that for a crazy moment she didn’t react at all. “Let me go,” she said stiffly, holding her chin at a regal angle.
He ignored her demand and lightly ran the tips of his fingers along the side of her jaw, stroking downward to cup her chin. “I’ve missed you this week, Princess.”
A trail of warmth followed his cool fingers, and a foreign sensation nibbled at her stomach. Kate didn’t know what was wrong with her—and she didn’t want to know.
“I’ve decided to give you a chance to think everything through before we contact Pastor Wilkins—”
“Before we what?” she flared.
“Before we’re married,” he explained patiently, his voice much too low and seductive to suit her. “But every time we’re together, you run away like a frightened kitten.”
“Did you stop to think there might be a perfectly logical reason for that?” She’d told him repeatedly that she wasn’t going to marry him, but it didn’t seem to make any differences. “I’m sorry, I truly am, but I just don’t see you that way.”
“Oh?”
He raised his hand and threaded his fingers through her hair. She tried to pull away, to thwart him, with no effect.
“That’s not the feeling I get when I kiss you.”
She braced her hands against his shoulders. “I apologize if I’ve given you the wrong impression,” she said, her voice feeble.
He cocked his eyebrows at her statement, and his lips quivered with the effort to suppress a smile. That infuriated Kate, but she held on to her temper, knowing an argument would be pointless.
“It seems to me,” he continued, “that we need some time alone to explore what’s happening between us.”
Alarm rose in Kate’s throat as she struggled to hide her response to him. The last thing she wanted was “time alone” with Luke.
“I’m afraid that’s impossible tonight,” she said hastily.
“Why’s that?”
He was so close that his breath fanned her flushed face. It was all Kate could do to keep from closing her eyes and surrendering to the sensations that encircled her, like lazy curls of smoke from a campfire.
His mouth found her neck and he placed a series of kisses there, each one a small dart of pleasure that robbed her of clear thought. For a wild moment, she couldn’t catch her breath. His hands were in her hair, and his mouth was working its magic....
“No,” she breathed, her voice low and trembling. Any resistance she’d managed to rally had vanished.
“Yes, my darlin’, Kate?”
He sought her mouth then, and excitement erupted inside her. She clung to him, arms around his neck as his lips returned again and again to taste and tantalize her.
When he buried his face in the hollow of her throat, Kate moaned softly. She felt nearly faint from the rush of pleasure.
“Call Linda and cancel whatever plans you’ve made,” he whispered.
Kate froze. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. I’ll talk to her, if you want.”
“I’m not going out with Linda.”
“Then call whoever it is and cancel.”
“No...”
A flash of headlights through the kitchen window announced Eric’s arrival. With a burst of frantic energy, Kate leaped off Luke’s lap, feeling disoriented and bewildered. She rubbed her hands over her face, realizing she’d probably smudged her makeup, but that didn’t concern her as much as the unreserved way she’d submitted to Luke’s touch. He’d kissed her before and it had been wonderful—more than wonderful. But in those brief moments when he’d held her, at the wedding and then again the next day, she hadn’t experienced this burning need. It terrified her.
“Kate?”
She looked at Luke without really seeing him. “I’ve got to go,” she insisted.
“There’s a man here.”
Kate opened the door for Eric. “Hi,” she greeted him, doing her best to appear cheerful and animated, but suspecting that she looked and sounded as though she was coming down with a bad case of flu. “I see you found the place without a problem.”
“Actually, I had one hell of a time,” he said, glancing at his watch. “Didn’t you notice I’m fifteen minutes late?”
Well, no, she hadn’t. Not really.
“Kate, who is this man?” Luke demanded in a steely voice.
“Eric Wilson, this is Luke Rivers. Luke is buying the Circle L,” she said breathlessly.
The two men exchanged the briefest of handshakes.
Kate didn’t dare look in Luke’s direction. She didn’t need to; she could feel the resentment and annoyance that emanated from him like waves of heat. “Well, I suppose we should be on our way,” Kate said to Eric, throwing him a tight, nervous smile.
“Yes, I suppose we should.” Eric’s gaze traveled from Kate to Luke, then back again. He seemed equally eager to escape.
“I’ll say good-night, Luke,” she said pointedly, her hand on the back door.
He didn’t respond, which was just as well.
Once they were outside, Eric opened his car door for her. “You said Luke is buying the ranch?”
“Yes,” she answered brightly.
“And nothing else?” he pressed, frowning. “The look he was giving me seemed to say you came with the property.”
“That’s not true.” Even if Luke chose to believe otherwise. After tonight, she couldn’t deny that they shared a strong physical attraction, but that was nothing on which to base a life together. She didn’t love Luke; how could she, when she was still in love with Clay? She’d been crazy about Clay Franklin most of her life, and feelings that intense didn’t change overnight simply because he’d married another woman.
When Clay and Rorie had announced their engagement, Kate had known with desolate certainty that she’d never love again. If she couldn’t have Clay, then she would live the remainder of her life alone, treasuring the time they’d had together.
“You’re absolutely certain Rivers has no claim on you?”
“None,” Kate assured him.
“That’s funny,” Eric said with a humorless chuckle. “From the way he glared at me, I feel lucky to have walked away with my head still attached.”
Kate forced a laugh. “I’m sure you’re mistaken.”
Eric
