Free When Chocolate Is Not Enough... by Nina Harrington

‘It’s lovely to see someone who is just as excited as I am. And this is a first for me too, remember?’
    Daisy sucked in a breath. ‘Dolores does look rather … well, complicated. Do you have an instruction booklet? I find them ever so helpful.’
    Max replied with a dismissive snort. ‘My Dolores is a high-class girl, but I know how to flick her switches—if you know what I mean.’ He pointed to the simple control panel above the water bath. ‘Two buttons. On and off. Andthe speed dial. Looks easy enough.’ His eyes sparkled with exhilaration and excitement and he gestured with his head towards the mixer. ‘Ready to find out just how fantastic this chocolate is going to taste?’
    This was an important moment. She did not want to spoil a life-changing event by petty squabbling about the mixer settings.
    So, instead of following her instincts and starting off cautiously, Daisy shrugged off her concerns and stepped closer, buoyed up by his energy and enthusiasm.
    With one single nod in her direction Max turned to the machine, pressed the ‘on’ button and set the speed to its lowest setting.
    To Daisy’s delight green lights appeared on the control panel and the blades inside the warm chocolate started moving, mixing and smoothing away any grittiness from the cocoa butter inside the blend.
Yes!
This was it.
    Her first batch of her very own recipe.
    ‘Oh, this is so fantastic. Thank you, Max. I have waited a long time for this moment.’
    ‘Me too,’ he replied in a low, warm voice, and opened up his arms to receive her.
    It seemed natural and right for Daisy to step inside the circle of his embrace and press her chest against his. His arms wrapped around her in a bear hug, holding her tight against him. She sighed as she realised he was probablyunaware that she had closed her eyes and was simply revelling in the physical contact.
    She could feel his heart beating just below the thin fabric of his loose T-shirt, and when he suddenly chuckled the echoes of his laugher reverberated through his chest into hers, making her feel young and foolish and naïve and happy again. As though she were just starting out on her great adventure all over again.
    It was a wondrous, joyous feeling that she wanted to hang on to as long as possible. Here inside Max’s arms she felt that she could do anything in life she wanted.
    He was holding her so tightly against him that her arms automatically lifted around his neck, and as her fingers meshed behind his neck Max lowered his head, so that their brows were almost touching.
    Daisy breathed in a totally entrancing aroma of spicy sweet chocolate, man-sweat and exhilaration. It was a perfume as sensual and rich as any fragrance, which combined with the warm softness of his breath on her cheek and the rough rasp of his chin stubble on her forehead to create a total sensory overload for her poor exhausted brain.
    This was one of those moments which came so rarely in her life that she knew it would stay with her long after Max had headed backto his island. The kind of moment when life could spin forward and, just for once, she would be helpless against the power of the sensation.
    Little wonder that she gently shifted even closer against Max, so that their bodies were in contact from thigh to chest.
    His lips pressed softly against her hair as he hugged her closer, his fingers wide and strong and powerful through the thin fabric of her dress as they hugged her so close that he almost lifted her off her feet.
    It felt so good. Max felt so good.
    She had almost forgotten what it was like to be held in the arms of a desirable man who seemed to be enjoying the moment just as much as she was.
    Heat and physical pleasure surged up from deep in her stomach, prickling her skin and making her blood pound.
    She could fight this attraction.
    She
should
fight this attraction. Tell him to stop.
    But as she lifted her chin to ask Max to put her down she made the mistake of looking into those blue