The Family Way by Jayne Ann Krentz

Author:Jayne Ann Krentz
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Contemporary Romance
ISBN: 9780786247639
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Published: 2003-04-15T21:27:20.639000+00:00

SEVEN

McCord lounged in the gray leather chair near the bedroom window, waiting for Pru to emerge from the bathroom. He sat in shadow, naked except for his jeans, which he’d left unsnapped. The only light in the gray-and-salmon room was the crack of yellow that seeped out from under the bathroom door.

The house was quiet now, but it seemed to him that underlying tension still thickened the air. It was as if the place had absorbed the emotions of its occupants while they were awake and was now releasing the essence of their uncertainties, hostility and stubborn pride back into the atmosphere around them.

There should be something more mixed in with the other volatile, aggressive emotions, McCord thought He should be able to detect some remnant of Pru’s glowing pride in him. She had certainly made it plain enough to his relatives and Devin Blanchard. Perhaps, if he concentrated, he could also detect a trace of her fierce refusal to believe he had done anything all that terrible three years ago.

Of course, he reminded himself, she didn’t k now the whole story of what had happened three years ago. McCord stared musingly out over the darkened sea and wondered if her staunch defense of him would survive if she knew all the facts.

The door behind him opened at that moment, and McCord felt another kind of tension in the atmosphere.

He didn’t turn his head, but he could almost read her mind. She was nervous again tonight about the prospect of sleeping with him.

The knowledge angered him because he wasn’t quite sure how to counter her high-strung emotions.

„I warned you it wouldn’t be a pleasant visit. If you hadn’t decided to ignore my plans to stay for only an hour or two, we could have been long gone by now.“ He felt compelled to point that out and then instantly wished he hadn’t sounded so aggressive. He could feel her stop halfway across the room.

„Your mother would have been crushed.“

„She would have survived. She’s survived the past three years, hasn’t she? Besides, she set us up, tried to force us to stay by telling us about her plans for the evening.“

„She was desperate,“ Pru said gently.

„You know how I feel about being manipulated.“

„I know.“ There was a pause and then Pru went on in a cool, polite tone, „Thank you for not making a scene and insisting we leave when I told her we’d stay. I appreciate the fact that you didn’t override my decision.“

He got up out of the chair in a swift, tense movement, his anger growing. When he swung around to confront her, he found her standing several feet away. Her pale yellow nightgown flowed around her, making her look like a ghost in the shadows. She watched him with wary eyes.

„I decided you might as well learn your lesson the hard way,“ McCord said roughly. „Maybe after tonight you won’t be so eager to restore the bonds of family harmony. What did Carrie say to you out there on the deck?“

She lifted one hand and let it drop back to her side.

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