Diana Palmer [Long Tall Texan Donavan [SR 843, MD 1020] (v5.0

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.Anyone can see that.”Abby smiled contentedly.“Of course he is.But it wasn’t always that way.”“Donavan already said that he doesn’t want commitment.I’m not going to get my hopes up.But an evening out with him… Well, it’s going to be like brushing heaven, you know?”“I do, indeed.” Abby smiled, remembering her first date with Calhoun.She glanced back at Fay, her eyes wistful.She only hoped their newest employee wasn’t going to be badly hurt.Everyone locally knew that J.D.Langley wasn’t a marrying man.But Abby would have bet her prize bull that Fay was as innocent as Abby herself had once been.If she was, she had a lot of heartache in store.When J.D.found out, and he would, he’d drop Fay like a hot rock.Innocents were not his style.Fay went through the motions of working like a zombie for the next week, with a dull and tedious weekend in between that did little for her nerves.Donavan didn’t come by the feedlot at all, and when she left the office the next Friday afternoon, she still hadn’t heard from him.For all she knew, he might have forgotten all about her.The phone was ringing even as she got in the door, and she grabbed up the receiver as if it were a life preserver.“Hello?” she said breathlessly.“I’ll be by in an hour.You hadn’t forgotten?” Donavan drawled.“How could I?” she asked, adding mischievously, “I love Chinese food.”He chuckled.“That puts me in my place, I guess.See you.”He hung up and Fay ran to dress.The only thing in her closet that would suit a fairly casual evening out was a pale green silk suit and she hated wearing it.It screamed big money, something sure to set Donavan’s teeth on edge.But other than designer jeans and a silk blouse, or evening gowns, it was all she had.The cotton pantsuit she’d worn to work today was just too wrinkled and stained to wear out tonight.It wouldn’t have been suitable anyway.She teamed the silk suit with a nice cotton blouse and sat down to wait, after renewing her makeup.She only hoped that he wasn’t going to take one look at her and run.If he didn’t throw her over entirely, she was going to have to invest in some medium-priced clothing!Chapter 4Just as Fay had feared, Donavan’s first glimpse of her silk suit brought a scowl to his face.“It’s old,” she said inadequately, and looked miserable.She locked her fingers together and stared at him with sadness all over her face.He shoved his hands into the pockets of his gray slacks.He was wearing a white cotton shirt and a blue blazer with them, a black Stetson cocked over one eye and matching boots on his feet.He looked nice, but hardly elegant or wealthy.Her silk suit seemed to point out all the differences between the lifestyle she was used to, and his own.“You look very nice,” he said quietly.“And very expensive,” she added on a curt laugh.“I’m sorry.”“Why?”“I didn’t want you to think I wore this on purpose,” she said, faltering.He lifted an eyebrow and smiled mockingly.“I’m taking you out for a Chinese dinner.A proposal of marriage doesn’t come with the egg roll.”She blushed furiously.“I know that.”“Then why bother about appearances?” He shrugged.“A date is one thing.A serious relationship is something else.” His silver eyes narrowed.“Let’s settle that at the outset.I have nothing serious or permanent in mind.Even if we wind up as the hottest couple in town between the sheets, there still won’t be anything offered in the way of commitment.”“I knew that already,” she said, steeling herself not to react to the provocative statement.“Good.” He glanced around the apartment, frowning slightly.“This is pretty spartan, isn’t it?” he asked, suddenly realizing how frugally she seemed to be living.“It’s all I could afford on my salary,” she told him.She wrapped her arms across her breasts and smiled.“I don’t mind it.It’s just a place to sleep.”“Henry doesn’t help you financially?” he persisted.“He can’t,” she explained.“He’s got his own financial woes.I’ll be fine when he turns over my affairs to Mr.Holman and I can get to my trust.”Donavan didn’t say a word, but suddenly he was beginning to see things she apparently didn’t.If Henry was having money problems, surely his control of Fay’s estate would give him the means of solving them, even if he had to pay her back later.The fact that he was suffering a reversal didn’t bode well for Fay, but she seemed oblivious.Perhaps like most rich women she didn’t know or care much about handling money.He was aware that he’d been silent a long time.He took his hands out of his pockets and caught her slender fingers in his.They were cold, like ice.“We’d better go,” he said, drawing her along with him.Fay had never realized how exciting it could be to hold hands with a man.He linked her fingers into his as they walked, and she felt the sensuous contraction all the way to her toes.It was like walking on a cloud, she thought.She could almost float.Donavan was feeling something similar and fighting it tooth and nail.He hadn’t really wanted this date at all, but something stronger than his will had forced him into it.Fay was a delicious little morsel, full of contradictions.He’d always liked puzzles.She was one he really wanted to solve, even if his inclination was to get her into the nearest bed with all possible haste.She had to be experienced.He’d never denied that.He wondered if pampered rich boys were as anemic in bed as they seemed when he saw them at board meetings.His contempt for the upper classes was, he knew, a result of his father’s ruthless greed.He could still barely believe the whole episode, his father running pell-mell after a woman half his age when his wife of twenty years was just barely in her grave.It had disgusted and shocked him, and led to a confrontation of stellar proportions.He hadn’t spoken to his father afterward, and his presence at his father’s funeral two years later was only a nod to convention.It wasn’t until much later that he’d learned why Rand Langley had been so ruthless.It had been to save the family ranch, which had been Langley land for three generations.Not that it excused what he’d done, but it did at least explain it.Rand had wanted Donavan to inherit the ranch.Marrying money had been the only way he could keep it.“You’re very quiet,” Fay remarked on the way to Houston.“Are you sorry you asked me out?”He glanced at her.“No.I was remembering.”“Yes?”He was smoking one of the small cigars he favored, his gray eyes thoughtful as they lingered on the long road ahead.“My father disgraced himself to marry money, to keep the ranch for me and my children, if I ever have any.Ironic, that I’ve never married and never want to, because of him.”She folded her hands primly in her lap.It flattered her that he was willing to tell her something so personal.“If you don’t have children, what will happen to your ranch?” she asked.“I’ve got a ten-year-old nephew,” he said.“My sister’s boy.His father’s been dead for years [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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