Country Bride. Debbie Macomber

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СКАЧАТЬ pried her hands away. His fingers tenderly caressed her face. “Everything has changed, hasn’t it, Princess?”

      She sucked in a shaky breath and nodded.

      “You’re confused, aren’t you?” His hands cradled her face and he eased forward to press his warm mouth over hers. Even as she kissed him back, her confusion grew. He’d been so angry with her, more furious than she’d ever seen him. Yet, when he kissed her, he was achingly gentle.

      Luke seemed to believe that her ready response to his kiss would answer the questions that haunted her. Instead it raised more questions, more qualms.

      “Do you understand now?” he asked, his voice a husky murmur, his eyes closed.

      How Kate wished she did. She shook her head, bewildered and still uncertain.

      Luke stroked her lips with his index finger. His most innocent touches brought her nerves to life with a prickling, wary excitement. Refusing to think about her own impulse, she held his hand to her mouth and brushed her lips across his callused fingertips.

      “Oh, love,” he moaned, and bent forward, caressing her mouth with his once more. “We’ve got to put an end to this madness before I go insane.”

      “How?” she gasped, as she braced her hands against his broad chest. He felt so good, hard muscle and warm flesh, and so strong, as if nothing could stand in his way once he determined a course. Not heaven. Not hell. And not anything in between.

      “How?” He repeated her question, then chuckled, the sound rumbling from deep within his chest. “We’ll have to do what you suggested.”

      “What I suggested?”

      His mouth continued to tease hers with a series of small, nibbling kisses that seemed to pluck at her soul. “There’s only one way to cure what’s between us, Kate.”

      “One way,” she echoed weakly.

      “You’ll have to marry me. There’s no help for it and, considering how I feel right now, the sooner the better.”

      Kate felt as if he’d dumped a bucket of ice water over her head. “Marry you,” she shrieked, pushing him away so quickly that he nearly toppled backward. “Your answer to all this confusion is for us to get married?”

      “Kate, don’t be unreasonable. We’re perfect for each other. You need me now more than at any time in your life and I’m here for you.”

      “Luke, please—”

      “No.” He stopped her with a look. “You’re about to lose everything in life that you thought was secure—your father and your home. I don’t have any intention of taking over Devin’s role, but the way I figure it, I’d make you a decent husband.”

      “What about love?” Kate cried.

      Luke sighed in frustration. “We’ve gone over that ten times. You already love me—”

      “Like a brother.”

      “Princess, sisters don’t kiss their brothers the way you just kissed me.”

      He apparently believed that was argument enough. Not knowing how else to respond, she shook her head. “I love Clay! You keep ignoring that or insisting I don’t—but I do. I have for as long as I can remember. I can’t marry you. I won’t!”

      “For heaven’s sake, forget Clay.”

      “It’s not so easy!” she shouted.

      “It would be if you’d try a little harder,” Luke muttered, obviously losing patience. “I’m asking you to marry me, Kate Logan, and a smart woman like you should know a good offer when she hears one.”

      So much for love. So much for romance. Luke wasn’t even listening to her, and Kate doubted he’d understood a single thing she’d said. “This conversation isn’t getting us anywhere.”

      “Kate—”

      “I think you should leave.”

      “Kate,” he said, firmly gripping her shoulders, “how long is it going to take you to realize that I love you and you love me?”

      “Love you? How can you say that? Until a few weeks ago I was engaged to marry Clay Franklin!” Angrily she pushed away his hands and sprang to her feet.

      “Yes. And all that time you were going to marry the wrong man.”

      Luke didn’t seem to find that statement the least bit odd, as if women regularly chose to marry one man when they were really in love with another. Kate shook her head, releasing a harsh breath.

      “It’s the truth,” he said calmly.

      She glared at him. Reasoning with Luke was a waste of time. He repeated the same nonsensical statements over and over, as if his few words were explanation enough.

      “I’m going to bed,” she said, turning abruptly away from him. “You can do as you like.”

      A moment of stunned silence followed her words before he chuckled softly, seductively. “I’m sure you don’t mean that the way it sounds.”

      * * *

      As Kate expected, the small community buzzed with the news of her fiasco with Eric Wilson. Neighbor delighted in telling neighbor how Luke Rivers had swooped her into his arms and how the entire Friday-night crowd at the Red Bull had cheered as he’d carried her off the dance floor.

      Kate needed every ounce of courage she possessed just to walk down Main Street. Her smile felt stiff and false and she was convinced she had the beginnings of an ulcer.

      To worsen matters, all the townsfolk seemed to believe it was their place to offer her free advice.

      “You stick with Luke Rivers. He’s a far better man than that city slicker,” the butcher told her Saturday afternoon.

      Blushing heatedly, she ordered a pork roast and left as soon as she’d paid.

      “I understand you and Luke Rivers caused quite a ruckus the other night at the steak house,” the church secretary said Sunday morning after the service. “I heard about the romantic way Luke carried you outside.”

      Kate hadn’t found being carried off the least bit romantic but she smiled kindly, made no comment and returned home without a word.

      “What’s this I hear about you and Luke Rivers?” The moment Kate entered her classroom Monday morning, Sally Daley appeared.

      “Whatever you heard, I’m sure it was vastly exaggerated,” Kate said hurriedly.

      “That could be,” Sally admitted with a delicate laugh. “You certainly know how to keep this town talking. First Clay’s wedding reception, and now this. By the way, Clay and Rorie are back from Hawaii, and I heard they both have marvelous tans.”

      “That often happens in Hawaii,” Kate said, sarcastically, barely holding on to her composure.

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