Read Online IF I WERE YOUR WOMAN by LaConnie Taylor-Jones - Free Book Online

you should never be forced to reveal anything to the public that you consider private.”
    Ray waited for her to look and him. Slate blue eyes connected with green. “ Merci .”
    “ De rein .” Laney cocked her head sideways. With her gaze still settled on him, she lifted a cup of herbal tea to her lips, sipping it slowly. “What about you? Why do you go by the last name LaSalle?”
    Ray smiled. “It was my mère’s maiden name. She was the one who recognized by musical ability and encouraged me to pursue it.” He shrugged. “Guess it’s my own way of honoring the woman who made everything I’ve achieved in my career possible.”
    Ray glanced across the room and noticed a portrait on the wall. Laney bore a marked resemblance to the woman in the oil painting. He wouldn’t call her gorgeous. Sultry, exotic, and striking more accurately described her features. Not even those words conveyed the natural beauty of her slant green eyes and reddish hair that cascaded past her shoulders. He tipped his head forward. “Red, who’s the lady in the portrait up there?”
    “That was my maternal grandmother, Olivia O’Reilly. She’s one of the few people I’ve ever known who loved unconditionally. I wished everyone in the world could be that way.” 
    “You never talk about your parents. How long where they married?” 
    “Actually, my parents were never married.”
    “I-I didn’t know that.”
    “My parents met in high school, but didn’t start dating until they went off to college. My father died in a boating accident about a week before my mother found out she was pregnant with me.”
    Ray let out a long whistle. “ Daaayuuum . That had to be rough on your mère .”
    “I’m sure it was. I couldn’t imagine trying to get through medical school as a single parent, but she did.”
    “So I guess you spent a lot of time with Charles and Olivia.”
    “They practically raised me along with Aunt Ida and Aunt Dorothy.” Laney chuckled. “And of course, I can’t leave out Uncle Eddie. All of them poured everything they had into me.”
    “Red, would you ever consider heading up O’Reilly Enterprises?”
    “O’Reilly Enterprises is what I inherited by chance. Being a researcher is something I do by choice. It’s what I was born to do. Could you see yourself doing anything that didn’t involve music?”
    “Hell no!”
    Laney stifled a yawn with the back of her hand and drew to her feet. “It’s been a long day. I think I’ll head upstairs. Goodnight, Raphael.”
    Ray glanced at his watch. It was midnight. Usually, this was the time his day began. “Why don’t you stay and hang out with me for a minute?”
    “You have an early morning doctor’s appointment tomorrow, remember? I don’t want to risk being late because you overslept.”
    Ray stood and moved toward Laney. Towering over her, he studied her pretty face, absorbed by her generosity and honesty. He stroked a fingertip along the slope of her cheek. What was it about this woman that made him do things he’d never done before or awaken feelings he never knew existed? He bent and lightly pressed his lips to her mouth. Suddenly, the reason he was here in the first place slammed into him like a run-away eighteen-wheeler.  His back grew rigid and he stepped back. “Goodnight, Red.”
    ~ ~ ~
    As soon as Laney closed her bedroom door, the phone rang. She welcomed the intrusion because it kept her from further analyzing the moment she’d just shared with Raphael in the dining room. Although his touch started off gentle, it became controlled. That touch wasn’t what she’d experienced before. She didn’t want a measured caress, but one filled with need and passion.
    She listened to the third ring and started not to answer. When she glanced down at the caller I.D. and noticed the number, she picked up the phone. If she didn’t answer, her first cousin, Nicki Johnson, would be banging on the door.   
    “Good evening.”
    “I hadn’t heard from