Star Kissed: A Crane Series Romance Read Online Free PDF

his bedroom and he turned her to face him, not lunging as she’d expected, but taking a moment to study her face as if he were about to go blind and had to memorize it forever. Slowly, she warned herself. Maybe she should take this slowly. But even as the thought flitted across her consciousness, she knew somehow that for all his rash talk about bedding every straight woman in Sydney in the next fortnight, Mark was essentially a one-woman man. And that he’d never deliberately hurt her.
    “You’re so beautiful,” he said softly. For all that his eyes were red-rimmed with fatigue and his skin pale with tiredness, she thought he was beautiful, too. His fingers skimmed her breasts, bringing them to tingling life. “Now can I see you?”
    “Get on the bed,” she said, deciding to make tonight so special he’d never forget his first night in her country. “I promised you some sightseeing didn’t I?”
    His eyes took on a wicked glint that matched her own reckless mood. Even for her, things were moving a little fast here, but he felt so safe somehow, so right. She was going to make love to this man because her body gave her no choice. But she wasn’t going to be stupid about it, either. She’d protect her body and her heart. What could go wrong?
    Knowing that once she’d stripped in front of him, there’d be no turning back, she said, “Make yourself comfortable, I’ll be right back.”
    She slipped out of his room and ran to her own to grab a handful of condoms. She stopped in her bathroom long enough to clean her teeth and run a brush through her hair, then, with every part of her tingling with anticipation, she reentered his bedroom.
    “And now, for one of the most highly prized sights in all of Sydney,” she announced, grabbing the hem of her tank and preparing to bare her breasts.
    A gentle snore answered her. Mark Forsythe was stretched out on the bed, gloriously naked, and sound asleep. Before her horrified gaze, even his proud erection put itself to sleep. Torn between frustration and laughter, she approached the bed.
    “Mark?” She shook his shoulder. “Mark?”
    He was so deeply asleep she doubted the crowd at a footie grand final would wake him. She placed the bright foil packs on the bedside table and stood there, gnawing her lip as she watched him sleep. His clothes were in an untidy heap on the floor, and even one day’s acquaintance told her this was not his usual behavior. So she picked up his clothes, tossed jocks and socks in the hamper in the bathroom, and hung his pants and shirt in the closet, where a row of crisp pants and plain-colored, short-sleeved shirts hung in precise order.
    She could go back to her room and finish the night in a bed far too big for one person, or she could crawl in with Mark and hope all he needed was a short nap. Maybe if she snuggled her naked body against his, he’d wake. So she shucked her own clothes with a lot less showmanship than she’d planned and crawled in. She flipped the fancy light cotton cover over both of them. There was a moment’s rekindling of excitement when she pressed against him and he grunted, turned, and captured her breast in his hand. But the slow deep breathing of sleep wafted against the back of her neck, and she felt he was cuddling her the way he would his teddy bear.

Chapter 3
    Mark woke with his heart pounding, wondering where the hell he was. Something didn’t feel right. He took a moment to breathe, and let himself come to full consciousness. Of course. He wasn’t at home in his San Francisco townhouse. He was in Sydney, Australia. In a corporate house. All that fit with what he knew. What didn’t fit was the naked woman sleeping beside him. No wonder his heart was pounding. What the hell was that about? What had happened? He raised onto his elbow and gazed down at the woman beside him.
    Everything fell into place as he recognized Bronwyn, her hair a sexy mess down her back, her skin smooth and fresh, her lips parted