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Prologue
Morgan — Saturday
My virginity was in serious jeopardy. Not that I cared. In fact, it was long past time that I turned in my V-card. The truth was, I hadn’t had any opportunity to do so — at least with anyone remotely interesting enough — until now. I wasn’t ugly, but I also wasn’t the type of woman men clamored for. Especially men like the super-sexy Kade Raven. I was the person well-meaning women would say had a pretty face, but I’d be beautiful if I lost a little weight. I suspected they were right. But I liked food. I also didn’t mind my curves.
Lack of opportunity also played a role in my celibacy. While I grew up among the affluent, I wasn’t a part of their world. My mother was the housekeeper for the McAdams family, so most of my time was spent with other children of domestic workers. Not that the McAdamses weren’t nice; they were. I grew up a few years younger than Beth McAdams, and today she was my best friend. But there was no getting over the social strata. That, and I had to work from a young age to help my single mother make ends meet. And now that my mother was suffering from a chronic illness, I had to work even more. Hence, no dates and the retainment of my V-card.
My experience with love ever after was relegated to living vicariously through others. Right now, it was through Beth and her white knight Ash Raven, Kade’s older brother. As a die-hard romantic, I was rooting for them to have their second chance at love, and they’d finally achieved it. Thirty minutes ago, they said their vows and were married. Married with the loveliest little girl, their daughter Hannah, by their side.
The reception was magical and I felt so honored that Beth asked me to be her maid of honor to share this day with her. I felt like Cinderella, whisked away for the night into a world that didn’t have the challenges and burdens of everyday life. It was why I was dancing with the uber-sexy Kade Raven even thought I was sure he was just being nice. After all, he was the best man. It was his job to hang out with the maid of honor.
But he also had a reputation as a ladies’ man. There were plenty of other beautiful model-like waifs at the reception that were more his type. So why he had spent the last hour chatting and dancing with me didn’t make sense. He’d done his part to entertain me and fulfill his role.
“You look like you’re waging a war in your brain,” he said, leaning toward me. His cologne was as intoxicating as the champagne.
“I’m wondering why you’re still dancing with me,” I replied. There was no sense in being coy. Besides, if he was chomping at the bit to find his lady conquest for the night, I didn’t want to hold him back.
“If you don’t know, either you have low self-esteem, or I’m not doing my job well enough.”
Huh?
He slipped an arm around my waist and led me out of the ballroom, into a quiet corner empty of people. “Perhaps I need to be clearer,” he said, pinning me against the wall as he looked at me with the most beautiful green eyes I’d ever seen. His hand cupped my cheek. “Stop me now if you don’t want this.”
“Want what?” My brain was short-circuiting. I thought maybe he wanted to kiss me, but that couldn’t be right.
He laughed, which made me feel embarrassed. “You’re so fucking real, Morgan. I like that about you.”
“I like you too.”
“Then I’m going to kiss you.”
That couldn’t be right, except it was. His lips captured mine, and my heart, already beating fast, shot off like a sports car, racing a mile a minute. I gasped and then groaned as his lips consumed mine in a fiery kiss that I felt straight to my core.
I gripped his shoulders, partly to keep him close and partly to keep from melting into a gelatinous heap, the way his kiss was melting my bones.
His tongue ran along the seam of my mouth, and instinctively, I parted my lips, inviting him in. Whatever he wanted; he could have. His tongue was hot and wet, and he tasted divine. Chances were, this was the only kiss I’d ever get from Kade. It was hard to think anyone would ever kiss me like this again, so I decided it was time to take advantage of it.
I tilted my head, returning the kiss with the same fervor as him.
He groaned, breaking the kiss but cascading his lips along the column of my throat, sending electric tingles down my spine. His hands slid up from where he gripped my hips to my breasts. His thumbs brushed over my aching sensitive nipples, eliciting a whimper from me. I should have been stopping this. At any minute, someone could find us. But oh my god, did it feel so good.
