Millionaire Magnates: Taming the Texas Tycoon. Brenda Jackson

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СКАЧАТЬ found his shirt and put it on. He wasn’t about to embarrass Kate by answering the door half-dressed. She was fumbling with her clothes and he wanted—no needed—to get her back into his arms.

      “What do you need, Stan?”

      “Sorry, sir, but there is a Mr. Martin from the arson investigation here to see you. He’s not on the list for the building so we couldn’t let him in, and you weren’t answering your phone, but you were still in the building according to your logs—”

      “Not a problem, Stan. Tell Mr. Martin to have a seat and I’ll be down to get him in a few minutes.”

      “Yes, sir.”

      He closed the door on Stan and turned back to find Kate completely dressed. Her arms were wrapped around her waist and she watched him with those wide eyes of hers. Only right now they seemed wounded and scared.

      “Can we postpone our dinner?”

      “Yes,” she said. “I need to clean up in the washroom and then—”

      He stopped her with a finger over her lips. “Why don’t you go home, honey? I’ll stop by when this is over.”

      She shook her head. “I think I need to be alone tonight.”

      “Why?”

      “Because I need to reflect on this. That sounds silly, doesn’t it?”

      “Not really.”

      “Good. Because I want to make sense of this. Changing my image is one thing, but changing my core values… that’s something different.”

      “Making love with the man you are dating isn’t a change in your values.”

      “Yes, it is, Lance. I wouldn’t be in this situation with any other man.”

      “Why not?”

      “Because you’re the one I love,” she said, and turned on her heel to walk away.

      “Wait a minute, Kate.”

      She stopped, but didn’t turn back. He wanted to say the hell with Martin and just keep her here until they finished this discussion.

      But the refinery was his top priority right now. He was torn. For the first time since he’d taken over Brody Oil and Gas, a woman was coming between him and his responsibilities.

      “Not now, Lance.”

      “You love me?”

      “Yes,” she said. “And I have to decide if I still want to have an affair with my boss. Because when Stan knocked on that door, all the love I felt for you was embarrassing and I don’t want that.”

      “You shouldn’t be embarrassed. Stan doesn’t know you were in here or what we were doing,” Lance said.

      “But I do. And I’m the one who will bare the shame of it. I don’t want to feel ashamed of anything between us. I hadn’t before but then all of a sudden…”

      Lance understood. He realized that he needed to make this relationship between them more permanent. But he couldn’t until he broke things off with Lexi. He’d hoped to do that face to face, but a phone call might have to do it.

      He pulled her back into his arms and refused to let her go. “Kate, I’m not hiding you or ashamed of you.”

      “I know that, Lance. But I have been hiding. I know half the office has always guessed that I was in love with you and now… well, now it seems like you just noticed me since I’m… sexy.”

      He was proud of her for thinking she was sexy. It was a complete turn around for her.

      “Well, you are sexy. But that’s not what this is about. Listen, I have to wrap things up with Lexi. Then you and I can—”

      “What do you mean you have to wrap things up with her?” Kate asked.

      “I haven’t had a chance to talk to her yet. It’s not a big deal.”

      “Are you still engaged?” Kate asked.

      “Not to my way of thinking,” Lance said.

      Kate pulled away and put her hands on her hips. “To anyone’s way of thinking… are you engaged?”

      Lance looked down at her. This night was certainly not going his way. But he hadn’t lied to Kate from the beginning and he wasn’t about to start now.

      “Yes, I am still engaged.”

      Her lip quivered and her face lost all color. “I can’t believe this. I’m an idiot.”

      She turned on her heel and he stopped her once again. “You aren’t. I meant everything I said to you.”

      “Really? Because the only way for that to be true is for me to be your mistress. Is that what you had in mind for us?”

      “No,” he said.

      Lance’s phone started ringing and he knew he had to answer it. Damn it. “This is not over, Kate.”

      “Yes, Lance, it is.”

       Nine

      Kate looked down at the speedometer and realized she was driving way too fast. Anger had gotten the better of her, and she could still feel the flush of shame on her cheeks. She forced herself to slow down.

      A part of her sort of understood where Lance was coming from. She got that he might be waiting to talk to Lexi in person to break their engagement. And if he felt for her even a tenth of what she did for him, then the emotions and the attraction would have been hard to resist, engaged or not.

      But the main thing that was bothering her was her own reactions. She’d forgotten who she was. Her new clothes and hair and make-up had made her feel like she was a different person.

      And it was only as she’d been standing in the corner of Lance’s office, trying to quickly get back into her clothes, that she’d realized she was making a mistake.

      Love shouldn’t feel like this, she thought as she turned into the garage of her town house. She parked her car and went inside.

      Love should be something to be celebrated and shared. And for so long she was used to her love for Lance being her dirty little secret. It hadn’t occurred to her that she’d allowed that to become the rule for their relationship. She’d been used to hiding it and had allowed herself to be hidden.

      The last week had been wonderful but she realized tonight that she wanted more.

      She looked at the bracelet he’d given her. She knew that he didn’t think less of her than he did before. But she had no idea what he really wanted from her. Did he just want to continue their affair until it ran its course?

      And СКАЧАТЬ