Free A Suitable Wife: A Sweetwater Springs Novel by Carol Burnside, Emily Sewell, Kim Killion

thumb, caressing her jawline. Her tongue darted across her bottom lip again, and he bit back a groan. Damn. Payback for her. Torture for him.
    Need rose in him, sharp enough that his position became damn uncomfortable. He stopped caring about why they were doing this and concentrated on her lips, so close, begging him to taste them. 
    “We don’t have to, um, practice everything tonigh—”
    He covered her mouth with his, making her point moot. For a few seconds, neither of them moved. Sam eased back, trembling with the effort it took to keep himself in check. He changed the angle and closed the gap, needing to taste her, unable to resist flicking the tip of his tongue across her mouth.
    Rosie’s lips parted in surprise, and he deepened the kiss, taking it from a gentle experiment to a thorough claiming. The tension left her body and she melted against him like a lone pat of butter on a stack of fresh hotcakes. The sensation set off alarms, and he stilled. What was he doing, kissing her like there was no tomorrow? Rosie wasn’t his to claim. Sam eased away from the kiss, though he didn’t want it to end.  
    She swayed toward him before her eyes flew open. He only caught a glimpse of blue before she turned away, breathing harder than normal.
    Yeah. He knew the feeling. Kissing Rosie had surpassed anything he’d imagined it to be. He’d been celibate too long if kissing a friend did this to him. 
    He cast about for something witty to break the awkward silence, but came up empty. The last thing he wanted to do was rehash what had happened. He cleared his throat and stood. “That’ll do for tonight.”
    “Right.” Her voice sounded flat, forced. “It’s getting late. We should go to bed.”
    She’d given him the perfect segue to break the awkwardness and he took it, pushing for a jovial tone. “I see how this works. A couple of kisses and now you think I’m easy.” He forced a grin that felt all wrong. “But will you still respect me in the morning?”
    “Augh!” Rosie shoved at his shoulder as she left. She nearly succeeded in unbalancing him since he was none too steady on his feet. “Goodnight, Sam.”
    A really long, torturous night was more like it.
    * * *
    R osie waited for the door to close behind her. When it clicked shut, her composure dissolved. She touched trembling fingertips to her lips and squeezed her eyes shut, reliving the moment Sam had deepened the kiss. The flash of heat had surprised her and had nothing to do with mere friendship.
    She’d thought needing an infusion of cash into her business was a big deal. But this was huge. All their talk of marriage and wedding plans, hand-holding and kissing had resurrected hopes and dreams she’d thought destroyed. Dead.
    From his ever present humor, he obviously hadn’t experienced the same level of attraction to her, if any.
    Sam had made it clear this was a temporary, strictly business agreement. He didn’t want anything from her except a wifely performance good enough to fool a judge.
    How could she possibly keep her attraction hidden for a whole year?

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    A fter a night of troubled sleep, the best solution Rosie could think of was avoidance. Whenever she and Sam weren’t in the public eye, she’d simply avoid him.
    She’d figure out a way to make it work. After all, he had his work and she had hers. They needn’t spend every waking hour together.
    As she backed the van from her garage, a masculine voice called “Hey, Rosie!” She braked and looked for its source.
    Sam approached her vehicle. He was dressed for a run, in shorts and a tank that had seen better days. Lorelei rode along in front of him, buckled into a three-wheeled stroller.
    Rosie lowered her window, deciding designers wasted their time with the business casual look. Rugged tatters were infinitely more appealing.
    “Good morning.” Sam stopped alongside the van and leaned a tanned forearm on her window frame. He smelled deliciously clean with a trace