This scene is from TRUTH AND SOLACE, book three in the Love at Solace Lake series. Maggie's sister Scarlet has just married Cameron, the love of her life, in a beautiful Christmas wedding. And now at the wedding dance, Maggie wants to forget all her troubles and just enjoy being with Luke, for whatever time they have left together.
Excerpt:
Luke bent close to whisper in her ear. “You’re beautiful tonight, Maggie. I’ve never seen you more lovely.”
“Thanks. You’re pretty lovely yourself.”
He chuckled at that, his laugh tickling her ear and making her laugh, too. How wonderful, how freeing, to laugh, to be happy, to have fun. It had been far too long.
Maggie gave herself over to the romance of the evening. She let herself sway to the beat of the music, loving the feel of Luke’s hand on her hip and his body pressed close to hers. She stared up into his face, unable to look away. Every detail of his face was dear to her. His beautiful grey-green eyes with their ridiculously long lashes. The long, straight nose and elegantly shaped mouth. A mouth she wanted to kiss. Desperately.
She inhaled an unsteady breath as a shiver raced down her back. There was no doubt she wanted him, and she believed he wanted her, too. But even if they made love, he’d still leave.
Don’t think about it, Maggie.
Instead, she smiled up at Luke as if neither of them were facing the imminent loss of someone they loved. Or the loss of each other.
And they danced. At least on the dance floor they could hold each other and pretend they’d never let go. At least she could touch him, and be touched. She longed to feel him skin to skin, to feel his hard muscles beneath her questing fingers. She wanted his weight on her, his body inside hers.
Dancing with Luke was an exquisite kind of torture. These perfect moments on the dance floor couldn’t last. Reality would return soon enough.
And it did. Soon the DJ announced the last dance. Luke held her a little tighter as they moved around the floor. Maggie closed her eyes and listened to the steady beat of his heart. As the final notes of the song faded, he held her a minute longer before letting her go. The sudden chill made her shiver.
“Goodnight, Maggie.” Though he smiled, she read the sadness on his face. She wanted to reach out to him, beg him to spend the night with her, make love with her. If only for a few hours, they could lose themselves in each other.
But it would change nothing. She returned his sad smile.
“Goodnight, Luke.”
Blurb:
The truth could destroy them. Or set them free.
Maggie Lindquist left Solace Lake determined never to return. Circumstances have pulled her back and she’s helping to restore her family’s dilapidated fishing lodge. When she agreed to the plan she didn’t expect to have to work side by side with the man who abandoned her ten years earlier. She didn’t expect to like him, or want him ever again. But can she trust him as she once did?
Luke Carlsson rushes home to tend to his ailing mother. Her lengthy illness means he needs to stay, at least temporarily. And to stay, he needs to work. Solace Lake Lodge offers him a job and an opportunity to work with the woman he’s never stopped loving. But the restoration is unleashing secrets hidden for decades and no one is left unscathed. Especially not Maggie and Luke, whose love needs to be resilient enough to forgive, and strong enough to build a future together.
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