The Earl's Outrageous Lover Page 0,65

was refined power wrapped in a mask of elegance and manners, this man was just raw, blatant strength. There was no masking anything with the tall, blond man, just an almost painful shock to her senses that had her grabbing the arm of the sofa to steady herself from the man’s sensuous impact on her mind, not to mention the effect his presence had on her body.

His black turtleneck showed off his muscles to perfection and his long legs were encased in black slacks, but she instantly wished he were wearing jeans. Jeans that would mold to his long, muscular legs and….what was she thinking? She was practically an engaged woman and she was picturing another man in jeans? She didn’t even wear jeans herself! And this man was a stranger! They hadn’t been introduced as of this moment and she was already reacting to him in such a physical….carnal way.

She worked hard to suppress her instant reaction, trying to hide her body’s response behind a polite mask of mild interest as the large man’s startling blue eyes swiftly took in the occupants of the room other than the woman in his arms. When his eyes collided with hers, she felt as if an electric shock had just zoomed through her body. He was still ten feet away and she inhaled sharply when his eyes stopped and looked back at her.

She suddenly felt hot and cold as his eyes slowly traveled up and down her body, acting as if he had the right to visually accost her in such a manner. She glared back at him, telling him with her eyes that he was out of line and acting horribly rude. But the man was audacious and instead of being contrite and looking away as any normal guest would do, his eyes held hers and his grin widened. The man actually caressed her with his eyes in front of the other two people!

When he looked back down at Jessica, she let go of the breath she’d been holding, sliding her palms along the sides of her dress as she realized that her hands were sweating. How juvenile, she thought with derision. When had she reverted to being eighteen again?

Julianna sighed inwardly and shook herself to refocus her mind. She should not be thinking about this stranger. Not in jeans, slacks or in any other way. And especially not naked! She blinked and tried to pull her eyes away from his broad shoulders and gain control of herself. She’d never reacted to another man like this! How could her mind betray her so horribly.

The man was built with muscles everywhere, but that didn’t give her the right to….well, to do what he was doing to her!

She knew that Edward was extremely muscular, had felt similar bulging muscles when he’d taken her into his arms and gently kissed her goodnight on previous dates. But there was something about this man, the way he held himself or maybe the way he looked at the occupants of the room in one all-encompassing sweep before stopping on her and not moving that terrified her. He made her want to run and disappear. He was dangerous in ways she couldn’t even begin to understand, had never encountered before.

Suddenly those feelings she’d had earlier in the evening, the tension she couldn’t explain, came back to haunt her. She had attributed that strange sense of anticipation to the fact that Edward hadn’t informed their hostess that another guest would be arriving but this was what she’d sensed was going to happen. This man and his arrogance was the issue she should have shied away from. She should have excused herself earlier in the evening, telling both Jessica and Edward that she didn’t feel well.

Julianna watched warily as the man approached, her stomach muscles tightening while it churned with some unknown emotion. She didn’t understand her instant dislike of this man, except that she felt that strange sense of danger in him. As his eyes sliced through the other occupants of the room once more, she almost choked on her wine when his eyes came to rest on her again. They were ice blue and intelligent, with something strange in them that increased the shaking in her knees as she endured the introductions.

Jessica introduced him as James Cavanaugh, and for some reason, the name rang a bell but her mind wasn’t functioning fully while he looked down at her with that strange sort of omniscience. As he smiled and