Lovers Only. Christine Pacheco
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Название: Lovers Only
Автор: Christine Pacheco
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
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“No television, either. And the nights are long. Plenty of time to become reacquainted.”
The corners of his mouth began to crinkle. Oh, Lord, she prayed, don’t let him smile. Clay’s smile combined with an engaging attitude was powerful. Overwhelming. Irresistible.
“Do it, Catherine. Run away with me.”
“But my business...”
“Isn’t Melissa still your assistant?”
“Yes, but—”
“She’s capable of running the shop for a few weeks.”
She sighed and nodded, admitting defeat. There wasn’t much else to do when faced with the power of an oncoming locomotive.
“I’m leaving Jeremy in charge of Landon Construction.”
Catherine worried her lower lip. He hadn’t trusted his younger brother, Jeremy, to water their plants when they went on their honeymoon.
“That’s how important this is.”
The memory of their idyllic honeymoon just served as a needle in the expansive balloon of his idea. Their weeks in sensual solitude had been as close to perfect as possible.
Hawaii had been beautiful—paradise on earth. Her new husband lavished all the attention of a devoted spouse on her. She’d been spoiled, pampered and well loved.
She suspected the same would happen for the next few weeks.
But then reality would intrude as it always did.
When the plane had parked at the gate at Denver’s airport, her husband had been a changed man, consumed with thoughts of making Landon Construction a success in a recessionary market. No one thought he could do it. Except her.
And he’d succeeded.
Admirably.
At the cost of their marriage.
As much as she wanted to believe things could be different, experience told her otherwise. Still, in order to win the war—her freedom—she had to concede the battle.
“Yes, Clay. I’ll go with you.”
He leaned toward her, breath fanning her ear as he whispered, “You won’t be sorry.”
She sighed quietly. “I already am.”
Two
“We’re here.”
Dreamland didn’t want to let her go. And she didn’t want to leave it, either.
A gentle hand shook her shoulder.
She snuggled deeper into her pillow.
No, not her pillow.
Leather upholstery. Soft and supple. She frowned. Became aware of unnatural silence. And the scent of...
Mountain spice.
Clay.
Her eyes shot open.
It wasn’t a dream. Or a nightmare. It was reality. A four-week reality with her husband. Her heart picked up tempo.
Maybe it was a dream.
“Clay,” she said softly.
She expected uncertainty to cloak them. After all, things had been tense when they’d faced down their attorneys. Mr. Dobson had insisted Catherine had lost her mind and that Clay must have issued a threat of some kind. Indignant, Jack Simmons had slammed a fist on the table and issued a loud objection, suitable for the actual court case.
Clay had taken her by the wrist, pulled her from the office and shut the door on the argument.
As he’d pressed her against the wall near the elevator, she’d expected him to lean just a bit closer and seal their bargain with a kiss.
He hadn’t.
She’d felt strangely bereft.
In her apartment, alone with her doubts and fears, she’d reached for the phone half a dozen times, intent on telling him she’d changed her mind about their month in seclusion.
The call to Melissa hadn’t helped, either. Melissa had eventually agreed to run the shop, but not until she’d voiced her opinion that Catherine was insane.
Catherine had nodded in silent agreement.
Despite her misgivings and apprehensions, she’d been ready to leave at the agreed hour.
Clay hadn’t been there when the clock had struck the hour.
Catherine had spent ten minutes pacing in front of the fireplace...wondering if he’d changed his mind. Hoping he had.
Praying he hadn’t.
He hadn’t.
He’d given her a quick kiss on the cheek, setting her insides on slow, remembered burn, then grabbed her suitcase and headed for the car.
“Are you awake?” Clay asked. Then he shocked her. He smiled for the second time that day.
Her heart melted.
She hadn’t seen him smile this much in years. And it was a real smile. It reached his eyes, igniting them with fire. With desire?
The sun barely cast a glow through the tall pines, and she noted that the evening’s first stars had started to peek through the faded purple velvet backdrop.
She resisted the fanciful notion of wishing on one of the twinkling stars.
What would she wish for?
The impossibility of her and Clay falling in love again? The possibility that he’d give her the divorce she asked for?
Neither option sounded like what she truly wanted.
She yawned and stretched. Then she shifted uncomfortably. Clay’s miss-nothing gaze hadn’t left her face for a single second.
“Your palace awaits.”
Even she couldn’t help but smile at that imagery. The cabin was okay, as far as cabins went, but... She and Clay had visited once a long time ago. The lack of indoor plumbing hadn’t made her anxious to return. The wood-burning stove had seemed romantic at first, but when the fire died in the middle of the night and there was no furnace to take the chill from the air... Suddenly she wasn’t glad she’d accepted the invitation.
Clay opened the car door, and emerging night sounds spilled into the interior.
Her new apartment was close to downtown. The night sounds that surged through her open windows СКАЧАТЬ