The Rancher Takes a Wife by Judith Bowen

Author:Judith Bowen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CILLA COULDN’T believe it! Jeremiah was kissing her. Kissing her behind a potted palm—literally. In an art gallery. And it was no friendly peck on the cheek.

It was a full-fledged, delicious, dynamic, exciting, knee-jelling, first kiss. But in public like this! What would people say? What would they think?

She began to protest slightly, then gave it up as Jeremiah deepened the kiss, running his tongue along her lips, turning her elbows to jelly as well as her knees.

“My goodness!” she gasped, finally managing to pull back, her chest heaving. She was very aware of her breasts pressed against his chest. “What in the name of heaven do you think you’re doing?”

He grinned. He still held one arm tight around her. He kissed the tip of her nose, then turned, as though he did this every day of the week, public or no public, and led her casually toward another of the sculptures. “You know what I was doing,” he answered. She didn’t like the gleam in his eyes. Amused. Triumphant. “Kissing you.”

“I realize that, but why?” Then she bit her lip. Suddenly, it dawned on her. “It was because of that—that woman, wasn’t it? You wanted to let her know you weren’t exactly pining away, didn’t you?”

“That woman?” He gave her a strange look. “Yes. That’s it. Partly. Now, tell me what’s going through your head when you see this piece, Miss Prescott.” He stood apart from her and crossed his arms over his chest, rocking back slightly, as though intent on the monstrous piece of welded-together garbage in front of them.

“My hair dryer,” she murmured, taking his elbow possessively and hoping the pretty woman in the blue dress was still watching them. “In fact, I’m wondering where my hair dryer is. The one I had in high school.”

He laughed and patted her hand. “You’re getting the hang of this stuff, Cilla.”

They stopped at the buffet table for another glass of champagne, and the woman in blue, with a man—presumably her husband—in tow, approached them before they could leave. Jeremiah seemed surprisingly relaxed and oblivious, but Cilla was aware of every move the woman made.

“Jem Blake!” the woman exclaimed. “I didn’t expect to see you here!”

Cilla took a gulp of her champagne and stood closer to Jeremiah, feeling a rush of emotion she could only interpret as protective. Protective? Of this man? All sinew and bone, sheer male perfection, more than six feet tall and 185 pounds in top physical condition? He hardly needed her to stand up for him.

“C.J.! How are you?” To Cilla’s shock, he stepped forward and kissed the woman’s cheek. “Your husband?”

He offered his hand with a smile, and the other man shook it briefly. “Neil McNab. Very pleased to meet you, Blake. I’ve heard a lot about you—”

“All bad, I’m sure,” Jeremiah returned smoothly with a grin. He turned to put his hand on Cilla’s shoulder. “This is Priscilla Prescott. My fiancée.”

Cilla nearly swallowed her tongue.

“Your fiancée! Well, that’s good news. I’d hoped you

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.