All Chapters of Seduced by His Touch: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Your hands are trembling." Amara's voice shattered the stillness, her own voice softer than the rain pounding against the kitchen pane.Leo stepped back from the coffee machine, scalding liquid spilling onto his forearms. "Shit—"She was beside him before he'd had time to blink, her fingers applied to the blistered flesh. "Idiot. Don't move.""Since when do you care about burning metaphors?" He winced as she removed his wet thermal.Her breath stilled. The scar—a crooked lightning bolt from the war years—pulsated under the pressure of her thumb. "You used to tape these up. Now you display them as war medals." "Maybe I managed to get past the embarrassment of the war." He wrapped his fingers around her wrist, his grip steady. "But you… you keep yours hidden." She dropped her eyes to the wedding band she'd hidden under a gardening glove. "Some wounds are not meant to heal."The air thickened. Leo's thumb traced the frayed cuff of the glove, remembering how it had slipped off when sh

"Remember when I tried to build a deck and flooded the backyard?" Leo's laughter was self-mocking as he balanced two plates of pancakes in his arms.Amara gazed up from the tangled garden hose she was attempting to unravel, her morning coffee growing cold. "How could I forget? Liana cried because the goldfish she 'rescued' from the flood swam off."He set the plates down on the picnic table, syrup dripping onto the wood. "Said fish was probably a koi. Fancy escape artist."She snorted, the sound warm and unselfconscious. "You replaced her with a new one from the pet store. Named it Nietzsche.""Philosophers are the best pets." Leo sat down next to her on the bench, his shoulder brushing hers. "Speaking of names…"The hose fell out of Amara's grasp, spilling water onto her sneakers.Leo's tone dropped. "I found something in the attic yesterday. Your wedding album. The one I… uh… 'lost' after the hospital."Her breath hitched.He pushed a small box across the table. "Not the ring. I… I

"Mom, why are you sneaking around the bookstore like a ninja?"Liana's whisper was stage-perfect, her sneakers squeaking on the polished floor.Amara's shoulders slumped as she edged out from behind a shelf of self-help."Research.""For what? Your next 'how to survive Leo's cooking' blog post?"Amara's laughter was shaky. "Something like that."Liana's eyes narrowed. "That's the third time this week you've 'had to browse.' And you're always… tense."A chime announced another customer. Amara seized the distraction. "Look, someone’s buying The Geometry of Us. How sweet."The customer was a woman in her late twenties, her fingers tracing the spine of Amara’s anonymously published memoir. "I’ve read this three times. It’s… it’s like the author’s in my head. How did they get love so right?"Liana’s gaze snapped to Amara.She swallowed. "Sometimes… sometimes the greatest stories aren't signed with real names."The woman smiled, oblivious. "I wish I could thank them. Especially after…" Her

"Mom, if you keep messing with my cap, my hair's gonna be this way for weeks." Liana's words were muffled through the fabric, her graduation gown wrinkling as she shifted.Amara's fingers stopped their motion, her face in the mirror unfocused through tears. "Sorry. Habit."Leo appeared in the doorway, his own eyes inexplicably wet. "Someone's gonna have to climb a ladder to reach the podium at this rate."Liana pushed the door open, smiling, her smile contagious. "Says the guy who still weeps during Pixar movies."The stadium buzzed with the hum of a thousand voices, the sea of caps and gowns a patchwork of possibility.Amara clutched her program, the creases already worn from nervous folding. "Where is your dad?""Getting us great seats," Liana said, her voice steady but her hands betraying her as she turned her tassel.Leo appeared with two folding chairs, their metal legs clattering against the bleachers. "Front row. Bribery involving a granola bar and a threat to expose my AA meet

Morning sunlight poured in through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Sterling Tower boardroom, casting prisms on the polished mahogany table. Liana Coleman took her seat, the silk of her teal blouse whispering softly against the leather. Her mother, Ruth Coleman, was seated across from her, stacking documents into neat, confident piles, while Leo Hartmann—her mother's business partner—scrolled through financial projections on his tablet, his jaw tight with anticipation.Liana inhaled the faint aroma of fresh-brewed coffee and leather-bound papers. This meeting would determine whether the Coleman-Hartmann Foundation's vision of environmentally friendly urban dwellings would acquire a powerful ally—or experience an embarrassing setback. Today, she was here not as a sheltered debutante but as a representative of her family, prepared to speak when the moment arose.The door opened with a gentle click. Liana felt a familiar charge in the air before she saw him: Alexander "Alex" Cole ente