Midnight's Kiss Read Online Free Page A

stated, you can’t know about the day I’ve had. I had no right to get riled, as you put it.”
    “No harm done. I’m Arran MacCarrick.”
    She winced when she heard his name. “Saffron said you were coming. I know first impressions are important, Mr. MacCarrick, but I hope you’ll forget mine.”
    Arran had no such plans, but he didn’t tell her that. Besides, he liked what he’d seen. Maybe too much. The fact that she was Dr. Reid definitely put the brakes on any kind of flirting he might have thought of doing, however, his cock be damned.
    Flirting might be out, but he was there to know all there was about Ronnie and what she was on the verge of discovering. He had to get close to her.
    Yes. Verra close.
    How he was going to do that and not give in to the need to pull her against him and taste her delectable pink lips, he had no idea. But he’d have to think, and quickly.
    “Doona fash yourself about it, Dr. Reid.”
    “Please,” she said as she held out her hand. “Call me Ronnie. Any friend of Saffron’s is a friend of mine.”
    Arran took her small, thin hand in his. Something electric passed between them with that one, simple touch. And just like that, the passion erupted out of control, and was directed right at Ronnie.
    His body heated, his balls tightened again. All the desire he’d been pushing aside roared to life, urging him, driving him to pull her in his arms and taste her lips. She had the appearance of a calm, collected person, but Arran could see the passion simmering just beneath the surface, waiting to be released.
    The slight widening of her eyes let him know she’d felt it, too. He wanted to press her, to make her acknowledge what was between them.
    He wanted to see the desire in her eyes, feel her warm flesh beneath his hands. A tremor went through her hand, and Arran found himself tugging her to him. For just a moment she leaned into him. His gaze lowered to her lips. Nothing mattered but sampling her kisses.
    She hastily looked away. But not before he saw lust darken her hazel eyes.
    Arran bit back his smile at the last minute. As soon as he was alone, he was going to call Saffron and let her know her little jest about keeping secret Ronnie’s identity as a female hadn’t been funny.
    He’d wondered why she had intentionally left out what Ronnie looked like. At first he thought Saffron was just preoccupied with the baby, but now he knew the real cause.
    Yet, for all the reasons he was irritated with Saffron, Arran was more than pleased with what he saw of Ronnie. He wanted her. Nay, want was too weak of a word. He hungered for Ronnie, ached to feel her soft body against him.
    Her wheat-colored hair and hazel eyes stood out against the dark bronze of her skin. Almond-shaped eyes, pert nose, amazing lips … there wasn’t anything about Ronnie that wasn’t feminine and altogether too alluring.
    She was the kind of woman who would look good dressed in a formal gown, or as she was with jeans, shirt, and coat dusted with dirt and mud.
    She was the kind of woman Arran liked. The kind he’d never been able to find.
    The irony didn’t go unnoticed.
    “Call me Arran, please.”
    For long moments they simply stared into each other’s eyes. He knew she felt the desire, knew by the way her pulse quickened at her throat that he affected her.
    “I’m Pete Thornton.”
    Arran reluctantly released Ronnie’s hand and shook Pete’s. It took everything he could not to growl at Pete for interrupting them. Instead, he forced a smile. “How do you factor in this dig?”
    Pete looked at Ronnie and they both laughed, but it was Pete who answered. “I was Ronnie’s professor at Stanford. She had a love for archeology I’d never seen before. And her knack for finding things is unparalleled.”
    “Is that so?” Arran grew more intrigued about Ronnie Reid the more he discovered about her. There was magic here. Could it be from the magical artifacts lost long ago, the pendant Ronnie wore, or