Free A Touch of Silk by Lori Wilde

I’m listening.”
    Quinn gave her his full attention, his eyes on her face, his palms splayed over his thighs. Kay couldn’t help but feel that the future Mrs. Scofield was going to be a very lucky woman—just as long as she was willing to move to Alaska.
    “All right. It hurt my feelings when you turned down my offer at the Empire State Building. I don’t go around inviting men into my bed willy-nilly. I just thought you should know that.”
    “I never thought you did.”
    “You thought I was terrible, wanting to cheat on my boyfriend.”
    “I didn’t.”
    “You did.”
    He shook a finger. “Now don’t go telling me what I thought.”
    “So what did you think about me?”
    “I figured there must have been trouble in ‘practically engaged’ paradise for there to be so much attraction between us.”
    “And?”
    “I thought you were a beautiful, sexy woman who was obviously unhappy with her life and not getting what she needed from her primary relationships.”
    Boy, he’d hit the nail on the head. Was she that obvious, or was he that observant?
    “I think you’re frustrated and disappointed and searching for something special.”
    She ducked her head. This didn’t feel very comfortable, having him analyze her and be so accurate.
    He reached out and cupped her chin with his palm, raised her face to meet his gaze once more. “I’d like to make you feel special, Kay.” His expression was doing her in, causing her to feel hot and cold at the same time.
    “Quinn, you’re looking for a wife, and the last thing I’m in the market for is a husband.”
    “Kay, I’m a pretty simple guy. I take life as I find it. I don’t put expectations on people.”
    “Then why did you reject me back in New York?”
    “Like I told you then, I don’t come between couples. You had to get free from Lloyd first before you could come to me. But you’re here now. Officially unattached. Anything can happen.”
    Anything.
    The word reverberated in her head. It was exactly what she wanted to hear. Exactly what she feared most. By coming to Alaska she had set herself on a course of sexual exploration. If a man as virile as Quinn couldn’t give her an orgasm, if he couldn’t save her from a life of frustrated sexual fantasies, then could anyone?

    QUINN DROVE KAY over to Jake’s bed-and-breakfast in his parents’ Wagoneer and gave her the keys. He’d started to walk her to the door, not wanting her to slip in the gloom and the snow, but she surprised him by announcing she wanted to walk around and check out the town.
    “For the article,” she explained.
    They walked to the end of the half-mile-long boardwalk, which ended at the pier where the cruise ships docked in the summer. Most of the shops were closed for the winter, except for Long Bear’s sundries and MacKenzie’s trading post. He took her over to KCRK, his parents’ radio station, and they waved to Liam Kilstrom who was in the control booth. They wandered past the community rec center and the nearby church, where the ladies’ auxiliary was having a quilting bee. They strolled by the Happy Puffin bar, where half the town was hanging out, because it was trivia night. The other half of the town was either probably in Jake’s huge sitting room or at the adjacent restaurant, Paradise Diner.
    He was not quite certain what had passed between them at his house. Had she come to Alaska to have an affair with him or not? She wanted him as badly as he wanted her. He saw the desire reflected in her eyes, noticed her passion in the way she held her body, recognized longing in how she got flustered in his presence. But something was holding her back.
    It was all he could do to keep from touching her, brushing a wisp of hair from her cheek, taking her hand to guide her over the icy patches on the road. He wanted to caress her and hold her and never let her go.
    He had it bad and he knew that wasn’t good. He had to be careful. Kay was not a long-term relationship. He knew