Tempting Janey. Mary Baxter Lynn
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Название: Tempting Janey
Автор: Mary Baxter Lynn
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Зарубежные любовные романы
isbn: 9781472046598
isbn:
“What can I get for you today?” Janey asked pointedly.
Though her tone irritated him, he kept his cool. “I’d like something new and different for Allie. She’s not feeling so hot.”
A slight frown marred Janey’s forehead. “I’m sorry.”
Is that the best you can do? Dillon wanted to ask. Especially when it comes to someone you used to consider a friend? But he didn’t. He kept his mouth shut.
“I think we can help you with that,” Janey responded in an even tone, though she refused to meet his eye.
That riled him even more. “Whatever you suggest will be fine with me.”
Once the purchase was made, Dillon knew he should have turned and walked out, but he didn’t. Instead he said, “How ’bout going for a cup of coffee?”
Janey looked startled. “With you?”
He cocked his head and gave her a sardonic smile. “Yeah, with me.”
She flushed, then looked quickly over at Hazel, who said, “It’s fine with me, honey. I’ll watch the store. You take all the time you want.”
No doubt Janey was at a loss. The warring expressions on her face told him that. But he wasn’t about to back down now. He’d already opened his mouth and inserted his foot. He would have to take whatever came next, then choke on it, if need be.
“I won’t be gone long,” Janey said to Hazel, her tone tense, as if she were barely hanging on to her temper.
Thank goodness they didn’t have to go far, Dillon thought. There was a place that sold doughnuts and coffee a couple of streets over. During the drive there, neither said a word. Had he lost his mind or what?
It was the “or what” that worried him the most.
Once they were inside and the coffee was served, Dillon’s lips stretched into a smile.
“What’s so damn funny?” Janey snapped.
“Your expression,” he responded. “You’re pissed.”
“I wouldn’t have used that word, but it works.”
Dillon let out a deep sigh. “This is ridiculous, you know.”
“What?”
“Don’t put on the innocent act with me. You know what. Us scratching at each other like two cats tied in a sack.”
“I hardly think that’s the case.”
An eyebrow shot up. “I disagree.”
“What do you want from me, Dillon?”
“I wish the hell I knew,” he muttered harshly. Once he’d said that, he realized he was telling the truth.
Neither had touched the coffee that was sitting in front of them. Dillon did pick his up, only to set it right back down.
“What I wish is that you’d take me back to the store.”
That really made him mad. He leaned forward and said, “Not until I say one thing.”
“All right, say it.”
His lips twisted. “Don’t you think it’s time you got over the fact that your husband had an affair with my wife?”
Seven
Janey’s first impulse was to slap his face. It was close enough that with little effort she could do just that. Instead, she curled her fingernails into her palms until she felt the self-inflicted pain.
“That was a hateful thing to say,” she spat.
As if sensing he was in harm’s way, Dillon eased back, his dark T-shirt tightening across his broad muscles.
“It’s the truth.”
“It is not the truth,” Janey stressed tersely, fighting her anger. “And I don’t give a damn how you feel.” She would hate to make a spectacle of herself. But if he didn’t stop taking unfair shots at her, she just might give him a taste of her fury.
Dillon leaned forward again and said in a low tone, “Hey, take it easy. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Janey glared at him, feeling an ache in her throat. “Well, you did.”
“It’s just that every time I come near you, I feel like I’m getting jabbed with a knife. And I don’t deserve that.”
Janey averted her gaze from his delving blue eyes, sensing that his appraisal of her was deliberate. Was he out to intimidate her, or was he simply testing her?
Either way, she hardened her resolve, determined to regroup while trying to figure out how she’d gotten herself into this situation in the first place. She should have known better than to leave the shop with him, that it would do no good.
In her mind, Dillon’s friendship and trust had died along with her marriage. Maybe that was irrational thinking, but that was how she felt. And so far he’d given her no valid reason to resurrect that friendship. Suddenly her thoughts jumped to her daughter, and she flinched inwardly.
He ran Robin’s school. She couldn’t avoid him indefinitely. Even if that was what she wanted, it wasn’t realistic. So where did that leave them? She didn’t know, and she didn’t think he knew, either.
“Janey?”
His gruff-sounding voice drew her back. For a second, their eyes held, and her breathing increased.
His dark lashes hid his thoughts, but she couldn’t suppress the shiver of apprehension that went through her. And annoyance, too, that he had the power to disturb her with those intense looks. Not sexually, she assured herself, but she couldn’t deny that she was seeing Dillon in a new and different light.
Dillon coughed lightly. “Your coffee’s getting cold.”
“I don’t care.”
“Fine,” he said, reaching for his cup and taking a healthy drink from it, though he never took his eyes off her face.
Janey felt herself flush. But she didn’t turn away. She wasn’t about to let him get the better of her. Maybe it would be a good thing if they did, indeed, clear the air between them. Then she could go on with her life and he could go on with his. And when she saw him again, it wouldn’t be such an awkward event.
“You have to know how difficult this is for me,” Janey finally said into what seemed a hostile silence.
Dillon blew out a breath. СКАЧАТЬ