Page 16 of Texas Honor

She stared at him, stunned by his lack of feeling. “He just got married.”

“So what?” he demanded. “Surely the only time he really needs to be with her is after dark.”

“You male chauvinist!”

“What are you so keyed up about, honey?” he taunted irritably. “Frustrated because I couldn’t finish what I started before he walked in on us?”

What good would it do to argue?she asked herself as she noisily loaded up the dirty plates and utensils and took them out to the kitchen without a single word.

He followed her a few minutes later, looking half out of humor and a little guilty.

Standing in the doorway he filled it with his big, tall frame. His hair looked rakish, falling over his broad forehead, and he was so handsome that she had to fight to keep from staring at him all over again.

“I’ve got to ride over and see about my rig on Tyson Wade’s place,” he said quietly. “Can you handle the phone?”

“Sure,” she told him, walking over to the wall phone. “This is the receiver,” she began, pointing to it, speaking in a monotone. “When it rings, you pick it up and talk right in here—”

“Oh, for God’s sake,” he burst out. “What I meant was that it rings all day long, with everything from stock options to social invitations to notices of board meetings!”

She pushed back her bangs. “I’ve worked in offices since I was eighteen,” she told him.

He cocked his head. “Can you type?”

“How ever do you think I’ll manage all the housekeeping and cooking as well as looking after your appointments and answering mail and waiting on Aunt Lillian all at once?” she demanded.

His eyebrows arched. “Well, if you aren’t capable of it, I’ll hire a cook and a maid and a nurse and a secretary...”

Mari could only imagine how her aunt would react to that. She glared at him. “And break Aunt Lillian’s old heart by importing a lot of strangers to keep us apart?”

He laughed in spite of himself. “I guess it would,” he confessed. His green eyes narrowed, and there was a light in them that disturbed her as he ran his gaze slowly over her slender body. “God forbid anything should keep us apart.”

“Don’t you have an oil well to check on?”

“Several, in fact,” he agreed. He folded his arms. “But at the moment I’d rather look at you.”

“And I’d rather you didn’t,” she said curtly, averting her eyes to the dishwater.

“I like the way you react to me, Mari,” he said softly. “I like the way your body starts to tremble when I come close. If I’d started kissing you a few minute ago, we’d still be doing it. And that being the case,” he added, leveling with her, “I think you’d better practice ways to discourage me. Lillian won’t be around much when she comes back until her leg heals. So you and I are going to get a bit of each other’s company. I’d just as soon manage your little visit without showing you how good I am in bed.”

His blatant speech shocked her. She turned, soapy hands poised over the sink, and stared at him. “Are you?” she asked without thinking.

He nodded slowly, holding her gaze, his face dead serious. “A man doesn’t have to be emotionally involved to make love well. I’ve had years of practice. But it’s never meant much, except physically. It never will. So you keep that in mind, sprout, okay?”

“Okay,” she replied, all eyes.

His eyes narrowed at her expression. “Haven’t you ever discussed these things with a man?”

“My parents didn’t discuss things like that,” she replied. “Most of the girls I’ve known had a distorted view of it because they did it with so many people. I...find the thought of it distasteful, somehow. Sleeping with someone, well, it’s intimate, isn’t it? Like us-ing someone’s toothbrush, only more so. I couldn’t...just do that, without loving.”

She sounded so hopelessly naive. He searched her face and realized with a start that he’d never made love to a virgin. Not one. Not ever. And the thought of touching her in all the ways that he’d touched other women produced a shocking reaction from his body—one he was grateful that she wouldn’t recognize.

“What an unusual attitude,” he said involuntarily.

“That isn’t the word most people use,” she replied, her eyes dull and lackluster. “Men avoid me like the plague, except to do typing and answer phones. I’m what’s known as an oddball.”

“Because you don’t sleep around?” he asked, stunned.

“Exactly. Didn’t you know that the pill has liberated women?” she explained. “They’re allowed the same freedom as men. They can sleep around every night without any consequences. Of course, they sacrifice a few things along the way that the liberals don’t mention. Things like that deep-seated guilt that all the permissive ideals in the world won’t change.”

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