A Major Attraction Read Free Page A

depths. Used to the Marine way of life, Olivia preferred short hair on a man. His cropped chocolate-brown strands would be soft and thick, and she wanted nothing more than to run her hands over his hair while she kissed those hard, uncompromising lips.
    A customer interrupted her thoughts, and she chatted and made change. Her teenage help, Emma, soon arrived, signaling the end of the school day and giving Maria her cue to leave. Emma gave Olivia plenty of time to work on her books in the back, and to think more on Kyle Waters, just what she didn’t want to do.
    After futilely refiguring the same numbers again, she sighed and leaned back in her chair. Closing her eyes, she once again recalled Kyle’s dangerous magnetism.
    His sheer physical strength had surprised her. When she’d first seen him over a year ago, she’d tried not to stare since he’d been holding hands with Becca Morris. He regularly visited in the mornings and on and off in the evenings, always friendly but slightly aloof, especially if he was with Becca. He’d come dressed casually in a collared shirt and jeans or in uniform, which had her drooling like nobody’s business.
    His forearms and legs were sculpted with muscle. It had been difficult not to ogle the man. He had masculine features, too rugged to be called handsome but too striking not to draw notice. Unfortunately, his association with Becca put him beyond her reach, if not beyond her fantasies. One rule Olivia strictly adhered to— thou shall not poach.
    Becca had complained about him when she’d given her lease to Olivia, though at the time Olivia hadn’t put landlord and ex-boyfriend together as the same man. One remark that had struck her, one she typically noticed in the men she herself had dated, was that Becca’s ex had no desire for a permanent relationship. Becca had made other negative remarks in a tone Olivia could only classify as bitchy. Not wanting to pry and make Becca feel worse, Olivia had kept her thoughts to herself.
    Then out of the blue, Olivia suddenly noticed her fantasy man had disappeared. Soon after, Becca moved away from Swansboro. Disappointed, Olivia gradually thought less and less about him until he appeared only in her dreams. She’d convinced herself he hadn’t been that attractive, that his character surely detracted from his overall appeal.
    Seeing him last night, his chiseled pectorals and delineated abs, those impressive biceps and sinewy thighs, made her want to forget about his deficiencies. She wanted to touch all of that silken skin.
    She flushed, recalling the strong steel that had prodded her backside. His large frame was evenly proportioned, everywhere.
    The temperature seemed to rise, and she reluctantly turned back to her books. Plucking at her shirt and waving it against her skin, she sighed with gratitude when Emma knocked at the doorway, interrupting her erotic daydreams.
    “John and Tina are here, Olivia. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
    Olivia waved her off with thanks and glanced at the clock on her desk. Already six and she needed to get home—correction, she needed to return to Major Waters’s house—for that discussion she’d been dreading.
    She left the office and locked the office door behind her then let John know she was leaving.
    “I have my cell if you need anything.”
    John nodded while Tina took care of the next customer. Though small, Olivia’s shop maintained a steady and loyal customer base. Surges came and went, but in the three short years of doing business, she’d struck even. Her books were just beginning to hit the black.
    From seven to nine Monday through Saturday, Olivia’s business thrived. In both warm and cold weather, locals and tourists flocked to her shop. She couldn’t have asked for a better location, sitting on the Intracoastal Waterway in historic Swansboro, North Carolina. Minutes from the Marine base and right on the ocean, she’d found the place she wanted to call home.
    She stared out the back