When the man you have no business getting close to gets incredibly close. You should resist but…
Below is an excerpt from Loving The Wrong Man, a steamy BWWM western romance available in print and ebook through Kindle Unlimited.
“Now what are you looking for, Maxwell?” Lucy stood by the kitchen sink where she was washing dishes from breakfast. She looked across to where I was sorting laundry and waggled her eyebrows at me.
“My carving knife,” he replied, pretending to look through one of the drawers close to me.
“Why would your carving knife be in the kitchen?” the cook asked.
“Especially when you keep it in the top drawer of your chest of drawers,” I pointed out without looking at him.
Having been caught in his ruse, he closed the drawer and leaned against the counter. I could feel his eyes on me, but after working in the Whitfield household for a week, I learned to ignore it. I learned to ignore a lot of things, like Mr. Whitfield’s disparaging comments, the girlfriends’ attempts at idle conversation, but I found I had to work extra hard to ignore Maxwell.
Especially when he got real close and I could feel the heat of his body and smell the spices in his aftershave. I tried to duck away when he came close to whispering in my ear but I always caught the scent of peppermint in the morning, coffee in the afternoon or bourbon in the evening. When he got the chance to touch me, perhaps grabbing my forearm to get my attention or while handing me something or another, a shot of desire would shoot to my pearl and I thank God for skin so dark that no one could see me blushing.
“So you’ve been through my things?” He leaned in a little.
“Well,” I looked up to meet his gaze. “I do have to put away the laundry and you weren’t around to tell me where to put what.” Throwing the last garment into the appropriate pile, I smiled and picked up the first load of laundry to be washed. A shirt slipped out of my arms as I entered the laundry room.
It was immediately snatched up and Maxwell followed me in. To my gratitude, the door remained open and I knew Lucy would be at her most attentive.
“Shouldn’t you be somewhere else?” I asked as I filled the washing machine with clothes. “I mean, don’t you have work to do on the ranch or a woman to chase in town?”
Rolling up the shirt and tossing it into the machine, Maxwell smirked, “Why chase a woman in town when I can chase a woman right here.”
Turning my back to him, I said, “How many times do I have to tell you that I’m a happily married woman. In fact, my husband is just beyond that door.”
I heard the floorboard creak, I felt the warmth of his body as he stood behind me. My breath caught in my throat when he whispered in my ear,
“Then why do you look at me that way?”
“What way?” I reached out to turn the knobs on the machine, my backside thrusting backward as I do so.
Through a groan, the young Whitfield said, “You know damn well what way.” He braced himself on the machine by placing his hands on either side of me. I felt his manhood coming to life, pressing against the roundness of my backside.
“Amanda,” Lucy called out from the kitchen. “Is everything alright in there, hun?”
Quickly, I turned around, expecting Maxwell to step back but he held his position. Leaning in, he nipped on my lower lip, and then whispered, “You got away this time.” Hearing Lucy approaching, he made his way to the door leading to the yard. As he walked out into the mid-morning sun, he looked back and gave me a smile that spoke of all the things he would have done if Lucy didn’t come along. It was only when he disappeared that I released the breath I didn’t know I was holding.
“You okay, Amanda?” Lucy strode in through the other doorway, concern on her face.
“Yeah,” I gave her a weak smile. “Of course.” I pushed away from the machine and walked towards her. “I’m just fine, I could use another cup of your coffee but I’m fine.”
As I walked past the woman who had become my friend, I hoped she believed me. I hoped she didn’t sense the sexual tension between Maxwell and me. I hoped more than anything that she couldn’t sense how turned on I was.
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