Read Online Silk on the Skin: A Loveswept Classic Romance by Linda Cajio - Free Book Online Page B

half-dozen more. A good catch, and a good day. Somehow, too, he had managed to keep his attraction to Cass under control during the afternoon. Barely under control, he admitted. The tension was stillsimmering just beneath the surface. It hadn’t been easy, but Cass’s needs had been more important.
    Companionship, he decided, did have its advantages. He’d never seen her so relaxed around him. But this kind of day had better be a rare one between them. He couldn’t imagine being “just friends” with her. He wanted her too badly for that. The realization was startling, and he instantly suppressed it.
    “So when do we get to eat Jaws?”
    “You were just along for the ride,” Cass said, wariness creeping back into her eyes.
    “And now I’m along for dinner.”
    “I’ll give him to you, and you can take him home—”
    “Oh, no,” Dallas said, crossing his arms over his chest. “It took two of us to catch him, so the two of us will eat him. Together. Besides, I’m staying at the Trident Arms, and the hotel doesn’t allow its guests to cook. I’m staying for dinner.”
    “Dallas—”
    He reached across the small vessel and took her free hand in his. She immediately stiffened. “It’s all right, Cass. And admit it, you’d feel better if you didn’t go home alone tonight.”
    “I do admit it.” She was silent for a moment. “But not with you.”
    “I will just have dinner with you, and we can talk for a little while afterward. No business. We’ll just get to know each other a little better. And whenever you want me to leave, then I’ll leave.” He gazed into her green-green eyes. “I am a gentleman, Cass.”
    Although her body relaxed only slightly, she didsmile. “Now, gentlemanly behavior from you I have got to see.”
    Dallas leaned back in the seat and chuckled. “I may just make you eat your words. After all, I proved you wrong about the sunburn, didn’t I?”
    Cass was already unloading the basket at her home, when Dallas parked his car next to hers under the carport and got out.
    “This is beautiful, Cass,” he commented, gazing out at the waves lapping at the sunset beach.
    “I like it,” she said, while pulling out her beach bag.
    He came around the side of her vehicle. “Here. Let me help you get the rest out.”
    He moved closer to her as he reached into the back for the cooler. Cass immediately backed away.
    Surprised, he turned toward her. “Cass! I promised to be a gentleman, and I meant it.”
    “It isn’t that.” Giggling, she shook her head. “Dallas, I hate to be the one to break the bad news to you but … you stink.”
    “I—!” He realized she meant it literally. The residue from his dip in the water had long since permeated his senses. Now that he’d been reminded of it, though, he could notice the stench rising from his clothes.
    “Wonderful,” he muttered.
    Dramatically pinching her nostrils together with a forefinger and thumb, she said, “A skunk cabbage by any other name …”
    Without a word he piled the cooler and beach bag on top of the bushel basket, then hauled theprecarious bundle off the concrete and stalked toward the stairs. The crabs, startled by the sudden shift of their temporary home, scrabbled wildly against the wooden side. He held the basket away from him, not wanting to risk a second “love pinch” from Jaws or his companions. The Lord only knew what they might latch onto this time.
    Cass hurriedly caught up to him, although she was careful not to get too close. “I was only teasing, Dallas. The smell really isn’t that bad. Besides, I’ve been fishing for years out here, so I’m used to it.”
    “Sure,” he said, watching her hug the opposite banister as they climbed the stairs.
    “You can use my shower, if you’d like,” she volunteered.
    He stopped halfway up the flight of wide steps and turned to her. She stopped and looked quizzically at him. A fair measure of trust had gone into that offer, he acknowledged, even if