Page 53 of Wild Scottish Fortune

Or it should have been.

The moment my lips touched his, my skin tingled, as though I’d brushed against a live wire, and energy zipped through me. A deep-seated craving rose, and I gasped against his lips, reaching up to twine my fingers through his thick hair as Fin angled his head and deepened the kiss.

Here. Here was heat, here was desire, here was everything.

Him.

This man, whom I’d been painfully aware of since the day he walked onto my job site, kissed like a demon, promising me my wildest desires, while cradling me close and protecting me from the world. A man who would lay down an expensive coat on a dirty street and pay thousands of pounds to save puppies, yet kissed like he could strip you bare and had the key to your most wanton needs. An ache bloomed, a lovely liquid need, heat coiling low in my core, and I squirmed, my body wanting more.

Fin’s hands stroked my back, his kiss demanding, yetoddly slow. The more agitated I grew, the more he slowed, his tongue dipping into my mouth, his teeth scraping gently over my lip. He savored. Teased.

Tormented.

And I was on fire. I wanted all of him, even if just to make the memory of how I felt inside the ballroom burn to the ground.

“Orla.” Fin pulled back, bringing his forehead to mine. “Bloody hell, you’re magnificent.”

“Fin…” I almost mewled in distress, wanting to climb into his lap and have him touch me everywhere. Never in my life had a kiss ignited such desire before and it raged through me, a need I didn’t know how to fulfill.

A door opened behind us, voices filling the night air, and I was sharply reminded of where we were. Fin put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his body, sheltering me as a group of people walked past us down the steps.

“Can I see you to your room?”

There was no way we could linger longer on these steps, as the rain was beginning to fall in earnest now, and the gala would be ending at some point. The idea of bringing Fin back to my lush hotel room excited me and I looked up at him, surprised by just how much I enjoyed being wrapped in his arms.

Shelter in the storm, and all that, I realized.

“Orla! There you are.” At Lia’s voice, I turned and found her and Munroe hovering at the base of the steps, Munroe’s coat over Lia’s shoulders. “I’ve been looking everywhere. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” I shifted, hoping topull myself away from Fin’s arms in front of Munroe, but Fin only held me tighter.Damn the man. It was just a kiss. He didn’t need to imply to my client that I was messing around with his employee.

“Lia, can you help her to her room? I need to go back into the gala.”

Of course he did. He couldn’t just abandon his mum’s charity gala because of me. I knew saving face was important, even as disappointment rose. Either way, he’d been kind when he hadn’t needed to be, and even if the kiss had been fantastic, it was time to pull back from where my thoughts had been going about taking Fin to my hotel room. At the end of the day, no matter how satisfying a night with him might have been, it was still just a temporary distraction from a shitty night. I had learned long ago that distractions were just that—and the pain would still be there after. What I needed to do was dive back into work, my only refuge, and not into the arms of one very sexy client of mine.

“Thank you,” I said, squeezing his arm as I eased myself to standing.

“There’s nothing to thank me for.” Fin’s face once again returned to hard lines. “I’ll check on you later. I need to speak with my mother.”

“Please don’t do anything…like over the top or anything.” I didn’t want this to become a big deal. “I’m fine. Really.”

“I know you are. But she doesn’t get to behave like that and not have it go unchecked.”

“It’s not worth it.” From my understanding, people like his mum rarely changed.

“Come on, Orla. Let’s get out of this rain. I’ve been dying to see what’s on the room service menu.” Lia hooked my arm and tugged gently.

“Wait, you shouldn’t have to leave…” I trailed off as Lia shot me a fierce look.

“I absolutely should. Munroe and I both agreed that was unacceptable. We’re all going to put our comfies on and watch silly TV while eating our heart’s worth of food from the room service menu. Understood?”

I opened my mouth to protest, but the Green Lady drifted close behind Lia.

Let them help you. It’s what family does.

Too tired and too cold to protest much more, I let Lia tug me back toward the hotel. Looking back, I caught Fin’s eye as he brushed his coat off.

“Thank you.”

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