Diana Palmer Long Tall Texans 34 Heartbreaker

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She wondered how he knew so much about the other man, but she didn t pursue it. It was an
honorable discharge, then? she emphasized.
He took off his white Stetson and ran an irritated hand through his black hair. I can t make you see
it, can I? The man s dangerous.
He s in good company in Jacobsville, then, isn t he? she replied. I mean, we re like a resort for
ex-mercs and ex-military, not to mention the number of ex-federal law enforcement people...
Grange has enemies, he interrupted.
So do you, J.B., she pointed out. Remember that guy who broke into your house with a.45
automatic and tried to shoot you over a horse deal?
He was a lunatic.
If the bullet hadn t been a dud, you d be dead, she reminded him.
Ancient history, he said. You re avoiding the subject.
I am not likely to be shot by one of Grange s mythical old enemies while watching a science-
fiction film at the local theater! Her small hands balled at her hips. The only thing you re mad
about is that you can t make me do what you want me to do anymore, she challenged.
A deep, dark sensuality came into his green eyes and one corner of his chiseled mouth turned up.
Can t I, now? he drawled, moving forward.
She backed up. Oh, no, you don t, she warded him off. Go home and thrill your beauty queen,
J.B., I m not on the market.
He lifted an eyebrow at her flush and the faint rustle of her heartbeat against her tank top.
Aren t you?
She backed up one more step, just in case. What happened to you was...was tragic, but it was a long
time ago, J.B., and Grange wasn t responsible for it, she argued. He was surely as much a victim as
you were, especially when he found out the truth. Can t you imagine how he must have felt, when he
knew that his own actions cost him his sister s life?
He seemed to tauten all over. He told you all of it?
She hadn t meant to let that slip. He made her nervous when he came close like this. She couldn t
think. You d never have told me. Neither would Marge. Okay, it s not my business,
she added when he looked threatening, but I can have an opinion.
Grange was responsible, he returned coldly. His own delinquency made it impossible for her to
get past my father.
That s not true, Tellie said, her voice quiet and firm. If I wanted to marry someone, and his
father tried to blackmail me, I d have gone like a shot to the man and told him...!
The effect the remark had on him was scary. He seemed to grow taller, and his eyes were terrible. His
deep, harsh voice interrupted her. Stop it.
She did. She didn t have the maturity, or the confidence, to argue the point with him. But she wouldn t
have killed herself, she was sure of it. She d have embarrassed J.B. s father, shamed him, defied him.
She wasn t the sort of person to take blackmail lying down.
You don t know what you re talking about, he said, his eyes furious. You d never sacrifice
another human being s life or freedom to save yourself.
Maybe not, she conceded. But I wouldn t kill myself, either. She was going to add that it was a
cowardly thing to do, but the way J.B. was looking at her kept her quiet.
She loved me. She was going to have to give me up, and she couldn t bear to go on living that way.
In her own mind, she didn t have a choice, he said harshly. He searched her quiet face. You can t
comprehend an emotion that powerful, can you, Tellie? After all, what the hell would you know about
love? You re still wrapped up in dreams of happily ever after, cotton-candy kisses and hand-holding!
You don t know what it is to want someone so badly that it s physically painful to be separated from
them. You don t understand the violence of desire.
He laughed coldly. Maybe that s just as well. You couldn t handle an affair!
Good, because I don t want one! she replied angrily. He made her feel small, inadequate. It hurt.
I m not going to pass myself around like a cigarette to any man who wants me, just to prove how
liberated I am! And when I marry, I won t want some oversexed libertine who jumps into bed with any
woman who wants him!
He went very still and quiet. His face was like a drawn cord, his eyes green flames as he glared down
at her.
Sorry, she said uneasily. That didn t come out the way I meant it. I just don t think that a man, or
a woman, who lives that permissively can ever settle down and be faithful. I want a stable marriage
that children will fit into, not an endless round of new partners.
Children, he scoffed.
Yes, children. Her eyes softened as she thought of them. A whole house full of them, one day,
when I m through school.
With Grange as their father?
She gaped at him. I just went to a movie with him, J.B.!
If you get involved with him, I ll never forgive you, he said in a voice as cold as the grave.
Well, golly gee whiz, that would be a tragedy, wouldn t it? Just think, I d never get another present
that you sent Jarrett to buy for me!
His breath was coming quickly through his nose. His lips were flattened. He didn t have a comeback.
That seemed to make him angrier. He took another step toward her.
She backed up a step. You should be happy to have me out of your life, she pointed out uneasily.
I was never more than an afterthought anyway, J.B. Just a pest. All I did was get in your way.
He stopped just in front of her. He looked oddly frustrated. You re still getting in my way, he said
enigmatically. I know that no matter what Marge may have said, she and the girls were disappointed
that you missed the barbecue. It s the first time in seven years that you ve done that, and for a man
who represents as much hurt to Marge herself as he does to me.
She frowned. But why? She never knew Grange!
You told her what my father did, he said deliberately.
She grimaced. I didn t mean to! she confessed. I didn t want to. But she said it wouldn t matter.
And you don t know her any better than that, after so long in her house? She was devastated.
She felt worse than ever. I guess it was rough on you, too, when you found out what he d done, she
said unexpectedly.
His expression was odd. Reserved.Uneasy. I ve never hated a human being so much in all my life,
he said huskily. And he was dead. There was nothing I could do to him, no way I could pay him
back for ruining my life and taking hers. You can t imagine how I felt. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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