hers and drive her mad with pleasure!
He moved closer. His chest pressed down against hers involuntarily. He could feel her full breasts against him, feel the hard tips biting into his chest even through two layers of fabric. Her mouth taunted his, followed it, lifted to tempt it into coming closer. He drank in the fragrance of roses that clung to her and felt himself caving in. He needed to hold her. He needed to kiss her. He couldn’t help it. He had to...!
The sudden opening of car doors close by jerked him back from Maggie. He saw three men getting out of a sedan a few parking spaces away, giving them amused looks.
He got back under the steering wheel without looking at her again. He started the car and put it into gear, ignoring the glances of the three men on their way toward the hotel.
Maggie’s hands were shaking. She wanted to scream and throw things. This was the second time she’d let him torment her physically. And had she fought, protested, dragged herself away, dared him to touch her? Of course not. She’d melted into him the minute he touched her. Great self-control, girl, she told herself with silent contempt. Really great!
He didn’t look at her until they were out of town on the road that led to his ranch. She was more composed now, but she still looked devastated. He couldn’t blame her. He felt the same way. He didn’t want to be attracted to her, but he was. He always had been. But the older he got, the more uncontrollable it was.
“Don’t beat yourself to death over it,” he said carelessly. “Maybe we’ve both spent too much time alone lately.”
“June will be shocked to hear that!”
He chuckled at the sting in her tone. He gave her a wry glance. “She’s dating a corporal with the police department,” he drawled. “Her father likes him, but he thinks she’s too young to marry. She doesn’t agree.”
She raised both eyebrows. She didn’t say a word.
He grimaced. “I was furious because you waited four days to come and see me, to see if the blindness was permanent,” he said.
It wasn’t much of an explanation, but she understood. June was a cutting tool he’d used on her heart. He wasn’t certain that she was jealous of him, but he thought she’d be hurt if he threw another woman in her face. She was. It was chilling that he knew her that well. On the other hand, he’d admitted that she could hurt him, as well. It was a milestone in their stormy relationship.
He glanced at her as he turned down the long driveway with painted white fences on both sides.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” he mused. “I never have to explain anything to you.”
“That works both ways.” She turned her eyes toward the old fighting bull in the pasture on her side of the car. “Maybe it’s some sort of mental shorthand.”
“Maybe it’s ESP,” he murmured dryly.
“Someday we’ll have to find out if it works across oceans,” she replied smartly.
That stung. She probably knew it. “Why do you have to leave the country?” he asked quietly.
“I told you. I’m twenty-six. I want to do something adventurous while I can do it without leaning on a cane.”
“Adventure isn’t what it’s cut out to be,” he told her.
“Davy Crockett wouldn’t agree with you,” she informed him. “Neither would Jim Bowie, or George Custer, or Crazy Horse or Pancho Villa or Genghis Khan.”
He pursed his lips. “You certainly covered all walks of life with that group.”
She chuckled.
“Why don’t you move out here with me?” he asked out of the blue. “You can learn the cattle business. We could play with the train sets in our spare time. I’ve got a whole room dedicated to them, complete with buildings and tunnels, mountains and even running water for trestles to go over.”
She turned her purse in her hands and hated the invitation. He was inviting his foster sister to move in. Nothing more.
He pulled up in the driveway that circled at the front door and cut off the engine. He turned to her with narrowed eyes. “You want me,” he said bluntly. “I know it. I want you. You know that, too. But nothing will ever come of it unless you want it to. I made a vicious mistake with you once because I was out of my mind with grief and alcohol. I never make the same mistake twice. You’ll be safe here.”
“That’s an interesting choice of words,” she replied slowly. “Safe from your old enemy, you mean.”
His chin lifted. “From him, and from me, Maggie,” he replied. “I won’t make you afraid of me. Not in any way.”
She laughed mirthlessly. “I’ve been afraid of you for years, in between attacks of helpless attraction,” she said matter-of-factly. “There has to be a cure somewhere. If I go far enough, maybe I can find it.”
It was a confession, of sorts. He rested one arm over the steering wheel and studied her sadly. “All we have left,” he said softly, “is each other.”
Her eyes flew to his. She was pale, confused, uneasy. She frowned. “Don’t do that,” she said irritably. “Don’t make it sound like you need me. You never have and you never will. I’m a memory adjunct. That’s all I’ll ever be.”
“Our lives are intertwined. You can’t break an eighteen-year bond just like that,” he pointed out. “Some marriages don’t last a fraction that long.”
The word froze her. She averted her face.
“It wasn’t an insult,” he said at once, misunderstanding her reaction. “Your husband wasn’t good to you. You had every reason not to want to remember him.”
“I have more reason than you’ll ever know,” she said without meeting his speculative gaze. “Happy marriages are a fairy tale.”
“Dane Lassiter wouldn’t agree with you,” he mused. “Neither would your friend Kit.”
She shrugged. “They got lucky.”
“You don’t think you could?”
She rubbed at a spot on her purse. “I don’t ever want to marry again.”
He hesitated. “Maggie, don’t you want children someday?”
The question sent her gaze flying up to meet his. The pain, the anguish, the haunted look in them shocked him.
She opened the door and got out.
He followed, determined to find out why she looked that way, when Red Davis sped up the driveway and stopped even with Cord.
“The irrigation equipment’s up and running like a track star, boss,” he called with a grin. “And they promised to replace any part that misfires again!”
“Good work.”
“Thanks! How are you doing, Maggie?” he called to her with a big grin.
Cord’s
