Tender Is The Storm by Johanna Lindsey

Author:Johanna Lindsey
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

SHARISSE woke with a start. As she sat up, one ofher petticoats fell away, the only covering shehad.

She had been draped in her petticoats. Sheblushed furiously, for Lucas must have done it. He had watched her while she was sleeping. How em-barrassing!

"Good morning, beautiful."

She gasped, and whirled around to face him,clutching the blanket to her. "Lucas?"

"You mean you're still not sure?" He chuckled.

"Well, don't call me that!" she snapped, irritablebecause of the fear that had washed over her.

"But you are beautiful."

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He came to her and knelt down beside her. Swiftlyhe stole a kiss. But just as her heart picked up its beat, he sat back, fingering a lock of her hair. He watched it float through his fingers until it fell backdown to her waist. His eyes met hers. She remem-bered all of last night with vivid clarity.

"Lucas?"

He shook his head, sensing her serious thoughts."I was damn curious about the length of your hair,"he said in an exasperatingly casual way. "Why doyou hide it in a bun?"

"I'm too old to wear my hair loose."

"Too old? What do you mean, too old?"

"It's not at all fashionable, Lucas."

"And you must stick to fashion, even out here?"

The teasing light in his eyes unnerved her. That,and feeling how naked she was behind the blanket.

"Lucas, this isn't an appropriate time to be dis-cussing my grooming habits. I would like to getdressed, if you wouldn't mind making yourself scarcefor a few minutes."

"Ah, that's another thing," he said, picking up hercorset from the pile of clothes. "Why do you wear this grim contraption? You don't need it."

"Lucas!" She grabbed it, thoroughly embarrassed."What I wear or don't wear is none of your concern."

"It is when you smother yourself beyond any goodsense. Western women—"

"I don't care to hear about Western women rightnow, Lucas. Please, just let me dress."

"All right, honey." He stood up, amused. "I wasjust thinking of your comfort."

Was he going to leave? The very idea of not wear-ing a corset! Whatever was the matter with him?

"There's water in the canteen and a towel in mybags if you want to wash up," he said. "I'll give youten minutes, so don't dawdle. It's going to take allday to get the mares to the ranch. Billy can handle iton his own, but he won't get started until we jointhem."

"Them" meant that Slade hadn't left. How could she face him after last night? Would he be able toguess what had happened?

A rush of heat spread up her neck, but fortunatelyLucas had sauntered off through the passage and around the bend, giving her the privacy she wanted.He hadn't mentioned last night, had even prevented her from mentioning it. Here was the most incredi-ble experience of her life, and he acted as if it hadn't even happened! Well, that wasn't really true. Wasn'this manner more intimate, possessive even?

And then she realized that his saying nothingmeant he didn't know she'd been a virgin. She hadworried for nothing.

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Her relief was tremendous, and not just because he was unaware of her deception.

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