Read Online Regan's Pride by Diana Palmer - Free Book Online

and she tugged the sheet over them. He lifted an eyebrow. “Overreacting a bit, aren’t you? I haven’t touched you there.”
    â€œI’m not an art exhibit,” she informed him. “And you needn’t say that you wouldn’t buy any tickets, because I know it already! You told me why over two years ago.”
    His pale eyes slid over her face and up to meet her angry gaze. “In the most cruel way I could find,” he agreed, and there was a hint of regret in his voice. “Did Sandy ever tell you why?”
    â€œYes,” she said. “But I never hurt you.”
    â€œNo, although you were pretty persistent for a while there.” His eyes searched hers quietly. “I wanted you out of my hair.”
    â€œCongratulations. You succeeded.”
    His jaw tautened. “Why did you marry Barry?”
    The question came like a lightning bolt. She started from the sudden shock of it. She couldn’t bear to tell him the truth. She averted her eyes. “He asked me.”
    â€œAnd you accepted, just like that?” he asked impatiently.
    â€œHe looked after Dad when no one else bothered,” she said simply. “We were down to our last dollar. He not only bought the feed store, but he also advanced us the cash to keep Dad’s doctor bills paid while the paperwork was finalized. I owed him so much. Marriage seemed a very small price to pay for my father’speace of mind,” she finished, without telling him the whole truth of it, that his own attitude had pushed her right into Barry’s arms. If Ted had been just a little more sympathetic…but it didn’t bear thinking about.
    He got up from the bed abruptly and strode to the window. He rested one shoulder against the window frame and stared out at the lush green pastures where black-coated cattle were grazing; his prize Black Angus.
    â€œDid you love him?” he asked.
    She twisted the pretty edging of the sheet. “I was…fond of him, at first.”
    He looked at her. “Did you ever want him, even at the beginning?”
    She shuddered. She wasn’t quick enough to hide it.
    â€œYou wanted me,” he said coldly. “I haven’t forgotten the party at the gun club, even if you have. You would have given me anything that night.”
    â€œYou wouldn’t have taken it,” she said somberly, staring at him unblinking. “You even told me why. Remember?”
    He averted his gaze back to the pasture. He didn’t like remembering the things he’d said to her. Absently he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket. But he only looked at it for a minute and pushed it back into the pack with a wry smile in her direction.
    â€œI promised Sandy I’d quit,” he explained.
    â€œImagine you doing something a mere woman wanted,” she murmured.
    â€œSandy’s my sister.”
    â€œAnd the only woman you like.”
    He turned, leaning his back against the frame. He folded his arms and crossed his long legs, surveyingher with pursed lips and an odd little smile. “I could like you, if I tried,” he said. He jerked away from the window. “But I’m not going to try.”
    â€œOf course not,” she agreed. “What would be the point?”
    He paused beside the bed. “You aren’t going to be able to do much for a few weeks, in your condition,” he said. “I hope you like it here, because you’re staying for the duration, even if I have to tie you up.”
    She sat up in bed, grimacing at the pain, her blue eyes angry. “I could go home…”
    â€œYou don’t have a home anymore,” he said bluntly.
    She lay back down, wincing at the pain. She felt broken and bruised. Her eyes closed, to shut him out. “No. I haven’t, have I?” she agreed.
    He hated her lack of spirit. His pale eyes lanced over her dark hair and narrowed as he saw the silver threads that meandered through it.