The Rawhide Man by Diana Palmer

Author:Diana Palmer [Palmer, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781460375532
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 1984-09-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Getting up and pretending that everything was fine was the hardest thing Bess had ever done. She put on the soft beige jersey dress that she’d come from Georgia in, and rolled her hair into a French twist at her nape. She hardly bothered with makeup because no one would see her except Jude and she didn’t care how she looked anymore. She’d wanted him so much, loved him so much. She’d thought he cared a little…and it had all been sex.

She laughed at her own naiveté. And tonight she’d sleep in his arms and it would all happen again. But her response wouldn’t be as uninhibited, she promised herself. He wouldn’t wring that madness from her twice, not when she knew he was hating her for “tempting” him. She picked up her brush and almost flung it into the mirror in pure fury. If only she hadn’t been so stupid, so trusting. She straightened. For Katy’s sake, she was going to have to put on her brightest face and pretend everything was just fine.

She went to Katy’s room and knocked on the door. She peeked her head inside and smiled at the head under the covers.

“Hey,” she called softly. “Santa Claus has come by now, I imagine. Want to go downstairs and see?”

Katy was instantly awake and all eyes. “Oh, let’s!” she agreed, bounding out of bed to grab her quilted pink robe and slippers.

Bess put an arm around her as they went to the staircase, dreading the confrontation that would undoubtedly come with Jude.

The presents she’d put under the tree last night after she’d sent Katy upstairs were where she’d left them, but some more had been added. She frowned at the size of one of them, a big rectangular thing wrapped in brown paper with a frilly bow stuck to one corner. Perhaps Aggie had put it there.

“Shouldn’t we get Daddy?” Katy asked at the foot of the stairs.

“Yes, I suppose so,” Bess said halfheartedly. “Why don’t you go upstairs and knock on his door, darling?”

“No need,” Jude said from the hall. “I woke early.”

He had a coffee cup in one hand and he was wearing jeans and nothing else. His broad, hair-covered chest was bare and so were his feet, and he looked…odd.

Bess couldn’t meet his eyes. She went into the living room behind Katy, aware of Jude near her. It must be some sort of radar, she thought hysterically. She always knew where he was.

“I knew you’d come to watch me open my presents,” Katy said, laughing, dragging her father to the tree. “Here, this one is yours. I hope you like it!”

Jude sprawled on the carpet and opened the package, murmuring appropriately at the special cigarette case Katy had bought him with her own money. Bess knew it was something he’d never use, but Katy had insisted.

“Oh, Dad, thank you!” Katy was cooing, as she opened a present that contained an automatic camera with film and flashcubes. “You remembered!”

“It was hard to forget,”

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.