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held him spellbound. He hadn't realized just how vulnerable he was.
"That's about the size of it. You don't trust men, do you?" He touched her face with hesitant fingers. "I
suppose we're alike in being wary. I thought I was in love a few times, but I got burned badly once. I
guess I've forgotten how to trust women in the years since."
He sounded just faintly vulnerable, and something inside her stirred like a budding flower. She
searched his face. "Damaged people," she whispered.
He understood immediately, his nod more eloquent than speech. He brushed the back of his finger
over her soft mouth. "Come here and kiss me."
He bent as he spoke, and without the slightest hesitation she rose on tiptoe and kissed him. It was the
first move she'd ever made of her own free will toward a man. He made everything so natural, so
easy.
She was sixteen again, feeling her first passion for a man. And there was Gabe, tough and hard and
filling her world, her life.
"Gabe," she whispered brokenly, holding him gently as she pressed her warm, soft mouth against his
and flew up into the sun with the powerful response he gave her.
She felt his hand at the back of her head, pressing her lips hard against his, and then she was free and
he'd moved away, turned away, so that she couldn't see the effect she'd had on him. But when he put
the brandy snifter down to light a cigarette, she noticed his hand wasn't quite steady.
"You're just dynamite," she said dazedly.
He turned, his eyes shocked, delighted. He smiled at her. "Hell, so are you."
It was a real smile, not a smirk or sarcasm. He lit the cigarette but his eyes held hers, searched them
slowly. "Are you going to be that honest with me from now on?" he asked. "Because I'll have to warn
you, it's dangerous."
"Telling the truth?"
"Telling me the truth about what you feel when I touch you," he told her. "My God, I've got a low
boiling point with you, Maggie," he added softly, fervently. "I never dreamed it would be like that."
"Neither did I," she said, her voice soft, colored with what she was feeling so unexpectedly.
"I...used to..." She stopped, horrified at what she was about to reveal.
"Used to what?" he coaxed, moving closer. "Used to what, honey?" he repeated, touching her lips
gently.
"I used to daydream about you," she murmured, lowering her eyes to his hard chest. "About kissing
you."
"You weren't the only one." He tilted up her chin. "The reality is pretty devastating. I gather it wasn't
like that with your ex-husband?"
She shook her head. "I never really wanted him physically," she said. "I suppose he knew.... Do men
know?" she asked, lifting plaintive eyes.
He nodded slowly. "I would, anyway," he said. "It's hard to fake."
"He couldn't make me want him. That made it worse. He had so many women, and I tried not to mind,
but after a while, I felt like a Medusa."
"Why did you marry him?" he asked.
She shrugged. "He was a lot of fun. He'd take me places and give me things." She smiled sadly.
"I'd never had a man pay me any attention. Not like that. I was a pushover."
"I could have," he said half under his breath, and the look in his eyes disturbed her. "If you hadn't
been so young, honey..."
"You were almost thirty," she remembered, searching his hard face. "Already a grown man. You
fascinated me."
"I know." There was a world of emotion in those two words. He brushed back the hair from her
temple, his fingers warm and hard and strong. "And frightened you. It was because of me that you
stopped coming here to see the girls, wasn't it?"
"Yes," she confessed softly, smiling. "I knew I couldn't hide what I was feeling. I was afraid you'd
see it and make fun of me or be embarrassed."
"I wouldn't have done either," he told her, his voice gentle. "I'm not sure how I would have handled it,
but I'd have managed without hurting your pride too much." He pursed his lips musingly. "I lost track
of you after the girls left school. I always meant to look you up again, but your family moved to
Austin."
"It's just as well," she said. "You'd have wanted more than I could give."
He smoothed her hair. "No, I wouldn't have," he said firmly. "I'd have respected your innocence. I
wouldn't have asked you to give it to me without a commitment." His chest rose and fell slowly.
"Maggie, are you going to be able to handle a physical relationship again?"
She felt her body relaxing against his, felt her helpless reaction to his strength. Her fingers played
with a button on his shirt, and she bit her lower lip, succumbing to old memories and new hungers all
at once.
"I don't know," she said. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]