Page 5 of The Wedding Engagement

Once the taxi pulled up and she paid the driver, the nerves really set in. She glanced down at herself as she crossed the threshold, hoping that her date would like the way she looked. As she scanned the crowd, searching for a man also wearing a homemade badge with David Tennant’s face on it (they had decided to opt for this as their call sign, both being Whovians and in agreement that David was all-round awesome), she hoped that in addition she would like the wayhelooked. And then perhaps the lacy underwear wouldn’t have come out for nothing…

Her gaze landed on a badge sporting David Tennant’s smiling face, attached to a dark T-shirt stretching over an appealingly tonedchest. And upon raising her eyes to her date’s face, she found herself staring straight into familiar honey-colored eyes.

—

Arran blinked again, assuming theaction would wash away the hallucination of Liv standing there, wearing a David Tennant pin, and looking absolutely fucking gorgeous.

For a moment the shock of her appearing as his blind date faded into the background as he was taken over by a thunderbolt of desire. Her black dress ended at mid-thigh, showing off smooth legs that seemed to go on for days and were complemented by high heels that accentuated the shapely curves of her calves. The bodice hugged her breasts, closely tracing the mouthwatering outline that had caught his eye earlier that same day—when she’d removed her karate jacket and he’d inadvertently taken in an eyeful of her chest.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath. His heart hammered as she appeared to recover from the shock of seeing him, unfreezing and walking toward him. His eyes snagged on her shiny dark hair. An overwhelming temptation surfaced as he imagined lifting a hand and coiling his fingers into her ringlets while looking into the sultry spectacle of her eyes, then pulling her head back to bite the long line of her neck. He resisted the temptation—barely—as his fingers twitched at his side, dying to follow through on the idea.

“Well,” she told him, coming to stand in front of him. She was a lot taller in heels but still only came up to chin height on him. For a moment he fantasized that she might jump up into his arms and wrap those lovely legs around his waist.

“This is a surprise,” she continued, giving him a lopsided smile.

He cleared his throat because it felt like his own tongue was attempting to choke him. “You can say that again.”

She let out a laugh that was a little higher pitched than usual. His mind raced as he tried to come to terms with the last few mind-blowingly confusing seconds. His blind date was Liv, his best friend’s twin sister. The woman who helped him with childcare. The woman who would soon become his son’s nursery school teacher. The woman he’d known since they were about five years old and he hadn’t ever looked upon as anything other than a friend—until the last few months, when little snatches of heat began burning whenever she’d touched his hand, held his gaze, or took off her top layer to reveal tight-fitting clothing underneath.

Well, that heat was anything but a little snatch now. The sight of her this evening had been like pouring lighter fluid on a slowly burning barbecue. Boom.

Should he voice it?

“Come on,” she said, taking his elbow and pulling him toward the bar while he continued to stare at her. Her lips were painted cherry red. Would they taste like cherries if he kissed her?

Something hard smacked into his front and he realized it was the bar. Dazed, he watched Liv signal the barman (who was very quick to give her his attention, gracing her with an appreciative look—the fucking bastard), and she ordered them both a bottle of beer. His favorite one.

Arran tried desperately to kick-start his brain into action, but it seemed to have turned to mush, melted by the sight of Olivia Holland sporting sultry eye makeup, cherry-red lipstick, a sexy little black dress, and heels. He couldn’t remember seeing her dressed up before. He wished he’d been prepared so that he could at least have retained the power of speech in this situation.

Grasping the cold bottle of beer the barman presented, he didn’t even have the wherewithal to get his wallet out before Liv.

She lifted her bottle toward his, and he managed to interpret her actions through the lust fog in his brain and clink his bottle with hers. His mind raced. He should say something. Tell her how beautiful she looked and how his feelings had been evolving andthat now that they were here tonight perhaps it was a sign that they should take their relationship further—out of the platonic and into the more…intimate. The issues of their friendship and her relationship with his son faded into the background as he stared hungrily at her mouth. With a start, he realized that her lips were moving.

“…so at least we’re on the same page,” she finished.

Fuck. What had she just said?

He gave his head a small shake in the hope that it might reboot his brain. “Sorry, mate.”Mate?! Wrong time to use that word!“It’s a bit loud in here and I didn’t quite catch what you said.”

She laughed. “You’re too old to hear in pubs now?”

“Hey,” he said, giving her arm a nudge. The touch of her bare skin sent a slug of lust through his veins, making the hairs on his arms stand on end. “We’re the same age.”

She gave him a wink, and his skin about set on fire.

Whatever she had been saying ended with “we’re on the same page.” So had she just said what he’d been thinking, that they should make a go of this? His stuttering brain sent a stream of consciousness right to his mouth and he started to speak at the same time as Liv. “I was thinking that we should—”

“I was saying that—” Liv stopped. “Sorry, what were you going to say?”

He shook his head, realizing his interruption. “No, sorry, you finish first, then I’ll go.”

She smiled, glancing down and brushing the toe of her stiletto over the floor. “I was saying that this is awkward. Neither of us was expecting to see the other tonight.” Her smile became a little fixed. “I saw you swear under your breath when you clocked me, and I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

Oh shit.“No, Liv, that’s not—”

She held up a hand. “It’s okay, Arran. I don’t mind. I also said that I feel the same way, so at least we’re on the same page.”

His mouth went dry. “You feel the same way, as in…”

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