Free Beautiful Distraction by Jess Michaels

your strength, I admire you , and I don’t want you to ever believe otherwise.”
    She stared at him for what seemed like an eternity and then she nodded as she prayed her eyes wouldn’t fill with tears at his sincere declaration.
    “Thank you,” she whispered.
    He released her finally and the intensity of his stare faded. “Now I would like to take you upstairs and be further inspired. Will you accompany me?”
    He offered his arm and she laughed as she took it. But even as they went up for more untold pleasures, Olivia felt a niggling concern deep within her. Malcolm Graham was unlike anyone she had ever met. And she could not be so foolish as to mistake his infatuation with her body as anything deeper.
    Nor could she allow herself to feel deeper feelings for him. That could only end in heartache.

Chapter Seven
    It had been three days since Olivia’s arrival at Liam’s estate. Three days, and yet Malcolm still couldn’t help but stare at her in wonder when they were together and crave touching her whenever they were apart.
    Only, at the moment, they were anything but parted. He lay across her bed, stroking his fingers along her naked hip as she smiled down at him.
    “You have a very serious look about you, Mr. Graham,” she teased, reaching out to press the tip of her finger to his nose. “What solemn thoughts have you so dour?”
    He propped himself up on his elbow and did his best to clear his mind.
    “I was only thinking that we have been cloistered in this room for a very long time. And I fear I may not be a very good host to you.”
    Her face lit up with one of her astonishingly beautiful smiles. “You could not say I have been bored here, Malcolm, sequestered in this room or not. But I wouldn’t object to an outing. What do you have in mind?”
    He thought for a moment. He didn’t want to share her with the world, nor did he want to stray too far from this bed. Which left him with few options.
    “There is a lake on the property,” he said. “We could have a picnic lunch there.”
    She sat up and smiled. “That sounds wonderful. And why don’t we see if Violet and the earl would want to join us?”
    Mal squeezed his eyes shut. Liam. He hadn’t exactly been thinking about his friend in the past three days. He hadn’t been doing his job at all, in truth. Not that the earl had complained. His friend seemed to be as caught up in his own affair as Malcolm was with Olivia.
    If Mal was on his game, he probably would have investigated Violet further, despite Liam’s rejection of that action, but…
    “Mal?” Olivia tilted her head. “You are faaarrr away, my dear. Come back.”
    He grinned at her teasing and nodded. “Of course. How soon can you be dressed and ready?”
    She flopped back against the pillows with a mock sigh. “Oh God, leaving this room does require clothing, doesn’t it?” She threw her hand over her eyes as if this were the worst news ever given to anyone. Mal couldn’t help but laugh louder.
    “Especially if we’re inviting other people on our outing, yes,” he confirmed.
    She peeked over her arm at him. “Give me an hour. I will fly through my preparations.”
    He pushed to his feet and stepped into his trousers. As he slung his wrinkled shirt over his shoulders, he leaned down to kiss her. “An hour, then.”
    He moved to the door and rang the bell for her servant as he passed into the hall, but the moment he was alone, his smile fell. Something was happening to him since he’d met Olivia Cranfield. And with every moment he spent with her, he was forced to face it more and more.
     
     
    Olivia took a long breath of fresh air as she slipped a hand into Malcolm’s and allowed him to lead her away from the house toward the rolling hills.
    Behind them, Liam and Violet followed, and Olivia felt their stares on her back with every step. Perhaps in the past, she might have removed her hand from Mal’s out of propriety. Now she didn’t care. She was with this man, this