My Love at Last by Donna Hill Page B

you’d just agreed to a challenge that I can guarantee you will lose.”
    “A woman who doesn’t back down. I like that. A lot.” He took another swallow of his drink.
    “What about you? What do you do in your spare time?” she asked, shifting the focus off her to get her bearings.
    Connor leaned back and looked at her from beneath those incredibly thick lashes. “Not as much spare time as I would like,” he confessed. “But one of my big passions is travel. I have that part covered with the jobs that I get, but what I really enjoy—” he leaned forward, rested his arms on the table “—is painting.”
    Olivia’s head jerked back in surprise. “Painting? Really?”
    He nodded. “Yep. I have a small studio in all of the homes that I rent while I’m on a job.”
    “I’d love to see your work sometime.”
    “My door is open.”
    “Why did you ask me out?” she asked, shifting gears again as Desiree’s comment about Connor not dating wiggled in the back of her head, vying for attention.
    Connor rocked his hard jaw from side to side. “It’s not something that I do… for a variety of reasons. Mostly because I’m not interested in ‘the getting to know you’ conversation that happens over dinner and dates.” He paused. “But
you
I want to know. And if you ask me why, I honestly couldn’t tell you.”
    What did you say to something like that?
“Honest.”
    “I try.”
    She tugged on her bottom lip with her teeth. “I guess I should be honest, too.”
    “All ears.”
    “I did a bit of research on you, too.” She lifted her shoulder. “After all, a girl can’t be too careful about who she goes to dinner with.”
    His eyes darkened. “What did you find out?”
    “That you’re a member of the Lawson clan from Louisiana. Your father is Paul Lawson. You have a sister, Sydni, and a younger brother, Devon. Your uncle Branford is a senator. You are very well respected in your field and you’ve done some of the most important restoration work of African-American artifacts and sites in the country.
And
you paint.” She grinned.
    “I would say that I’m impressed with you, but that would be redundant.”
    Olivia squinted in mild confusion.
    “Everything about you impresses me.” His voice lowered. “Everything.”
    Olivia’s cheeks heated. She lowered her gaze to her drink. “I don’t know what to say.”
    “No need. Just an honest observation. I will say that I hope this will be the first of more evenings.” He lifted his drink.
    “You’re certainly direct.”
    “I don’t know any other way. I figure if I put my cards on the table it’s the easiest way to see where others are coming from.”
    “Makes sense.” She sipped her drink, then set it down on the table.
    “And if I’m going to be totally honest… I’d tell you that I intend to make love to you.”
    The saying that your heart stops was true. For a hot second, Olivia couldn’t breathe. As much as she may have had the exact same thing on her mind, she never expected him to say the words out loud, and so soon.
    The corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly. He leveled his dark eyes on her.
    Olivia nervously licked her lips. Should she be offended or turned on?
    The waitress returned with their appetizer. “I’ll be back shortly to take your dinner order. Enjoy.”
    The timing of the waitress couldn’t have been better. Olivia’s thoughts were all over the place. Focusing on the food was the perfect distraction, until Connor made even that a sensual experience. He speared the meat from the shell of a mussel, dipped it in the sauce and slowly brought it toward Olivia’s mouth.
    Her lips slightly parted. Connor didn’t pull his eyes away from her, almost as if the intensity of his gaze was speaking to her, letting her know to open her mouth, let the meat slide across her tongue, let the flavor burst in her mouth… let the experience become one with her.
    Slowly she chewed, mesmerized by the steamy look in his eyes and