Page 28 of One Texas Night...
“Before you know it, I’ll be gone out of your life.”
“The more you tell me things like that, the more I want to get past the wall you’re throwing up between us. I know the warm, passionate woman behind the barrier.”
“Jared, that’s exactly what I’m struggling to avoid.”
“Sit while I get us some light snacks and pour drinks. What will you have?”
She sat at the bar. “I’d prefer a margarita.”
He became busy behind the bar and in minutes placed a bowl of roasted almonds in front of her, along with another bowl of green olives and a platter of chips and fresh salsa.
“I’ll take this to the table,” she said as he put them on a green tray. She set them on a nearby table, and he joined her to hand her a margarita with a salty rim and a lime slice.
Pulling his chair away from the table, he sat facing her, his long legs stretched out alongside her chair. He held up his glass. “Here’s to a successful sale.”
“To a very successful sale,” she said, raising her glass to touch his lightly. He watched her intently as he sipped.
“To the most beautiful antiques dealer in the U.S.A.”
She smiled and raised her glass again. “Whoever she is.”
“You know exactly.”
“Thank you, but you exaggerate. Besides, you can’t have seen them all. You don’t know who’s out there.”
“No, but I know who’s here beside me,” he said, leaning forward so he was close to her. His gaze roamed over her features, and she could barely get her breath.
“Don’t make me regret coming out here,” she whispered, thinking she should move, talk, do something or in seconds they would kiss.
“I miss the flirty college girl I knew six years ago.”
“She’s gone forever, Jared,” she replied. “You can’t get back time. It marches forward. In a blink of an eye, I’ll be home and this job will be finished.” She sat back and crossed her legs. “I made arrangements with Sloan that he’ll bring his children over to stay the night with me when I get back. They are really adorable. I suppose that’s one reason I’ve starting thinking about marriage so much,” she said, changing their topic of conversation. She hoped to cool Jared’s flirting and attention, and homed in on the best way she could think to do so. “They’re such fun, even the baby, who is twelve months and not walking yet but crawling everywhere.”
Jared sipped his drink and looked mildly amused, as if he had figured out her purpose in talking about her nieces and nephew.
“Don’t you love little kids, Jared?”
“I’m not around them. But I’ve looked at pictures of Sloan’s kids, and they’re cute.”
“Sloan is the happiest he has ever been. That’s another reason marriage appeals to me. I used to think my brother would never get married. Now that he did, he is so in love and so happy with his family.”
“It’s a trade-off. He gives up certain things and gains certain things.”
“True, but what he gained is for a lifetime and too good to measure. What he gave up is fleeting and easily forgotten.”
Jared nodded. “Well, the real trick is to find that absolutely one right person. But you’re still tied down in a lot of ways.”
“Tied down to love,” she said, exasperated with his view of life and his determination to give up love and family for a few thrills and big risks. He sipped his cold beer and gazed beyond her, and her exasperation grew with his attitude.
There was only one way she could think of to prove her point to him.
Clamping her jaw closed, she got up swiftly and stepped over him so she sat astride him. At the same time she yanked off her shirt, pulling it over her head and dropping it. At once, his eyes widened and he looked startled.
Leaning forward, she kissed him on the mouth—a deep, passionate kiss.
His brief shock vanished as he embraced her and kissed her in return. She ran her fingers through his thick hair and along his nape while she leaned away to slip her other hand beneath his shirt and caress his chest.
He was warm, rock hard with muscles.
