Page 42 of Journey to You

How could she articulate half of what she was feeling?

Blinding anticipation of being touched by a man after so long?

Good old-fashioned lust that licked along her veins and made her throb with need?

Crippling uncertainty that she wouldn’t live up to his expectations?

Or the mind-numbing fear that once she took this irreversible step, there’d be no going back.

Sex with Ethan would cement what she’d known the last few days.

She’d fallen for him.

Enough to take a chance on love again, enough to want it all, with him.

“Tam?” He tipped up her chin, leaving her no option but to stare into his concerned gaze.

“I’m scared.”

He cupped her cheek, drawing comforting circles in the small of her back with his other hand. “I’d never do anything to hurt you. You know that, right?”

“I know, but—”

“But?”

“What if—”this doesn’t work, this ruins everything, this makes me fall in love with you even more and you don’t feel half as much for me as I feel for you?

“What if you stop second guessing this and let me love you?”

She knew he meant it as a physical expression of love, but hearing him say the word out loud banished the last of her lingering doubts.

She’d spent every moment of her marriage carefully weighing and assessing; trying to say the right thing, do the right thing, wear the right thing. And she’d been miserable.

Now, she had a second chance, a real shot at happiness, and she’d be a fool to let it slip through her fingers.

Her hands slid up his chest to caress his neck, cradling his face as she wrapped her legs around him. “What if I show you how much I want this?”

His face creased into a wicked smile, the heartrendingly familiar sexy smile that never failed to set her pulse racing.

“Sounds like a plan.” He sent a pointed glance at their clothes. “But we’re filthy.”

Shocked at her own bravado, she met his gaze head on.

“Let’s take a shower then.”

As they stepped into the tiny shower stall, peeled their clothes off, and steam rose around them, Tam knew without a doubt this man had become her destiny.

Twenty

Ethan groaned, sat back, and patted his stomach. “Okay, now I’m done, are you going to tell me what’s in thatsorpotel?”

The corners of Tam’s mouth twitched, the tiny movement slugging him as he recalled in vivid detail how those lips had explored his body last night. He’d dated extensively but never had he felt so connected with a woman during sex.

Though it was more than that and he knew it, knew it with every wary cell in his body. What he felt for Tam defied description and had him jumpier than a mongoose around a cobra.

He was out of control, wanting her more now than ever. It was akin to sampling the finest Shiraz Grenache: one taste was never enough.

“You sure you want to know?”

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