Darling obstacles by Barbara Boswell, Copyright Paperback Collection (Library of Congress) DLC Read Free Book Online

switched on the answering machine, and went to bed."
    "I got your machine when I tried to call Paula for

    you last night/' Maggie said. "I left a message on it for her."
    "I know. I heard it this morning."
    Somehow they were only standing one step apart, Maggie above and Greg below. But because of his height, she still had to look up to him. Their eyes met and held for a long moment. A sharp pang of sensual awareness sent hot sparks shooting through her body. For that moment, neither spoke or moved. It was as if the two of them were waiting, waiting for something to happen.
    Greg was first to break the strange silence. "I believe we were talking about why I make you so nervous. Before we were sidetracked, that is." He gave her a thoughtful look. "Did you do it deliberately, Maggie? Turn the subject to Francine to divert my attention from you?"
    "Of course not!" She hadn't, had she?
    "Then you don't mind my attentions?"
    Her eyes widened at the unexpected huskiness of his voice. Before she could move or utter a sound, she was in his arms. "Dr. Wilder!" she managed to gasp.
    He laughed softly. "Greg. I'm not your doctor."
    "Greg, you—"
    "That's right. Greg. It isn't so hard to say, is it?"
    "Let me g—"
    He silenced her by lightly covering her lips with his fingers, all the while holding her firmly against his long, hard frame. Maggie's first shocked instinct was to break away, but his grip was far too secure to permit it. Next came the reflexive urge to fight, to hit out at him, but her hands were caught between her chest and his, rendering them useless.
    "Relax," he murmured, removing his fingers as he lowered his head. His lips hovered an inch above her own. "I'm not going to hurt you, Maggie."
    "The children," she protested weakly. Her breathing was so shallow and erratic that she was perilously close to hyperventilating.
    "Yes, the children. You're perfectly safe with a

    DARLING OBSTACLES • 39
    houseful of kids/' he said huskily, feathering kisses along the sensitive curve of her neck. His lips teased at the corner of her mouth and his big hands moved up to cup the rounded fullness of her breasts. A nervous little whimper escaped her throat.
    "Don't be afraid of me, Maggie." His voice was gentle. It was the way he said her name that melted all traces of resistance within her. So softly, so sexily. She gazed up at him and was lost in the warmth of his gaze.
    "I want to kiss you, Maggie. IVe wanted to from the moment I saw you this morning, all tousled and sleepy-eyed."
    "I'm a wreck in the morning," she said, her voice unconsciously throaty. She felt strangely suspended from reality, as if her real self were watching a scene involving some other woman, her look-alike alter ego, in the arms of Greg Wilder.
    "You look incredibly sexy in the morning," he disagreed. "I wanted to carry you right back to bed. And crawl in with you." Maggie shivered at his evocative words. His hands smoothed the curve of her hips, molding her to his taut thighs. "You don't have a damn thing on under this," he growled, cupping her buttocks and kneading them with long, sensuous fingers. He buried his face in the curve of her neck.
    "You smell so good, Maggie." His voice was low and intimate. "Like soap and talc and woman." Maggie felt herself go weak and soft as a seductive lethargy spread slowly through her body.
    He raised his head to look down at her and her gaze flew to his face. She was captivated by his strong masculine features, the straight nose, the sensual mouth, the firm set of his jaw. He exuded a compelling virility of which she was excitingly aware. His eyes met hers and she found herself unable to look away. Those eyes, large and clear and the color of aquamarines, held her captive as steadfastly as his hands on her body. Those eyes regarded her with an unmistakable passion, traveling over the curvaceous

    lines of her figure, devouring the full breasts and the womanly curves of her hips and thighs.
    Now holding her eyes with