Free Confessions of a Bad Bridesmaid by Jennifer Rae Page A

buzzed beneath her glove at his touch, so she sat down and quickly pulled her hand away. She had to stop fantasising about this man. He’d seen her naked. With no make-up! There was no way he’d be fantasising about her .
    ‘It’s beautiful,’ she murmured, looking out across the fields. And so was he. Shut up, Olivia.
    ‘We spent days out here when we were young. Hunting, fishing, exploring.’
    His voice held a pang of longing. Fiona had said Edward hadn’t been back here in months. She’d said he hardly ever came home.
    ‘Do you miss it?’
    Edward paused. ‘I do. I miss it very much.’
    Looking through her hair, Olivia thought she caught his jaw working at the side of his face. She thought for a moment he was going to say something else, but he didn’t. So she lifted her hand to pull her hair across one shoulder. She’d have a better view of him if she didn’t have to peer through her hair.
    At her movement he looked at her.
    ‘What’s that?’
    A warm finger lightly pressed a spot right below her ear and Olivia went stiff. His touch was like torture. She remembered the way he’d touched her skin last night and the way she’d arched into his hand... An uncontrollable blush spread across her face. He drew his finger away and she reached up to her neck and rubbed the skin that still tingled.
    ‘It’s a tattoo. My sister has the same one.’
    ‘Are you and your sister close?’
    ‘Not particularly. Not now, anyway. We were when we were younger. But after she...’
    For some reason she didn’t want to tell Edward about Ana. She didn’t want Edward to know. He was here, with her. Touching her skin and talking in that deep English voice. She didn’t want her sister interfering.
    ‘I keep my hair long so no one will see it.’
    Olivia sat perfectly still as Edward’s face came closer.
    ‘What is it? An oar?’
    ‘A tennis racket.’ She shivered. He was still close. She could feel his breath on her neck. She wanted to close her eyes and push her neck into his lips, but he wouldn’t want that.
    He came even closer and his scent circled around her. Warmth rolled off him in waves.
    ‘It’s cute,’ he said, close to her ear.
    The tiny hairs on her ear stood to attention. Her nipples stood to attention. Her whole body was on alert. The green light was well and truly turned on and flashing. If he decided to throw her back on this rock, Olivia was pretty sure her long-forgotten parts would know what to do with the large, hard body of Edward hovering above them.
    She had to get away from him—away from his scent and his warmth. She shifted her head, letting her hair fall back over the shoulder closest to him, but he lifted his hand and caught it.
    ‘Wait. Let me look.’
    The way he spoke—all low and gruff—was as if he was saying something completely different. Something much hotter. Olivia’s bones disappeared.
    She couldn’t remember the last time a man had spoken to her like that. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had been this close to her. No. She could. Just over a year ago. At her sister’s victory party. He’d kissed her in the hallway of her sister’s flat. Told her she was hot. But not as hot as her sister. She’d pushed him so hard the back of his head had hit the other side of the hallway. He’d sworn at her and left. Olivia had felt grubby and used.
    But Edward didn’t make her feel like that. He seemed to bring her skin alive, to make her feel something else. Something much lovelier.
    His hand held her hair and he pushed it back over her shoulder. His knuckles brushed her skin and she gasped. Slowly his lips came closer, until she could feel him breathing in her ear. So warm, so safe. Then, as her eyes rolled back, his warm lips pressed to the skin on her neck. Soft, gentle, reverent. She felt the wetness of the tip of his tongue as it came out a little to touch her skin and she shivered. The combination of his scent, his warmth, his strong hands and his hot lips made