Page 100 of The Honorable Texan
“I’ve lived a very sheltered life,” she said flatly.
He pursed his lips as he studied her, examining the statement.“Maybe it’s time you walked out of the cocoon.”
“I’m not in the market for an affair.”
“Neither am I.”He smiled slowly.“But if you worked at it, you might change my mind.”
“I don’t think so,” she said.Her eyes were cool as they met his.“I wouldn’t want you to think I was ‘drooling’ over you,” she added deliberately.
His face changed.He knew immediately that she’d overheard what he’d said to Leo.He was sorry, because it wasn’t true.He’d been desperate to throw Leo off the track.He didn’t want his brother to know how attracted he was to her.
“Eavesdroppers never hear anything good about themselves, don’t they say?”he asked quietly.
“Never,” she agreed.“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go wash the eggs.”
“I said something else that you’ll remember with sordid ease,” he murmured as she started past him.He caught her by the shoulder and tugged her close, bending to drag his mouth roughly across hers.“But I didn’t mean that, either,” he whispered against her parted lips.“Your innocence makes my head spin.I lay awake at night thinking of all sorts of delicious ways to relieve you of it.”
“You’d be lucky!”she exclaimed, shocked.
He laughed softly as he let her go.“So would you,” hedrawled.“I’ve been called ‘sensual hell’ in bed, and I can assure you it wasn’t meant to be a derogatory remark.”
“Rey Hart!”she burst out.
“But why take anyone else’s word for it?”he teased.“I’ll be glad to let you see for yourself, anytime you like.”
“If you think… I have never…of all the…!”
“Yes, it does tend to make women flustered when I mention what a great lover I am,” he said with a wicked grin.
She couldn’t get one coherent sentence out.She stomped her foot hard, turned around, and stormed into the kitchen, almost knocking herself down with the door in the process.It didn’t help that Rey stood out there laughing like a predator.
* * *
If she expectedRey to be apologetic about what he’d said, she was doomed to disappointment.He watched her with narrow, assessing eyes as she went about her household duties.He didn’t harass her, or monopolize her.He just watched.The scrutiny made her so nervous that she fumbled constantly.Her heart ran wild at the attention from those dark, steady eyes.
“Why don’t you want to do something else besides keep house?”Rey asked her one evening when she was putting supper on the table.Leo, as usual, was late getting in.Rey had volunteered to set the table while she fixed Mexican corn bread and chili.
“Keeping house has less stress than most outside jobs,” she said, not looking at him.
“It pays lousy wages,” he continued, “and you could get into a lot of trouble in some households, with men who’d see you as fair game.”
“Do you see me that way?”she asked, wide-eyed.
He glowered at her.“No, I don’t.The point is, some other man might.It isn’t a safe career.In a profession, there are more laws to protect you.”
“Most professional people have degrees and such.Besides, I’m too old.”
“You’re never too old to go back to school,” he replied.
She shrugged.“Besides, I like cooking and cleaning.”
He eyed her curiously.“You’re very good at handling injured people,” he said suddenly.“And you’re remarkably calm in an emergency.”
“It’s good practice for when I have kids,” she said.
He drew in a short breath.“You like being mysterious, don’t you?”
“While it lasts, it’s fun,” she agreed.
