Comanche Heart by Catherine Anderson

Author:Catherine Anderson [Anderson, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin USA, Inc.
Published: 2011-10-20T08:12:18+00:00

Chapter 13

EN ROUTE BACK TO TOWN, SWIFT HAD ONE thought. Amy had lied to him about hating their kiss, flat-out lied. He circled that realization, trying to come to grips with it and understand it. She had never been one to lie, not about something important. Little things, maybe, in the heat of anger or when she felt threatened. But never about something like this.

He didn’t know how to confront her or if he even wanted to. She looked so damned scared, a trembling, heart-slamming scared. He wasn’t certain why. All along he’d been convinced it was the thought of sex that terrified her. Now he realized though her fears might center around that, they went far deeper, encompassing other issues as well, issues he hadn’t considered and that he might not even be capable of comprehending.

As they neared her house, she turned on him. “I suppose you’re going to be the typical, arrogant male and insist I liked what you did back there.”

Off balance, he stared down at her, not sure what to say. “You’ve never lied to me about anything important, Amy. If I had to choose the one thing in this world I knew I could count on, it’d be your word.”

She stiffened and averted her face as if he’d struck her. Swift knew by her reaction that he’d pricked her conscience. Closing her eyes, she breathed raggedly through her nose, her small nostrils flaring. He glanced down and saw that her hands were clenched into fists. After a moment she cried, “You think you’re so smart. You’ll appeal to my honor and make me admit I liked it, right? Think again. I’ll never admit it, never.”

“Amy, I’m not trying to—”

“Don’t lie.” She riveted anguished eyes on him. “You think you’ve won with one little kiss. We’re back to the betrothal. You’ll insist I marry you. I know you—don’t think I don’t.”

Swift clenched his teeth.

“You see? You can’t deny it, can you? You men are all the same. You want control, and one way or another, you get it. You knew what would happen. And you tricked me, saying you’d release me from the promise, knowing I’d go for the bait. You knew you’d win before you ever posed the challenge.”

Swift didn’t point out that she had just as much as admitted that she had enjoyed the kiss. “Amy, that’s insane. Why would I trick you?”

“Why?” She leaned toward him and jabbed a finger at his chest. “Understand something. This is one woman who will never kiss your boots. Never!”

Swift swallowed. “My boots? Amy, when have I ever—”

“I’ve done all the groveling I’m going to do. No one’s ever going to have that kind of power over me again. No one!”

With that, she whirled and ran across the yard, tripped on an exposed tree root, stumbled up the steps, and wrestled with the door, as if she thought he rode her heels. He watched her, afraid to press her when she was so upset. “Good night, Mr. Lopez, and good riddance,” she snapped over her shoulder.

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