Free The Morning After The Wedding Before by Anne Oliver

way.
    ‘This isn’t the place,’ he murmured, his voice all the quieter for her raised one.
    Changing his grip, he pulled her up before she could mutter any sound of protest. He was so close she could feel the heat emanating from his body, could smell expensive leather jacket and freshly showered male skin.
    ‘The place?’ she echoed. ‘Place for what?’
    He entwined his fingers with hers. ‘Why don’t we take a walk and find out?’

CHAPTER SIX
    E MMA blinked up at him through her eyelashes. It took her a scattered moment to realise she was still holding her earphones in her free hand and that her other hand was captured by the biggest, warmest hand it had ever come into contact with. She told herself she didn’t want to be holding his hand … but who was she kidding but herself?
    ‘Run,’
she managed, pulling out of his grasp. ‘I was going for a
run
.’ And if she was sensible she’d keep running all the way back to Sydney.
    ‘I’ll join you.’
    She glanced at his leather jacket and casual shoes, deliberately bypassing the interesting bits in between. ‘You’re hardly dressed for it.’
    ‘I’ll try to keep up.’
His
gaze cruised down her body like a slow boat on a meandering river, all the way to her well-worn sneakers. ‘What about your ankle?’
    ‘It’s fine.’ He’d be offering to carry her next, so she conceded defeat. ‘Okay, we’ll walk.’ Stuffing her earphones back in her pocket, she accompanied him outside and onto the street.
    The air had a cold bite and an invigorating eucalypt scent that called to her senses, and she breathed deep.
    ‘I saw a little café on the way here,’ he suggested.
    ‘I didn’t come to the mountains to be shut in a stuffy café with a bunch of city slickers up for the weekend.’
    ‘Of which we’re two,’ he pointed out.
    ‘I want to see the Three Sisters by night and sample some mountain air. Come on, it’s a ten-minute walk to Echo Point.’
    He took her hand again. ‘What are we waiting for?’
    They followed the hotel wall that enclosed the beautiful garden where tomorrow’s ceremony would take place until it gave way to bushland fenced off from the road. Beyond, the ground fell away more than two hundred metres to the valley floor. Neither talked, but a feeling of camaraderie settled between them. Both were absorbed in the mutual appreciation of their surroundings.
    The minute the famous Three Sisters rock formation came into view Emma came to an awed stop. ‘Wow.’ She hung back from the main vantage point where a few tourists were milling about, unwilling to share the moment with strangers.
    Floodlit, the Sisters gleamed a rich gold against the black velvet backdrop, surrounding trees catching the light and providing a lacy emerald frame. The never-ending sky blazed with stars.
    She sighed, drinking in the sight. ‘Aren’t you glad we didn’t go for coffee?’
    ‘That first glimpse always packs a punch, that’s for sure.’
    His voice rumbled through her body and she realised he’d let go of her hand while she’d been taking in the view and was now standing behind her, his chin on top of her head.
    ‘Did you know the Aboriginal Dreaming story tells us there were three brothers who fell in love with three sisters from another tribe and were forbidden to marry?’ Shehugged her elbows, and it seemed natural to lean back into Jake’s warmth.
    In response, a pair of rock-solid arms slid around to the front of her waist. ‘Go on. I’m sure there’s more.’
    ‘A battle ensued, and when the men tried to capture them, a tribal elder turned the maidens into stone to protect them.’
    ‘And right there,’ he drawled lazily, ‘you’re viewing a lesson to be heeded about the dangers of love and marriage.’
    She turned within the circle of his arms. ‘The sad thing is the sisters had no say in any of it.’
    ‘But you do,’ he murmured against her brow. And bent his head.
    Warm breath caressed her skin and her heart began to