. When he did, she gave him a soft smile. “Did you hear me because you look like I’ve stolen your favourite teddy?”

“Nah,” he said, stretching down to his box. “He’s here.”

Archer lifted the old scrappy stuffed toy. He straightened the teddy’s bow tie and turned him to face Erica. “He’s called Peter. Please don’t ask me why. I have no idea. I’ve had him since I was born, so I think someone else named him, and I went with it.”

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