Read Online Cattleman's Choice by Diana Palmer - Free Book Online

hand inside her blouse. Her lips parted and she studied the face so close to hers with wide, fascinated eyes.
    He felt the stare and looked down into her eyes. His hands paused in their task and he watched her for a long moment. “Why didn’t you want me to touch you?” he whispered.
    Her lower lip trembled a little. “I…haven’t been touched…that way since I was eighteen, Carson,” she said unsteadily.
    â€œIf I’d persisted a minute longer, you’d have let me, though, wouldn’t you?” he asked.
    She licked her dry lips and her wide gray eyes searched his blue ones with uncertainty. “I didn’t expect that,” she whispered.
    â€œWhy not? I’m human, Mandy. I may be rough and half-civilized, but I’m capable of wanting a woman.”
    â€œOh, I didn’t mean it like that,” she said, touching his hard mouth with her fingers. She searched his eyes curiously. “Carson…you…you’ve had women, haven’t you?”
    Time seemed to hang suspended between them. “Yes,” he said quietly.
    Her breath shuddered out of her throat. Her fingers traced his lips unsteadily, with helpless pleasure. “I’ve never been to bed with a man,” she breathed.
    His nostrils flared. His chest rose and fell raggedly. “You’re twenty-six.”
    She smiled nervously. Having him this close was affecting her wildly. “Yes, I know. Do you think I might get in the record books?”
    â€œNot,” he sighed heavily, “if you keep touching me that way.”
    â€œOh!” Belatedly she realized just how intimate her fingers had grown on his face. She moved them back down to his arm. “Sorry.”
    â€œYou excite me,” he admitted, turning his attention back to the hook. He sliced the fabric gently, not unaware of her hot blush or the increasing pressure of her fingers. “So watch out.”
    That wasn’t going to be easy, she realized, feeling his warm fingers being slowly removed from her blouse. “Thank you,” she said as he removed the hook as well.
    â€œMy pleasure,” he murmured drily.
    â€œCarson, I didn’t mean to…” she began, losing her train of thought when he looked down into her eyes. “I didn’t know…I wasn’t…”
    â€œHush.” He handed her the fishing pole with a warm, knowing look. “I haven’t been with a woman in a long time,” he said slowly. “It was a moment out of time, that’s all. Nothing to be afraid of.”
    â€œOf course.” She managed to get a worm on the hook and began talking real estate, out of nervousness. She’d reacted to Carson’s lovemaking like a shy young girl, and she knew now that while he might need lessons in deportment, he’d never need them as a lover. He knew exactly what to do with a woman. And now she was more afraid of him than ever. In all the years she’d known him, she’d never thought of him as a lover. Now it was impossible to think of him any other way.
    He followed her lead in conversation, and they talked about general things for a long time while the day moved lazily by. After they had caught a good number of fish, they packed up their gear and went back to the house.
    â€œI’ve enjoyed today. Thank you,” she said. She was reluctant to leave him, and that was odd. In the past she’d always been glad to get out of his sight.
    â€œSo have I,” he replied. He studied her for a long moment. “Want to stay for supper? We can cook the fish together.”
    She should have said no. But she didn’t. Her face lit up and she smiled. “Sure!”
    He chuckled. “Want to clean them for me?”
    She frowned. “Carson, I hate to be a drag, but I don’t think I know how. Uncle didn’t fish, you know.”
    â€œYes, and cleaning fish isn’t something you learn in finishing school, is it,