Forbidden Bond by Jessica Lee

green, and brown were back to normal. The apparition had to have been the intensity of the halogens and the heat of the moment.
    A hint of an amused smile curled one side of his mouth. “You always gave as good as you got, Liv.” He nodded and took a quick swig of his beer before plopping it onto the surface of her table. Without warning, Eion reached in and captured her hand. Her next breath lodged in her throat. He glanced down at the rock in her palm before turning his gaze to hers. “Why aren’t you wearing your ring?”
    She swallowed hard. “Since you’re determined to put your nose where it doesn’t belong, we’ve decided to wait a little while longer.”
    “I see…” Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the slight nod of his head. “You’re not in love with him?”
    Did he know? He couldn’t read her that well, could he? She yanked her hand back and shoved it in her lap.
    “What?” She shook her head. “God, you’re so rude.”
    “It’s a simple question.” He shrugged. “Do you love him?”
    “Yes,” she spat, nearly choking on the words and the remnants of her dinner that had somehow climbed their way to the back of her throat. “Taylor means the world to me. It’s just…it’s complicated.”
    He grabbed what was left of his brew from the tabletop. “Must be, since you’re with the man you say you love and have a diamond in your hand, yet you look like you’d rather be anywhere else but here.”
    Olivia jerked her head back in his direction, but he’d already moved toward the restaurant’s entrance. She drew in a shaky breath, willing her nervous system to reset to calm .
    “Hey there.” Taylor’s voice brought her back. “You okay?” He dropped back into place beside her. “I saw some guy leaving our table. Did he upset you?”
    “No.” She shook her head and wrapped her fingers around his hand. “No, I’m fine.” Olivia pasted on a smile.
    “Good.” Taylor slid in closer and brushed his palm over her hair. At that moment, their server returned to their table with a bottle of wine and set it on ice. Finished, Barb smoothed a few strands of her strawberry blonde tresses away from her face and quickly propped her hands on her hips. “Anything else I can get you two?”
    “This will be fine,” Taylor said, pulling the bottle free from its icy nest.
    “Okay then, enjoy!” Barb swished around and headed off.
    With a pop , the cork flew from the chilled bottle. Olivia jumped. Geez, her nerves were on edge.
    “Sorry about that.” Taylor chuckled and poured some of the golden liquid into her glass.
    “That’s okay,” Olivia said with a laugh as he handed her a refill.
    “So who was that?”
    Her hand trembled at the memory, but she quickly recovered, putting the wine glass to her lips, balancing the weight. Olivia allowed the fluid to flow over her tongue, enjoying the bite of the alcohol and fizz on the roof of her mouth. After gathering her composure, she answered.
    “That was Eion Mandrake. The guy you ran into at the clinic a couple of days ago.”
    Taylor paused mid-pour, glanced her way for a second, then continued filling his glass. He set the bottle back in the ice with a crunch . “I guess I didn’t recognize him with his shirt on. So what did he want?”
    “He saw your proposal from his table and came over, wondering if congratulations were in order.”
    Taylor downed a swallow of his Zinfandel. “He waited for me to leave first, huh?”
    “Are you jealous?” she teased and bumped his shoulder, doing her best to lighten the mood.
    Taylor released a “pfft” and lowered his glass. “No.” He shrugged. “Just protective. That’s all. I’m not sure about that guy.”
    “Protective.” Olivia smiled. “Okay.” She grasped his forearm. “I’m sure he just didn’t want to interrupt us, and when you left he saw a chance to say hello.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Besides, I’m sure Eion will be leaving Little Crow Pass very