The Last Real Cowboy. DONNA ALWARD

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СКАЧАТЬ stomach seemed to drop to her feet as the words slid from her lips. She couldn’t take them back and they echoed through the kitchen. He had just confirmed her opinion. Everything Amy had said about him really was true. He was caught up in himself and no one else, wasn’t he? She really should learn to shut her mouth. More than anything else, the need to smooth the waters rather than make waves was the one thing she’d never quite eradicated from her own life.

      Her head said to placate him because his funds were crucial to the project. But her pride—and her heart—wanted to tell him exactly what she thought. What sort of example would she set if she allowed him to threaten her job, the very existence of the project? The whole purpose of the shelter was to help women stand on their own two feet, to be strong. How could she allow herself to be weak? She certainly couldn’t give in to the urge to back down every time she faced a challenge.

      While she was contemplating her response, Morris chose that moment to strut through the kitchen. Lord of the house, master and protector, the orange-and-cream-colored cat stopped and regarded Sam with a judgmental eye.

      “The infamous Morris?” Sam asked.

      “I should have called him Houdini,” Angela responded.

      “He’s quite the escape artist.” It was unusual for Morris to come out when strangers were around, and she watched as he made his way over to Sam. Maybe she’d judged Sam too harshly before. You could tell a lot about a man by watching him with animals.

      Morris went directly to Sam, surprising her, and he sniffed at Sam’s jeans suspiciously. Sam looked at Angela helplessly, shrugging his shoulders. Angela saw the fur on Morris’s back stand up and his tail stiffen. She took a step forward, opening her mouth to warn Sam. But she was too late. Sam shouted and looked down at his leg, rubbing the denim just above the top of his boot.

      Morris scooted away, but Angela knew exactly what had happened and wanted to sink through the floor. She hadn’t thought this meeting could get any worse, but Morris had taken matters into his own … teeth.

      “Your cat bit me!”

      Heat rushed to her face as his words moved her to action. She scrambled after Morris and picked him up. Cursed animal, he snuggled into her arms sweet as honey. “He has a thing about strangers. Particularly men.” She rushed to the half bath and locked Morris inside. “I think he was abused as a kitten,” she continued, wondering if there was anything more she could do to make Sam Diamond more aggravated. “The vet said his tail was broken in three places, that’s why it’s crooked. But he really isn’t a bad cat, he just has a protective streak. He …”

      Her voice trailed off. Sam was staring at her as though she was crazy. “I’ll shut up now,” she murmured.

      “Really,” Sam said drily, as if she’d stated the impossible.

      Morris meowed in protest, the howl only barely muffled through the door.

      “You’re a real bleeding heart, aren’t you, Ms. Beck?” He glowered at her. “Maybe I need to come up with a better sob story, eh? Maybe that’ll get you off my back.”

      That did it. “Since when did helping others become a flaw, Diamond?” She took a step forward, feeling her temper get the better of her. “Maybe if you took your head out of your charmed, privileged life for two seconds you’d see someone other than yourself. And as far as Morris goes, maybe I am a bleeding heart because I can’t stand to see another creature abused. And if he’s a little leery of men, he has good reason. I consider him a fine judge of character!”

      Sam’s dark eyes flared. “A fine judge of …” He made a sound like air whistling out of a tube. Morris howled again. “You know nothing about me. Nothing.”

      “I know you’re a big bully who thinks I’ll dance to his tune because I need his money. But I won’t pander to you like Charles Spring and the others on the board. You can threaten, you can take funding away. Go for it. Because I would rather that than me betray all Butterfly House stands for by letting myself be pushed around by the likes of you.” She finished the speech out of breath.

      “Without the funding, this place never opens.”

      “Don’t be so sure.” Several times today she’d allowed Sam Diamond to mess with her confidence. But she was done with that. She’d faced worse than Sam Diamond over the years and come through with flying colors. Besides, she had an ace in the hole. She knew Molly Diamond was dedicated to this project. Molly believed in it and in her.

      “You think I haven’t faced adversity before?” She pressed her hand to her collarbone, felt her heart pounding against her fingertips. “I’m stronger and more resourceful than you think. So go for it. Pull the funding.”

      She wasn’t sure what made her dare him to do such a thing when they clearly pushed each other’s buttons so completely and quickly. That had only happened to her once before when she’d been seventeen and so very vulnerable. She’d fallen for Steven in record time and found herself smack in the middle of a volatile relationship. Her mother had taken one look at Angela’s face and said quietly, “Passion burns as hot as anger, dear.” But that wasn’t the kind of passion Angela ever wanted, and her parents certainly hadn’t set a shining example for her to follow.

      It took everything she had to stand toe-to-toe with Sam Diamond now without cowering. And yet, as she looked into his handsome face, she somehow knew that she wasn’t being entirely fair. She was making connections, assumptions without basis. All through her career she’d worked very hard to be objective. She’d had to be.

      So Sam Diamond shouldn’t be any different. But he was. And she admitted to herself that he had been from the moment he’d sauntered over and spoken to her in his slow, sexy voice at the benefit. Nerve endings had shimmered just at his nearness. He posed a different threat than physical fear. And that threat came from inside herself and her own weaknesses.

      He hooked his thumbs into his pockets. “I’m not going to pull the funding. The Diamond family made a commitment, and we honor our commitments despite what some may think.”

      The tension in the room seemed to settle slightly, no longer at a fever pitch amplified by sharp words.

      “I appreciate that.”

      He took a step closer and her heart started a different sort of thrumming. Earlier she’d taken great care to make sure she didn’t touch him as they passed in the crowded hallway. She stood her ground. She didn’t want him to know she was afraid. Goodness, she was a strong, capable, resourceful woman. It was ridiculous that one person could make her forget all of that just by breathing. She tried to remember what it was that Amy had said. That Sam Diamond took what he wanted until he was done and then he tossed it away like yesterday’s garbage. Amy’s words were completely opposite from Sam’s pledge, so which should she believe?

      “You’re tired,” he noted, and to her shock he lifted his hand and ran his thumb along the top of her cheekbone. She knew there were dark circles beneath her eyes. Makeup had concealed it for most of the day, but it was growing late and as the makeup faded, her fatigue came to the surface.

      But more than that—he was touching her. She flinched slightly at the presumptuous yet gentle touch, but he didn’t seem to notice. His thumb was large, strong and just a little rough. She was tempted to lean in to the strength of his hand for just a minute, but she held her face perfectly still instead as her insides quivered with a blend of attraction and fear. “I’ve been putting СКАЧАТЬ