Read Online Payton's Woman by Marilyn Yarbrough - Free Book Online Page A

brilliant blue eyes wandered over her body. “You’re even more
beautiful than I remembered.”
    Her cheeks warmed at the
compliment. Men often remarked on her beauty, but she wasn’t prepared for the sincerity
reflected in this one’s eyes. Nor his blatant hunger.
    The brilliance of his
blue eyes seemed to give off a warmth. The heat from his gaze transferred to
her body. A shiver rippled through her. She tried to suppress the feelings this
stranger stirred within her and force some calmness into her outward
appearance.
    One eyebrow arched in question.
“I believe you have me at a disadvantage, sir.”
    He stroked his fingers
through his short, neatly trimmed hair. “I suppose I do look a little different
than the last time we met. And we weren’t properly introduced. Allow me to do
so now. Payton Tyler at your service. Your slightest wish is my command.” He
made a slight bow.
    “My, that certainly
brings some rather fascinating thoughts to mind.” Sylvia’s voice took on a lusty
quality. “I like a man who is eager to please.”
    She held out her hand. “I’m
Mrs. Sylvia Morgan.”
    Politely, he took her
outstretched hand and nodded over it.
    “And this...” She
flipped her hand in the direction of Julia when he released it. “This is Miss
Julia Anderson. But then you apparently already know her.”
    “Julia?” He stopped in
the act of lifting her hand to his mouth. He peeled back the edge of the rose colored
silk glove and exposed the skin on the back of her hand. “The name suits you. I
think I’ll call you that instead of Angel,” he said just before pressing his
lips to her naked hand.
    His name for her, along
with the brilliant color of his blue eyes, jolted her memory. She felt like she’d
just been splashed with ice cold water. Her hand jerked away in shock.
    “I’m sorry,” he said,
but he didn’t look the least bit sorry. “Did I perhaps bite you by mistake?”
    “How exciting,” Sylvia
murmured. “You barely know the man, and yet he’s already nibbling on you.”
    “No, he didn’t...you
didn’t...” she stammered while trying to regain her composure. She took a long,
deep breath and released it with a shudder. “I believe you were going to ask me
to dance.”
    “I believe I was.” He
held out his arm.
    As they stepped into the
midst of the other dancers, he took her hand. His other arm slipped around her
waist. “You seem surprised at seeing me again.”
    Surprised hardly
described her shock. She almost laughed out loud, but stifled the urge and
responded in a neutral tone. “It’s just that you look different with your hair
short and no beard.”
    “Actually, I feel rather
naked without so much hair.”
    Heat crept into her body
at the thought of him in that condition. Many times this last week, her mind
had conjured up visions of how he looked without his clothes. Now that he held
her in his arms, her imagination ran unchecked.
    Beneath his white shirt,
her mind’s eye saw the dark hair swirled across his bared chest. She also envisioned
the rest of his body which she’d never seen. His arms, his legs, even his back
would be hard, lean, and muscular.
    “At least you don’t look
like a pirate anymore,” she said in an attempt to change the images popping
into her mind.
    “Is that what you
thought of me the other night in the tavern?” He threw back his head in
laughter.
    Nervously, she glanced
around the room. Several people watched them, including Sylvia. She tried to
move Payton to the far side of the dancing area.
    “Would you like to lead?”
he quipped as she maneuvered him backwards.
    “I need to ask you for a
favor,” she said in a hushed voice. “Mrs. Morgan must not know I was in San
Francisco. Nor anyone else for that matter.”
    His dark eyebrows rose,
as if shocked by her request. “You’re asking me, a man of honor and decency, to
lie to your friend.”
    Her lips twisted
together as she studied him. Although she didn’t know him well, she