Read Online Stranger in the Moonlight by Jude Deveraux - Free Book Online Page B

how interested he was in her. He knew from experience that girls who looked at him as Kim did were an easy make.
    But then what would happen? he thought. Would she start talking of their wedding?
    The truth was that Travis didn’t think he’d mind that. So far, everything around Kim had felt like he was coming home. Her, her house, even what he’d seen of her friends, had been pleasant and welcoming.
    But what happened when she found out more about him, about his past, about who his father was? He’d see the stars fall out of her eyes—and he couldn’t bear that. No, it was better that he let her keep her ideas that he was noble, someone who had done only good deeds in his life. Better to never let her find out the truth.
    He’d finished eating by the time Kim returned wearing jeans and an old T-shirt. Unfortunately, Travis thought she looked even more desirable than before. It hit him that it had been a mistake to accept her invitation to stay at her house. He stood up.
    “Ready to go to bed?” she asked.
    Travis didn’t dare answer that question. He just nodded, but when Kim started toward the back door, he halted. He wasn’t going to be in the same room with her and a bed. “Why don’t you give me the key and point me in the right direction?”
    “But I need to show you where things are.”
    “I’m sure I can find everything.” He smiled at her in a way that said he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
    Kim handed him her key ring.
    There was an awkward moment at the back door when they parted. Kim bent forward, as though she meant to kiss him on the cheek, but he pulled back. For a moment she thought he was going to shake her hand, but then he gave her a brotherly pat on the shoulder and left the house.
    As Kim put away the leftovers, she couldn’t help grimacing. She was the one who’d said they were friends, so she had no right to complain when Travis stuck to that.
    The next morning she awoke to the smell of cooking, and her only thought was Travis! She rapidly dressed and put on a bit too much eye makeup, but then her brows and lashes had always been too pale. She cursed herself for not having them dyed before the wedding. But then, she had an idea that Travis liked women who could pull off the no-makeup look. It took three shades of brown to achieve that look.
    She had on nice black slacks and a crisp linen shirt when she went into the kitchen. Pausing in the doorway, she saw Travis with his back to her as he cooked something on her new Wolf range. He had on jeans and a denim shirt. She wasn’t sure, but he looked to have a truly magnificent body under his clothes.
    “Good morning,” she said.
    Travis turned, skillet in hand, and smiled at her. She so badly wanted to put her arms around him. For a moment he seemed amenable to that idea, but then he broke eye contact.
    “It’s my turn to feed you,” he said and nodded toward the island that had one place setting.
    “You aren’t eating?”
    “I got up a couple of hours ago and ate then. I hope you don’t mind that I did laps in your pool.”
    Kim was very, very sorry that she’d missed seeing him in swim trunks. “I’m glad someone is using the pool. That was my only hesitation about buying this house. I liked the layout and I loved the three-car garage for my work, but I don’t know how to take care of a swimming pool.”
    He slid an omelet onto her plate. “I thought maybe that was the case, so I did a little cleaning for you and checked the pH. There were some chemicals in a closet, so I used some of them. I hope I wasn’t being presumptuous.”
    “Presume all you want,” Kim said as she looked at her plate. There was an omelet with peppers and onions in it and two pieces of whole wheat toast. “I’ll put on weight eating like this,” she said, then waited for him to say something nice.
    But there was no way Travis was going to comment on the state of Kim’s body. She looked great! She’d grown taller than he’d expected; she