Read Online The Golden Valkyrie by Iris Johansen - Free Book Online

her hand with his and said gently, “They didn’t mean anything to me. How could I be expected to remember them, Honey? What I feel for you is entirely different.”
    She lowered her eyes to their joined hands, her lashes hiding the sudden jolt of pain at his callous remark. “I’d be something of a fool to believe that, wouldn’t I?” she asked huskily. “Next month you’ll probably be saying that to some other woman.”
    There was a flicker of anger in the blue eyes looking into hers. “I don’t lie, Honey,” he said curtly. “I don’t know why or just how the way I feel for you is different as yet. I’m still a little confused on that score, but I do know that I’ve never felt anything quite like this before. When I lifted that tablecloth and found you curled up like a luscious kitten, staring up at me with those big violet eyes, it was as if someone had hit me in the stomach.”
    “Chemistry,” Honey said firmly, still not looking at him. “What else could it be?”
    “How the hell do I know?” he asked moodily. “If it was chemistry, why did it feel so right to have you with us tonight? It was as if you’d always been there across from me and always would be.”
    Her eyes flew up, and for a moment she forgot to breathe as she met the hot intensity of his. So she hadn’t been the only one to feel that strange sense of belonging.
    “Would you like me to go make another phone call?” Ben Raschid asked politely. Neither of them had seen him approach, but he was suddenly standing at their side, with an expression of amused resignation on his face and a distinctly sardonic smile on his lips.
    Honey could feel the color rush to her face, and she tried to withdraw her hand from Lance’s. “No, of course not,” she said a little hurriedly. “We were beginning to be a little concerned for you. You’ve been gone a long time.”
    Lance firmly foiled her attempts at removing her hand from his by possessively tightening his clasp. “Yes, we’ve missed you,” he said absently, not taking his eyes from Honey’s face. “Why don’t you leave, so that we can miss you again?”
    “Lance!” Honey exclaimed, shocked at his rudeness.
    Ben Raschid only chuckled, his dark eyes twinkling as he shook his head reprovingly at Rubinoff before dropping into the chair opposite them. “Presently,” he drawled. “At the moment I have the urge to sample the delights of this unique establishment Honey has seen fit to bring us to. On my trip from the foyer to the table, I was accosted by three women, two of whom offered to buy me a drink. The third wanted me to dance. Are most Houston women this aggressive, Honey?”
    “Only at meat markets,” Rubinoff answered for her, reluctantly looking away from Honey to glance at Alex with a wry smile. “I don’t think he needs a definition of the term after his recent experience, Honey. I’m surprised you didn’t accept one of the invitations, Alex. Didn’t any of them look good to you?”
    “There was a rather ravishing little redhead,” Ben Raschid said. “But I decided to look the field over before deciding.”
    “A redhead.” Lance shook his head ruefully. “I should have known. Why bother to even browse, Alex? You know that you’ll choose the redhead anyway.” He turned to Honey and explained. “Alex has had a passion for redheads since we were boys.”
    “It won’t hurt to make her wait a bit,” Alex said lazily, and he imperiously signaled a passing waiter. “She was a little overeager. What will you have to drink?”
    Honey had finally managed to wrest her hand from Lance’s grasp, and she unobtrusively scooted her chair a few inches away from his. She was finding that hard muscular thigh so close to her own very distracting. “Just ginger ale for me,” she answered.
    While Ben Raschid gave the orders to the waiter, Lance lifted a brow inquiringly. “Don’t you ever drink anything stronger?”
    She shook her head with a wry grimace. “Not since