An errant strand of hair falls on her eye and I move it away with a finger. My hand lingers on her face, caressing her satiny cheek. A strangled sound escapes her lips. She retreats a step and her back hits the shut door. My body reacts instantly; my breath catches in my throat and my heart pumps harder in my chest. Without a second thought, I put both my hands on either side of her head and lean forward into her, inhaling her scent. She smells fresh and foreign like always. She turns her head away from me and breathes deeply. One side of her sweater drops down, giving me a tantalizing glimpse of creamy skin and a curved shoulder. My mouth waters as desire clouds my brain.

Damn her and these loose sweaters! They make my imagination run wild and just like that I’m hard as a rock and my decision to stay away from her flies out the window. I lower my head and lick that tempting, creamy shoulder.

Her gasp of breath is music to my ears. My mouth slowly inches up her body and into the hollow of her neck. I bite her there, running my tongue across her skin, tasting her. She moans and grabs my arms. I lift my head up and see the heat pool in her eyes as she stares at me. She bites her lower lip and more blood rushes down my body. My lips move to claim hers. Just before our lips touch, there is a loud ring startling both of us. We simultaneously turn to see the mobile in her hand light up with Gabriel’s name.

I step away, the moment broken. Aaliya lifts the shoulder of her sweater back in place and answers the call. I climb down the stairs, giving her the privacy to finish her conversation, needing the time away from her to get control of my wayward senses. I wait for her at the landing. Her voice floats down and I can hear her convince Gabriel that she’s fine and that she’s with me.

“Everything okay?” I ask her after she ends the call and joins me at the bottom of the stairs.

“Perfect,” she says.

“So Gabe’s not giving you a hard time about being alone with me?”

She blinks. “He’s just being protective.”

Gabe’s never found the need to interfere with any woman he knows I’m interested in and I’m quite surprised that he’s so protective about this one. Is there something to their relationship I’ve missed?

I ignore that thought because Gabe told me that she was just a friend and I choose to believe him. We step forward together and I say, “The latest weather report shows that we’ll be snowed in for another day at least. So, would you like a tour of the house?”

She tips her head forward. “That would be lovely. Thank you.”