Page 59 of 7 Days and 7 Nights

Matt shot his most innocent look up at the camera lens as he took off his headphones. Then, to throw off anyone who might be watching, he puttered around for a while.

He blew out the candles still flickering on the table and poked around the kitchen long enough to bore to tears anyone watching. Then he stretched out on the couch and read for another thirty minutes, almost putting himself to sleep in the process.

At 3:00 AM, when he figured anyone still watching would be too glassy-eyed to notice, Matt ambled over to the TV wall. Careful not to look down, he used his foot to gently work the cameras’ power cable away from the wall.

When he had a sizable loop around his shoe, he turned away from the TV, stepped forward, and pulled the cord out of its socket.

For appearances, he stumbled slightly and made a point of not looking over his shoulder to watch the monitor go dark. It seemed important to be able to claim ignorance later, though why he felt compelled to protect Olivia’s reputation was a question he refused to ponder.

Unwatched for the first time in five days, Matt walked purposely toward Olivia’s room. Once through the doorway, he moved to the bed for a closer look and immediately wished he hadn’t.

Olivia lay on her side, her dress bunched up around her waist. His gaze followed the tempting trail from delicate ankle, up lightly muscled calf, across sculpted thigh to the smooth white swell of a nicely rounded buttock.

One bare forearm disappeared upward beneath the pillow on which her head rested, while the other hung limp across her waist. Her breasts strained against the clingy black material of her halter top, filling it to overflowing.

Olivia moaned in her sleep and rolled onto her back, throwing both arms out wide and opening her eyes. Matt sucked in his breath and sank down on the edge of the bed.

Even heavy with sleep, Olivia’s green eyes carried an awareness of him that hiked his pulse up another notch. As he settled down beside her, the confusion that had clouded them gave way to alarm.

“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to make sure you were all right.”

“Good grief, Matt...” She went up on her elbows and turned her head toward the bedroom door.

“It’s okay.” He reached out to smooth the dress back down to her knees. “The cameras suffered a mysterious accident. No one saw me come in here. And no one will see me leave.”

She collapsed back down onto the bed, and he could almost hear her trying to kick her brain back into action. His own brain and all of his senses were full of Olivia.

She was the magnet that never failed to draw him, and as he stared down into the green depths of her eyes, he realized there was no way in hell he was leaving this room without making her aware of at least one elemental truth.

“I don’t know what it is, but you do something completely ...” He tried to find the right word and failed. “... visceral to me. And I know I do the same to you.”

Olivia went still.

“I want to make love to you. Right now. Right here.” He reached out to caress the corner of her mouth with his thumb. “I’m tired of being this close to you and not having you.”

He bent down and brushed his lips over hers. “And I think you want to make love to me for the same reason. Not because you’ve had too much to drink and can’t help yourself, or because you’re thirty. But because you want to.”

She regarded him silently.

“It’s your call, Livvy. I want you, but what happens next is completely up to you.”

Olivia slipped off the last bonds of sleep and wine to stare up into Matt’s assessing brown eyes. Her brain had cleared enough to comprehend what he was saying, and she could feel her blood beginning to boil. Not because he assumed she wanted him—he was, unfortunately, completely right about that—but because he was trying to make her admit it.

She sat up, bringing her face in line with his. “You’re going to force me to decide?”

She put her hands on his shoulders. “What’s wrong with you? Have you forgotten how to get a woman drunk and take advantage of her? I’ve been responsible my entire life. I have always done the right thing, the well-considered, logical thing. And now, after thirty years of toeing the line, I’m going to be denied this one perfectly good opportunity to hide behind alcohol and be swept away by... by... blinding passion?”

She shook him. “How dare you?”

Matt laughed. “Are you telling me you’d prefer drunken groping under a kitchen table to getting the attention you deserve?”

Olivia jumped off the bed and turned her back on him to pace the narrow confines of the room. “You are so dense!”

She paced for a few seconds while she worked up a good head of steam. She’d dreamed about this man for most of her adult life. For five days she’d been actively fantasizing about this very possibility, and what did he say to her? I’m tired of waiting,so let’s hop in the sack!

He wasn’t even allowing her time to worry about whether reality could compare with the memories she’d hoarded. Or how in the world she would find the strength to deny herself the thing she wanted most.

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