Read Online The Magic of You by Johanna Lindsey - Free Book Online Page B

side, and a little fist was close to her mouth. The few tufts of hair she had were a light blond. It would be interesting to know whether her eyes were going to end up brown or green, but for the time being they were baby blue.
    Warren came quietly to stand beside Amy and gaze down at the baby. This having him all to herself—Jack wasn’t paying attention—was getting to her. Considering the size of their respective families and that Warren wasn’t going to be in England for very long, she was aware that this would likely be the only time she would ever be this alone with him. That sure knowledge added a kind of desperation to her feelings that she wasn’t sure how to handle.
    When she glanced to the side and saw again that tender look he reserved for so few people, she asked him, “You like children?”
    “I love them,” he said without looking at her, and probably without intending to, because he added, “They don’t disappoint you or break your heart—until they grow up.”
    She didn’t know if he was referring to his sister or to the woman he had once loved, or to both, so she said nothing and just enjoyed standing there with him. He and Drew looked so much alike, despite the eight years’ difference in their ages, but their personalities were exact opposites. One of Amy’s goals was to chip away at the cold shell encasing Warren’s heart, to see if there wasn’t a bit of Drew’s winsome charm buried inside. In doing so, she hoped to find the tender man, too, the one who cared so deeply for his only sister, and was even now falling in love with Georgina’s child.
    But she knew things about him, knew he’d been hurt. He’d had his heart trampled on. It had turned him cold, and cynical, and distrustful. How she was going to fix all that,she didn’t know, but she was going to make him want to give love another chance.
    Suddenly she heard herself say in the softest whisper, “I want you. Warren Anderson.”
    She’d definitely got his attention, and before she literally died of embarrassment—Amy was bold, but not usually this bold—she amended, “Let me clarify that. First I want to marry you; then I’d like whatever comes after.”
    He said nothing at first. She’d really shocked him this time. But then his cynicism came back in full force.
    “Too bad,” he said. “The first idea was interesting, the second not at all. I have no desire to marry, ever.”
    “I know.” She sighed. Directness certainly wasn’t working today. “But I hope to change your mind.”
    “Do you indeed? And how do you intend to do that, little girl?”
    “By getting you to stop seeing me as a little girl . I’m not, you know. I’m old enough to marry and start a family of my own.”
    “And how old is that?”
    “Eighteen.” It was only a little white lie, since her birthday was less than two weeks away.
    “My, such a veritable old age,” he said with scathing derision. “But when you are older, you’ll learn that ladies who are so bold don’t get treated like ladies for very long. Or is that what you were hoping for? You’re not my typeat all, but I’ve been at sea for a month, so I’m not too particular right now. Take me to your bed.”
    He was trying to shock her back. Fortunately, she knew that, so she wasn’t offended, shocked, or even intimidated by the subject. And as long as they were on the subject…
    “I will, just as soon as we’re engaged.”
    “The proverbial tease.” He snorted, implying he should have known, then sneered, “They teach you girls early in this country, don’t they?”
    “That wasn’t teasing,” Amy answered softly. “That was a promise.”
    “Then let’s have a sample of what you’re promising.”
    His hand slipped around her neck to draw her forward. He didn’t hold her in any other way. He didn’t have to. She wanted his kiss a hell of a lot more than he wanted to teach her a lesson—and she was sure that was what he was attempting to do—so her arms