His Little Girl's Laughter by Karen Rose Smith

Author:Karen Rose Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2001-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Whenever Shannon was around Rafe, tumultuous feelings seemed to sweep her away. Because of that, her defenses crumbled. Now she realized how perceptive he had to be in his job. He’d probably honed his intuition as finely as she’d honed hers and could see deeper than a surface excuse. She’d never discussed her broken engagement with anyone, not even Aunt Cora.

But in the face of Rafe’s question, she thought it was important to confide in him. Why? So he’d understand what she was all about? Did she want him to know her as no other man ever had?

Looking directly into Rafe’s green eyes, she took a deep breath, then plunged in. “Allen changed once we were engaged. My radar’s usually pretty good with men, but for whatever reason, I misread Allen. Once he slipped that ring on my finger, he wanted to make all my decisions for me. Suddenly the wedding was about everything he wanted, even the dress. He insisted on going along to look at them, and he kept picking out these…these tulle and lace and taffeta creations that belong on a debutante. After that, it was all downhill.”

Although Rafe’s expression didn’t change, his eyes seemed to become a deeper green and much too knowing. Now she did look away, studying the wallpaper pattern straight ahead of her. “I wanted the ceremony in the little church we went to last Sunday. He wanted it in a huge one in Sacramento. I wanted a simple reception here at the Rocky R. He wanted to rent a ballroom. And it wasn’t even about our differences. It was about him taking complete control and expecting me to follow. He didn’t hear me when I tried to talk to him about it. Just brushed away my concerns with an I-know-best attitude.”

“Why didn’t you break off the engagement?”

Rafe’s voice brought her gaze to him again, and her heart thudded harder. “I think I would have eventually. But the idea of a family and having children was so very important to me. Still, I was spending a lot of time here, choosing horses, building up my clientele. Pulling away from him was my way of ending it, I guess.”

When Rafe shifted toward her and their knees grazed each other’s, she felt naked and vulnerable. She’d fought against feeling vulnerable ever since she’d been a child. With Rafe…feeling vulnerable was terrifying yet in some ways seemed right, too. His hand came up, and she knew he was going to touch her. She wanted him to touch her.

He pushed some curls behind her ear, then ran his fingers through them. “You’re an independent woman, Shannon. I like that. I like your spirit and your strength.”

His fingers in her hair were immobilizing her. She might not want any man to control her, but at this moment Rafe had complete control. And she didn’t care.

A wry smile slid across Rafe’s lips. “I can’t seem to stay away from you.”

“I can’t stay away from you.” Her voice was a whisper.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.