Read Online The Cowboy and the Lady by Diana Palmer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Diana Palmer
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to her lips as well, hoping that might make the bruised swelling go down. Bruised. Her eyes closed, her heart turned over, in memory. Her mind went back to the day Jace had approached her with his earth-shattering proposition.
It had been a day much like this one, sunny and warm, and Amanda had been alone when she’d heard a car drive up in front of the house. She’d gone onto the porch as Jace took the steps three at a time. He was dressed in denims, and had obviously been out working with his hands on the ranch. He’d stopped just in front of her, oddly irritated, sweeping the black Stetson off his dark head. His silver eyes had glittered down at her out of a deeply tanned face.
“You look like death on a holiday,” he commented gruffly, tracing the unusually thin lines of her slender body with eyes that lingered. “How’s it going?”
She’d drawn herself erect, too proud to let him see what a burden it all was—her father’s death, Bea’s careless spending, the loss of their assets, the disgrace—and met his eyes bravely.
“We’re coping,” she’d said. She even forced a cool smile for him.
But Jace, being Jace, hadn’t bought it. Those narrow, piercing eyes had seen through her pose easily. He was a businessman, accustomed to coping with minds shrewder and more calculating than Amanda’s, and with the knowledge of long acquaintance, he could read her as easily as a newspaper.
“I hear you’ve had to put the house itself on the market,” he said frankly. “At the rate your mother’s going, before long you’ll be selling the clothes off your back to support her.”
Her lower lip had threatened to give her away even more, but she’d caught it in her teeth just in time. “I’ll manage.”
“You don’t have to manage, Amanda,” he said curtly. There was a curious hesitation in him, a stillness that should have warned her. But it hadn’t. “I can make it right for you. Pay the bills, keep the ranch going. I can even support that scatterbrained parent of yours, though the thought disgusts me.”
She’d eyed him warily. “In exchange for what, exactly?” she’d asked.
“Come and live with me,” he said.
The words had hit her like ice water. Unexpected, faintly embarrassing, their impact had left her white. She was afraid of Jason; terrified of him on any physical level. Perhaps if he’d been gentler that night when he’d surprised her by showing up for her birthday party…but he hadn’t, and the thought of what he was asking turned her blood cold. She hadn’t even bothered to explain. She’d turned around before he had time to react, rushed into the house, slammed and locked the door behind her, all without a word. And the memory of that day had been between them ever since, like a thorny fence neither cared to climb.
* * *
It was a blessing that Jace thought her instinctive response to him was an act. If he’d known the truth, that she quite simply couldn’t resist him in any way, it would have been unbearable for her. Jace would love having a weapon like that to use on her. And if he knew what she really felt…it didn’t bear consideration.
Love. There was no way that she could deny the feeling. What a tragedy that all her defenses had finally deserted her, and bound her over to the enemy. This gossamer, sweet kind of sensation made her want to laugh and sing and cry all at once, to run to Jace with her arms outstretched and offer him anything, everything, to share her life with him, to give him sons…
Tears misted her eyes. Tess would give him those. Perfect sons with perfect minds, always neat, very orderly, made to stand around like little statues. Tess would see to that, and Jace was too busy to bother. He wanted heirs, not love. It wasn’t a word he knew.
Why did it have to be Jace? she asked in anguish. Why not Terry, or Duncan, or the half dozen other men she’d dated over the years? Why did it have to be the one man in the world she couldn’t have. Her
It had been a day much like this one, sunny and warm, and Amanda had been alone when she’d heard a car drive up in front of the house. She’d gone onto the porch as Jace took the steps three at a time. He was dressed in denims, and had obviously been out working with his hands on the ranch. He’d stopped just in front of her, oddly irritated, sweeping the black Stetson off his dark head. His silver eyes had glittered down at her out of a deeply tanned face.
“You look like death on a holiday,” he commented gruffly, tracing the unusually thin lines of her slender body with eyes that lingered. “How’s it going?”
She’d drawn herself erect, too proud to let him see what a burden it all was—her father’s death, Bea’s careless spending, the loss of their assets, the disgrace—and met his eyes bravely.
“We’re coping,” she’d said. She even forced a cool smile for him.
But Jace, being Jace, hadn’t bought it. Those narrow, piercing eyes had seen through her pose easily. He was a businessman, accustomed to coping with minds shrewder and more calculating than Amanda’s, and with the knowledge of long acquaintance, he could read her as easily as a newspaper.
“I hear you’ve had to put the house itself on the market,” he said frankly. “At the rate your mother’s going, before long you’ll be selling the clothes off your back to support her.”
Her lower lip had threatened to give her away even more, but she’d caught it in her teeth just in time. “I’ll manage.”
“You don’t have to manage, Amanda,” he said curtly. There was a curious hesitation in him, a stillness that should have warned her. But it hadn’t. “I can make it right for you. Pay the bills, keep the ranch going. I can even support that scatterbrained parent of yours, though the thought disgusts me.”
She’d eyed him warily. “In exchange for what, exactly?” she’d asked.
“Come and live with me,” he said.
The words had hit her like ice water. Unexpected, faintly embarrassing, their impact had left her white. She was afraid of Jason; terrified of him on any physical level. Perhaps if he’d been gentler that night when he’d surprised her by showing up for her birthday party…but he hadn’t, and the thought of what he was asking turned her blood cold. She hadn’t even bothered to explain. She’d turned around before he had time to react, rushed into the house, slammed and locked the door behind her, all without a word. And the memory of that day had been between them ever since, like a thorny fence neither cared to climb.
* * *
It was a blessing that Jace thought her instinctive response to him was an act. If he’d known the truth, that she quite simply couldn’t resist him in any way, it would have been unbearable for her. Jace would love having a weapon like that to use on her. And if he knew what she really felt…it didn’t bear consideration.
Love. There was no way that she could deny the feeling. What a tragedy that all her defenses had finally deserted her, and bound her over to the enemy. This gossamer, sweet kind of sensation made her want to laugh and sing and cry all at once, to run to Jace with her arms outstretched and offer him anything, everything, to share her life with him, to give him sons…
Tears misted her eyes. Tess would give him those. Perfect sons with perfect minds, always neat, very orderly, made to stand around like little statues. Tess would see to that, and Jace was too busy to bother. He wanted heirs, not love. It wasn’t a word he knew.
Why did it have to be Jace? she asked in anguish. Why not Terry, or Duncan, or the half dozen other men she’d dated over the years? Why did it have to be the one man in the world she couldn’t have. Her
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