Midnight's Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page A

was silly, because there was nothing to fight.
    Ronnie chuckled to herself.
    “What is it?” Arran asked when he straightened.
    She shook her head and grinned. “Every time I come to Scotland, I find myself thinking I’ll see men with swords strapped to them, ready for battle.”
    He didn’t laugh as she expected. Instead, he gazed at her with his amazing golden eyes, an intensity about him that made it difficult for her to draw breath.
    Dark brows slashed between eyes and a high forehead. A wealth of hair so dark brown that it almost appeared black was kept long with a hint of a wave and hung past his shoulders. He had impossibly long, thick eyelashes, and the dark stubble on his chiseled cheeks and square jaw only added to his attraction.
    Then there were his wide lips that were fuller than a man’s ought to be. They made her think of tangled limbs, of long, sensual kisses where she’d forget everything but the man touching her.
    As a total package, Arran was the kind of man who turned heads wherever he went. Women wanted him, and men wanted to be him.
    Ronnie knew what came with having a man like Arran around. Every instinct told her to have him leave, but she needed extra hands around. And she couldn’t refuse Saffron’s request.
    Not to mention she couldn’t ignore the yearning of her body, no matter how hard she tried. Her heart had been racing, her blood ablaze through her veins since he had walked up. His easy, devil-may-care attitude and stark enticement couldn’t be disregarded, no matter how much she tried to do just that.
    She pulled her jacket tighter in an effort to shield her aching nipples. They’d grown hard at the first inflection of his deep, velvety voice. His Scots brogue low and thick. Just hearing him talk made goose bumps rise along her arms.
    Odd how none of the other Scots caused the same reaction.
    “You’re no’ off the mark,” he finally said, drawing her out of her thoughts. “My land has seen countless battles as men fought to rule us.”
    “You speak as if you’ve lived here from the beginning of time.”
    He shrugged. “Maybe I have in a past life.”
    Ronnie normally dismissed such inane sayings, but somehow, she believed it when Arran said it. Maybe not that he’d lived another life, but that he was much more than he appeared to be.
    He was dangerous. Of that she was sure.
    Dangerous to her psyche. Dangerous to her capacity to forget him as she had done so many other men.
    He was captivating, charismatic, and entirely too interesting.
    “Why do I get the feeling, lass, that you doona want me here?” Arran asked.
    “Because men like you—”
    “Men like me?” he interrupted, one dark brow raised as if he didn’t like being compared to other men.
    And she had to admit, Arran MacCarrick really couldn’t be compared to anyone else.
    “Yes, good-looking men who come to the digs distract the women. They flirt and get involved instead of focusing on the dig. People can get injured, artifacts lost, broken, or even stolen, and any number of things when people aren’t concentrating on their tasks.”
    “So, you think I’m handsome,” he said with a crooked grin.
    Ronnie sighed and rolled her eyes, trying her damnedest not to feel the flutter of her stomach at his smile. She had the urge to return his smile, but she had learned her lesson long ago with such daring, gorgeous men.
    “What I think is beside the point. You’re here because Saffron requested it. I know her. If you’re her friend, I just want to ask that you remember that when the women begin to take notice of you.”
    His smile disappeared and his gaze narrowed. “I know my duty. You willna have a problem with me sniffing around any of the women. I can no’ help if they come to me, but I give you my word, I’ll dissuade them.”
    This Ronnie hadn’t expected. “Uh … thank you.”
    “I’m many things, Ronnie, but I wouldna think of compromising this dig or you.”
    She shifted from foot to foot,