Page 16 of Kiss Me, Macrae
She’d sneak off to his drafting room every chance she got to study his drawings and blueprints. She fell in love with the straight lines and arches and angles. She admired the many and varied measurements and vowed to memorize every single notation and symbol that eventually became the amazing buildings lining the streets of the rapidly growing city.
Away at school, she’d focused intently on anything even remotely associated with the skills required for architecture. And as she grew older, she spent more and more time at her father’s office, talking with those he employed, borrowing his books, soaking up every bit of the world she’d come to revere so intently.
Everyone had thought her interest amusing. Her father had viewed it alternately as annoying and irrelevant. But Allegra had been determined to prove to him her worthiness with a project that took her nearly three years to complete. She’d kept it secret, waiting for the right time to present it with the hopes of convincing him she was serious in her pursuit of architecture as a career.
And then she’d met Lucas Miller.
He’d been a draftsman at her father’s firm. Young, handsome, and ambitious, he was one of the very few people who did not disregard her interest.
She had been twenty-five when she first met him and had long been unsusceptible to careless compliments and false promises. But Lucas had played his cards just right. He’d smiled so shyly and earnestly. Their social positions were not nearly matched and he made it clear from the start that he knew her to be above him. But whenever she’d stopped in to her father’s office, Lucas had found his way to her side and he did something no one else had ever done before—he’d taken her passion for architecture seriously. Eventually, she’d started explaining some of her ideas which led to sharing a few of her designs.
He’d been the first and only person to encourage her to take her work to her father and demand a place at his side.
But not yet, he’d say.
Wait until after the current project. It’s taking all of your father’s focus right now.
Keep working on your designs. You wouldn’t want to present anything but your very best when the time comes.
Slowly and patiently, over several months, Lucas had gained Allegra’s trust and built up her confidence. And then came the day he’d kissed her.
She hadn’t been expecting it at all. One moment, they’d been leaning over some blueprints and the next, his lips had been on hers. His kisses were pleasant—practiced and smooth. He knew exactly when to press forward and when to pull back. He knew where to put his hands to make her wish for more contact. And he knew exactly how to play in to her preference for being in control.
Looking back, she could see exactly how he manipulated her into thinking an affair was all her idea. He’d spent months convincing her that he existed only to support her, to help her achieve her dreams, to encourage and direct her passion toward the life she’d always wanted.
And the truth was…she’d been more than ready for an affair. After pushing men away for so many years, she’d finally found one who accepted her greatest ambition. It made sense that she would wish to share even more of herself.
She knew better now.
She should have listened when Lucas continually insisted he wasn’t worthy of her. It was probably the only truth he’d ever uttered.
Her experience with Lucas had proven to Allegra that men would say and do anything to get what they wanted. And women were more often than not used as a means to an end.
What she couldn’t figure out was what Macrae hoped to accomplish with his wild declaration.
She would be stupid to believe he actually intended to wed her. The idea was ludicrous.
She could, however, imagine him using such a line to get her into his bed. He’d boldly and shamelessly exhibited his desire for her during their first two encounters. And Macrae did not seem the type of man to simply walk away from something he wanted once attaining it proved to be a little difficult. Despite what he’d said, seduction seemed the most likely motivation for his actions.
Yet he vowed not to touch her or kiss her.
It seemed an odd way to carry on a seduction, but she began to wonder if it wasn’t actually an ingenious strategy.
Allegra had learned a hard lesson with Lucas. But as the days went on, she asked herself more than once, what would be so bad about having an affair with Macrae?
He didn’t need to touch her or kiss her to inspire a rush of desire. He could melt her into a puddle of longing from across the room with the slightest curve of his lips. The longer he kept himself distant, the more intensely she craved him to the point that she’d lie in bed at night reliving every detail of their prior sensual embraces, except she’d imagine them continuing…
By barely even trying, the Scotsman made her feel too open, too raw. Too hungry. If she gave in to her desire for the man and took him to her bed, what would become of her once it was all over?
That was the true question. And one she couldn’t find an answer to.
* * *
Four days into Macrae’s stay at Darrow House, Allegra was returning to the house after her daily walk and had just entered the garden through the back gate. Her cheeks were chilled and her toes near numb, but she felt invigorated and inspired by the mountainous landscape she’d quite literally fallen in love with and intended to go to her room to sketch out some ideas she’d had during the walk.
She was nearly half-way down the center garden path when the door to the house opened up ahead and Macrae stepped out.
The instant their eyes met, they both stopped.