Free Once Upon a Romance 01 - Before the Midnight Bells by Jessica Woodard

touches—at his waist with one hand, the other skimming along the outside of his leg to the floor—coated his skin with liquid fire.
    Ella was grateful when Max closed his eyes. Her face was burning and her hands were shaking, but being unobserved allowed her to calm down and fall into a rhythm; one hand holding the tape, the other letting it slip through her fingers until she found the measurement, then writing it down and beginning again. Waist, hips, waist to floor; the inseam gave her a momentary pause.
    “ Could you hold this end of the tape for me?” Her voice was pitched so low it almost sounded like another person. Max looked down at her with burning eyes and Ella hastily offered him the measuring tape. He closed his hand over hers, pulling the tape from her suddenly slack fingers.
    “ Where does it go?” He saw her eyes widen in alarm at the question.
    “ It, ah, it goes… just put it against your leg, and…” Max almost grinned at her sudden hesitation.
    Ella saw the wicked twinkle in his eye, and immediately stopped faltering. “I’m sure you’ve been measured before.”
    “ I have, but trust me, this is still a whole new experience.” His voice almost made her blush with the raw heat contained in it, but Ella fought it down. Tease her, would he?
    “ Well then, this is the inseam measurement. Please hold the top of the tape. I’m sure you can find where it goes.”
    “ Of course. I’m sure I can.” When Ella had no ready reply Max fell silent, satisfied at getting in the last word, and positioned the tape at the apex of his legs. Ella bent to the floor and quickly noted the measurement with shaking hands. She didn’t trust herself to touch his fingers again, so instead she gave a gentle tug on the tape. Max’s mouth curved in a barely perceptible smile, and he let go, closing his eyes once more. Still on her knees, Ella took a deep breath and tried to calm her racing heart. Measurements — she had to focus on the measurements.
    It was hopeless, though. When she stood up to take his shoulder width she found herself fascinated by the broad expanse of his back. Holding the end of her tape against one shoulder she turned her other hand palm - down and let it glide across to the other side, feeling the play of his muscles and the hard rise of his shoulder blades. Max shuddered beneath her hand, but otherwise gave no indication of noticing her. Ella was a bit piqued. She could barely breathe with him standing before her like this, and he just ignored her? He probably thought that staring her down while he disrobed had shown her up, but she was no meek and timid maid. At the ball they had challenged one another with food and words; this was just another form of the game.
    She let her fingers drift softly down his arms as she took length measurements, and then came to stand in front of him. Again her arms circled around him to pass the tape behind his back, and then she drew it together, her knuckles skimming along his chest, until her hands came together above his heart. Even through the backs of her fingers she could feel it pounding, and Ella smiled. Perhaps he wasn’t as indifferent as he pretended.
    Once more she released the tape, and then reached up to slide it around his neck. Her fingers drifted through the curls at the nape of his neck for just a moment, and came to rest above the hollow in his throat where his pulse thundered. As she leaned forward to read the tape she arched her hand up and out of the way, brushing his jaw in the process. She reached for her pen to record the number and felt a warm hand close over her own.
    Max’s eyes were open, and the look in them caused her heart to race at least as fast as his. Ella froze. Her measurements were done, and now here she was, one hand being held firmly and the other… the other…
    The other was holding a loop that stretched around Max’s neck.
    She pulled. She couldn’t help it. Nothing existed except for those eyes, and the