[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
For an instant, he thought she was referring to the past. Then he realized she knew nothing about his
past. About Jaqui? he exclaimed. Heavens, no!
She relaxed. Okay.
He drew in a long breath. I have to go.
Now? she asked, sounding alarmed.
He bent over and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. As you keep reminding me, this is a small
town. I don t want people seeing my car in your driveway all night and gossiping about it.
She smiled. That s nice of you.
He didn t answer her. He dressed in the dark, feeling like a heel. She d been generous, and warm, and
loving. Her headlong delight made him feel even guiltier. He had nothing to offer her.
Grace, you do understand that I m not in the market for a wife? he asked quietly.
She felt sick all over. She was shocked and trying not to let it show. Yes, she said after a minute, and
her voice didn t give anything away. Her world was crashing around her, but she couldn t let it show.
I understand.
He grimaced. He could hear the hurt in her voice. He was just making things worse. I ll come over
tomorrow after I get off from work, he said. We ll talk it out.
All right.
Good night.
Good night.
She sounded resigned to his leaving. He wanted to stay, to talk, to explain. He couldn t manage it,
though. He was afraid of relationships. He never should have started this!
He left without another word. But all day, the memory of the pleasure they shared haunted him. He d
started something he couldn t finish. He thought of Grace while he was working. She came between
him and paperwork, shimmering like foxfire in his memory. He ached every time he thought of her.
GRACE TURNED HER FACE into the pillow when he left and cried as if her heart was broken. She d
been such a fool. He didn t want to marry her. He just needed a woman, and here she was, waiting
eagerly for him. She groaned aloud. She d given him all she had. It wasn t enough.
She felt like an idiot. He was used to women who gave out and got out, not retiring little spinsters like
Grace who never dated. He was an experienced lover, and he d lived in big cities for years, where sex
was casual. Grace, on the other hand, lived a sheltered life because of her past. She knew very little
about adult intimacy. Of course he didn t want to marry her! Why marry a woman, when she was
willing to give you anything you wanted without benefit of a ring? She cursed her own weakness for
him. If she hadn t given in so easily, if she d made him wait a little while, he might have fallen in
love, too. But now she d ruined everything. He d think she was just like all his other women, the ones
he took in his stride and cast aside. She was just like that Jaqui woman, who d made fun of Grace and
said Garon would never see her as a real woman.
She pulled herself out of bed and went to bathe away the scent of him. If there was anything positive
about this experience, it had shown her that she could be a whole woman, that she hadn t been totally
destroyed by her past. Perhaps if she looked at it that way, in a mature fashion, she could forget that
the man she loved with all her heart was only looking for momentary relief. Perhaps.
GARON DROVE UP in her yard just after seven o clock that evening. Despite her resolve not to
speak to him again, she went running to open the door. She looked as if she hadn t slept. He knew how
she felt. He hadn t slept, either. He d gone through the day in a daze.
She opened the door wider, like a sleepwalker. He came in and locked it. Without missing a beat, he
lifted her in his arms, and kissed her as if he hadn t seen her in a year. Moaning, helpless, she yielded
at once. He turned and carried her down the hall to the bedroom.
It was better this time. It was more intense than the first time. He kissed her from her eyelids all the
way to her calves, in broad daylight, whispering to her the whole time, exciting and sensual things
that made her blush.
When he had her at fever pitch, he pushed her right over the edge into ecstasy and fell with her
through waves and waves of throbbing, blinding heat. She cried out endlessly as the waves tore
through her body, leaving her shaking in the warm aftermath. He held her close against him while he
fought to breathe normally again.
I was going to ask you out to eat, he said on a breathless laugh.
She smiled and kissed his muscular shoulder. Her own heart was doing uncomfortable things. She
hoped he didn t notice. It gets better and better, she whispered.
He held her closer. I couldn t work today for thinking how it was last night, he confessed after a
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]