Fortune's Woman / A Fortune Wedding: Fortune's Woman. Kristin Hardy

and she tightened her arms around him, her hands gripping him closely.

      She didn’t know how long the kiss lasted. It could have been hours, for all the awareness she had of time passing. She only knew that in Ross’s arms, she felt safe and desirable, a heady combination.

      They might have stayed there all night, but eventually some little spark of consciousness filtered through the soft hunger.

      This was dangerous. Too dangerous. His nephew could come outside to the patio at any moment and discover them in a heated embrace.

      Although Josh was almost eighteen, certainly old enough to understand about sexual attraction, she had a strong feeling Ross wouldn’t be thrilled if his nephew caught them kissing.

      She wasn’t sure how, but she managed to summon the energy and sheer strength of will to pull her hands away and step back enough to allow room for her lungs to take in a full breath.

      The kick of oxygen to her system pushed away some of the fuzzy, hormone-induced cobwebs in her brain but for perhaps an entire sixty seconds she could only stare at him, feeling raw and off balance. Her thoughts were a wild snarl in her head and she couldn’t seem to untwist them.

      An awkward silence seethed around them, replacing the seductive attraction with something taut and clumsy. She struggled for something to say but couldn’t think of anything that didn’t sound silly and girlish.

      Ross was the first one to break the silence. “I swear, that wasn’t on the agenda for the evening,” he finally said.

      His hair was a little tousled from her fingers and he looked rumpled and rough around the edges and rather dismayed at their kiss.

      She found the entire package absolutely irresistible.

      “I believe you.”

      “I’m not…I didn’t intend—”

      He raked a hand through his hair, messing it up even more. A muscle worked in his jaw and he seemed so uncomfortable that she finally took pity on him.