Read Online Marrying a Delacourt by Sherryl Woods - Free Book Online

for coming to their defense,” he whispered against her cheek.
    She gazed up at him, her lips parted in astonishment.
    His resolve fled. The first kiss had felt so good and her mouth was so thoroughly tempting that Michael couldn’t resist one more taste. This time when his mouth slanted across hers, a deep sigh shuddered through her and was echoed in his body.
    How was it possible after all these years apart, after all of their legal skirmishes, that something as simple as a kiss felt like coming home? Now that he knew that, he could hardly wait to get Jamie and Josh’s situation settled, so that he and Grace could start over.
    If she’d agree.

Chapter Five
    D azed by the unexpected kiss and even more stunned by her response to it, Grace stared at Michael. “What was that all about?”
    “Just a little thank-you kiss,” he assured her, but his lips were curved into a satisfied smile.
    “The first one, maybe,” she said, resisting the desire to touch her fingers to her still-tingling mouth. “That second one was something else altogether.”
    “Was it really?” he asked innocently. “It got to you, did it?”
    The man was infuriating. Smug.
    Accurate, she thought with a barely concealed sigh. It would not do to let him see it, though. “It did not get to me, as you put it,” she said staunchly. “I am immune to you, Michael Delacourt. I have been for years.”
    “Then the kiss meant nothing, did it? It’s hardly worth all this analysis.”
    “That’s exactly right. It meant absolutely nothing!” She whirled around and headed for the house, fully aware of his faint chuckle trailing after her.
    Oh, yes, the man was impossible. He was trying to start something, either to satisfy his ego that he could still make it happen or because he was bored and she was conveniently available as a distraction. As if two runaway kids weren’t enough trouble, he was looking for more.
    Coming here was a mistake, she told herself as she went into the kitchen and splashed cold water on her flushed cheeks, then stood still and fought to quiet the racing of her pulse.
    No, she corrected, staying was the mistake. She should have turned right around the night before and gone back to Houston. She could have driven the rental car all the way, if need be, taking Jamie and Josh with her. Of course, they might well have ended up in New Mexico if she’d tried, but that would have been better than this off-kilter way she was feeling right this second.
    Even before she heard Michael’s booted footsteps on the porch, she sensed that he was near. She could feel a vague and once all-too-familiar prickling sensation on the back of her neck, the same sensation that warned of danger closing in. She quickly dried her cheeks and turned to face him with what she hoped was a totally calm, disinterested expression. She’d had plenty of time to perfect it over the years. Every time they met, in fact.
    “Feeling in control again?” he inquired with amusement flashing in his eyes.
    “You really do have an overinflated ego,” she pointed out.
    “I find confidence to be necessary in business.”
    “Confidence and ego are not exactly the same,” she remarked tartly.
    He wasn’t put off in the least. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying the debate, deliberately prolonging it. “I suppose that depends on how you define them.”
    “Confidence has to do with knowing your own strengths. Ego has to do with overinflating them, giving yourself a little too much credit.” She leveled a haughty look straight at him. “It is not an attractive quality.”
    “Then just think of the fun you can have over the next few days trying to cut my overinflated ego back down to size,” he suggested.
    “I am not here for your personal amusement or my own,” she pointed out huffily. “The only reason I agreed to stay was because of Jamie and Josh.”
    Michael nodded. “Of course,” he intoned solemnly. “I’ll try to remember that.”
    She drew herself up and