Strong Enough to Love Read Online Free PDF

only two blocks away. The cold hadn’t even started to sink in when she reached the hotel and stepped into the warmth created by the lobby’s fireplace.
    Eyes averted, she walked straight past the reception desk to the elevator, a little afraid she’d see someone she knew. If she did, what could she say? That she was on her way up to a party? A reunion? Wearing nothing but a little black dress and heels? Eve kept her head down, and nearly jumped into the elevator for the ride to the third floor.
    Would Brian try to talk her out of this? Would he hesitate? If he did, she’d just take off her dress.
    Her mouth went dry at even the thought of being so brazen, but when the elevator doors opened, she stepped determinedly off. She was done with being denied. Done with doing the right thing. Done being careful. Tonight she’d take what she wanted and she’d deal with the consequences tomorrow. But she had to keep moving. If she stopped, if she really thought this through... No. She wouldn’t give this up out of fear.
    She was determined to remember every second of this, but even walking down the hallway felt a little hazy and far away. When she found his door and raised a hand to knock, it was someone else’s hand in someone else’s dream. But when the door opened, there was no doubt whose fantasy this was, because Brian stood there, still angry, but softer somehow. His sleeves rolled up to reveal his strong forearms. His hair mussed as if he’d scrubbed his hand through it. He looked as he had so many times with her when he’d been working for hours and was losing the light he wanted.
    Eve’s mouth watered.
    She knew how to get rid of his tension. She’d always been good at that, but this time, it wouldn’t be about making him laugh. This time she’d distract him with something different.
    His eyes slid down her body as he stepped aside to let her in. She set down her purse and watched him as he edged past her. She had no idea what to do now. She’d instigated this, but all those years of forcing herself to never touch him had trained her muscles. She couldn’t just reach out and press her hand to his chest. She couldn’t step into his arms. So she watched him.
    “You look beautiful,” he said.
    She whispered, “Thank you,” clutching her hands together as her thoughts dissolved into nervous chatter. She was filled with the truth of how much she wanted him and how much this scared her.
    The room was dim, but the single lamp he’d left on let her see him clearly enough. Despite her heels, he was still inches taller than her, and his wide shoulders made him seem even larger. She wanted to stroke her hands along those muscles. She wanted to clutch them.
    But she surprised herself. When he took a step toward her, she stepped back. That didn’t dissuade him, thank God. “Eve,” he whispered, moving closer, and suddenly the wall was at her back and his body was only a few inches away.
    Instead of touching her, his hands pressed to the wall on either side of her arms. His head ducked, but he didn’t kiss her. Instead, his mouth hovered near her temple. “This is a mistake,” he breathed.
    “I don’t care,” she answered, trembling with the awareness that he was right there. So close. But he didn’t move closer.
    “Eve,” he said again, that one syllable fraught with pain and doubt and helplessness. “Not like this.”
    She tipped her head up, forcing his mouth to brush over her cheek as she turned toward him. “Does it feel like a mistake?” she breathed against his parted lips.
    Brian groaned, and then he kissed her.
    She’d wanted to remember everything, but it was already too much. The taste of him, the heat as their lips parted, the stroke of his tongue, the way his hands clutched her shoulders. He was touching her and she needed every moment, but the only thing her brain registered was pleasure and the hard pulse of her heart beating in every part of her body.
    His tongue stroked hers, over and