Free A Daring Proposition by Jennifer Greene

said, although Leigh thought he didn’t sound the least bit apologetic.
    “Don’t be silly,” Robert said hospitably. He was already getting additional cutlery from the drawer. “You’re just in time to help us celebrate.”
    “Then Leigh told you…?” Brian probed tactfully.
    “All I know is that she’s been dancing around all day,” Robert said with his customary gruffness. “Now you’re here, maybe you can tell me what it’s all about.”
    Leigh continued to fuss with serving dishes and pots, but her heart was thundering in her chest. Inevitably, she had to look up, and Brian’s eyes seemed to be just waiting to catch hers. She felt like a fool for sending him the cigars; a brief note would have been the sensible thing. She was embarrassed, and felt an odd stillness curling inside the longer he studied her. His broad chest blocked out Robert’s image, so it almost seemed as if only the two of them were there. His eyes skimmed all of her, the flowing mass of copper hair and the sparkling topaz eyes, the soft lips vulnerably parted, the sensual lines of her figure accented by the long, graceful skirt. She felt a quiver of uncertainty inside. He hadn’t looked at her like that before.
    Relaxed, sure of himself, Brian leaned back against the door while she continued to work. “What’s for dinner?” he asked finally.
    She told him.
    “Oh,” he said dryly.
    There was a wealth of meaning in that word, she mused, thinking that she should resent the stereotype of the newly pregnant woman with strange cravings; but she didn’t. She flashed him a private smile. He knew how much this meant to her, and she didn’t really care what he or anyone thought of her dinner.
    “You don’t have to stand on ceremony for me, you know,” Robert told Brian bluntly.
    “Stand on ceremony?”
    The matchmaker nodded. “I know you haven’t had a chance to see Leigh in a few weeks. I told her all along I knew there was something between you. Maybe you two do things differently than in my day, but if it needs saying, I wouldn’t be shocked out of my mind if you…well, you know.”
    “I get the drift,” Brian said blandly. So did Leigh, staring at Brian with startled eyes as he came closer. She put the platter of lobster between them, which he just as quickly removed to the table, his black eyes noting her distress with amusement. It was all happening just a little too quickly. Of course, for Robert’s sake there would eventually have to be some token gestures of affection, but not this moment, not before she had a chance to steel herself.
    His mouth dipped to hers, a strong, firm palm nestling at the back of her head. He tasted first, his eyes boring so intensely into hers that she helplessly closed her own, her whole body rigid with panic. He tasted again, this time lingering, and then his mouth simply covered hers, stealing the breath from her as his tongue parted her lips. She tried to remember Robert’s presence, her pride. Her arms seemed to be in midair, a spoon in one hand. She could feel his erratic heartbeat on top of her own, the foreign sensation of her breasts intimately crushed, pressed deliberately against the solid, ungiving wall of his chest. For just an instant, she had a wild, crazy feeling…
    Slowly, Brian released her, his palms trailing down her sides to her waist before he let her go. He was watching her. She took a deep breath with lowered eyes. “The ring is about to go on Leigh’s finger, Robert,” Brian said conversationally.
    “I should think so,” the older man answered. The kiss had clearly delighted him.
    “I’ll be moving in this weekend.”
    Momentarily, Leigh felt stunned, as if she had just discovered herself to be barefoot outside in the snow. The kiss was shiver material, but it was over. Brian’s deep voice was clearly saying he was taking possession, and in front of Robert she would have to play along. She forced a smile as she moved away from Brian and sat down at the