He looked like he was trying to suppress the smile pulling at his lips. She almost wished he would laugh at her. Not really at me, she thought. But she did love the sound of his laugh. It was so distinct that when he was in the bar and the place was packed, she knew the sound. It was like music … but music she wanted to listen to from across the room, or think about when she was alone in her bed at night.

  “You’re the boss,” he said, holding out his hand to her. Did he expect her to take it? “Let’s get a drink while we wait.” Damn! She didn’t want to take his hand … or did she? She definitely wanted to touch him. It was another one of those things she liked to think about when she was alone. She tried not to think about it when he was around though. Her face was too expressive; she was scared to death she would give herself away.

  He didn’t wait for her to take his hand. He took hers, and before she could even think about protesting, he began leading her toward the bar. His hands were big and rough; she could feel the power in him just by the way he was holding onto her. Her chest hurt and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. By the time they reached the hand-built bar in the back of the barn she was almost ready to pass out from lack of oxygen. Jesus, she was a mess.

  “What do you want to drink, beautiful Annalisa?”

  Her mouth was dry and there was seriously so little oxygen in her lungs she hated to waste it on speech. Hoping her voice didn’t crack or tremble, she mumbled, “Ginger ale?” as a question.

  He smiled again and told the bartender, “Give me whatever is in that keg and a ginger ale for the lady.”

  He was still clutching her hand, and she could feel her palm getting all sweaty and slick. Damn, she wished that she was normal. A normal woman would be eating up all of this attention from Luke McMurtry. Not Annalisa. She felt like she would throw up. She tried to calm herself by looking around the room. Grace was on the dance floor with her father, and she was glaring at Annalisa. What the hell? Grace was drop-dead gorgeous. She could snap her fingers and have any man in this barn kneeling at her feet. Surely she wasn’t jealous of Annalisa, the librarian. Besides, Luke said it was Grace’s idea not to dance with him.

  “Here you go, darlin’.” He let go of her hand so she could take her drink. As uncomfortable as she had been holding it, she missed it immediately. “Let’s go sit down until a song comes on you like.”

  “It doesn’t matter which song,” she forced herself to say. She just wanted to get this over with. “We can dance right now.”

  “Oh no you don’t, this song is almost over. You promised me a whole song.” He put his hand on the small of her back, and she felt the heat of it through her dress. He propelled her past the other guests milling about and back to his table—the bridal party table!

  “Um, I don’t remember that promise.”

  He shrugged. “A guy assumes when a lady promises him a dance that she means a whole song. Sit down, sweetheart, and finish your drink.”

  “Isn’t this Grace’s seat?”

  “She won’t care.”

  She begged to differ, but she didn’t want to tell him that. She sat down and searched the dance floor. If she thought the bridesmaid was glaring at her before, she was shooting fire out of her eyes now. Annalisa wasn’t sure that she’d make it through much more of this without getting sick.

  “So, Annalisa, what have you been doing with yourself?”

  Was he kidding? Anyone in this little town knew that what she did with herself was go to work at the library and go home, unless her mother needed her help at the bar. She had been working on a special project at the library, but she was sure he wouldn’t be interested in that.

  “Um, not much. How about you?” She was a little proud of herself for asking him. Social skills didn’t come easily to her because she was usually trying her best to get out of a conversation rather than start one.

  “Not much,” he said. “Mostly just work. Do you like to ride?”

  “Um … yeah, I don’t have a horse so I don’t get the chance often.” That was an understatement. She was just a couple of years out of high school the last time she rode. She’d gone riding with her mom and one of her mom’s friends. It was fun, but not something she’d given much thought to since.

  “Maybe you and I could go riding sometime?”

  Suddenly riding sounded like the most exciting activity in the world. Of course she didn’t voice that thought. She just forced a little smile and nodded her head in what she hoped was a non-committal way.

  The song ended and Grace was on her way to their table. Kadence and Reed were still on the dance floor in each other’s arms as if they were dancing to their own music. Annalisa thought it was beautiful the way they looked at each other. She and Kadence had absolutely nothing in common, but the other woman had gone out of her way since moving back to town to become friends with her. She even apologized for being mean in high school and then asked her to be her maid of honor. In Annalisa’s world everyone had been mean in high school. She didn’t specifically remember anything Kadence had done. She accepted her apology and appreciated her kindness. She didn’t accept the maid of honor position simply for the reason Lena told Luke earlier; she couldn’t stand being the center of attention. Grace, on the other hand, ate it up and had since elementary school.

  “Maybe we should dance now,” Annalisa said, wanting out of the other woman’s seat before she got back. She had a flashback to high school and Grace and Kadence and the other cool girls at the cool table in the cafeteria. Annalisa had avoided that table like the plague.

  Before he could respond, Grace was standing at the table looking down at them. “Hi, Annalisa.”

  She pushed her glasses up on her face as she looked up. It was a nervous habit that she barely noticed. “Hi, Grace.”

  “Pretty dress.”

  “Thanks. You too.” She felt Luke reach over and take her hand again under the table. She still had no idea what he was doing but it made her feel safe at the same time. She caught her hand clutching his back.

  “I don’t want to sound like a bitch, honey, but you’re in my seat.”

  “Oh! I’m sorry!” She tried to stand up, but Luke’s hand held her in place. Damn, he was strong.

  He turned his green eyes up at Grace. “There are eight empty seats, Grace, so you do sound like a bitch. Pick another one. Annalisa and I are talking.”

  Annalisa couldn’t believe he was telling Grace off for her. Maybe he was trying to use her to make the other woman jealous. That didn’t really make sense though because there would be no reason at all for Grace Bonner to be jealous of her. “Maybe I’ll just go find a hot cowboy to dance with,” she proclaimed. Maybe they were playing a game with each other and using her as a pawn. She felt sick again.

  “Sure. Whatever,” he mumbled, sounding like he genuinely did not care. “How’s the ginger ale, Annalisa?” He didn’t even look back up.

  Annalisa watched Grace storm off, and then she looked at Luke. “It’s good. I think Grace is mad.”

  “She’ll get over it,” he said, curling his lip. “And if she doesn’t, I could care less. What’s your favorite song?”

  “Oh, I don’t really have one.”

  He leaned in close. She could feel his warm breath on her face. She was having trouble breathing again. “Everyone has a favorite song. It can be an old one from when we were in school or something new you can’t stop listening to. Your choice in music says a lot about you. I want to know you, Annalisa. What’s your favorite song?”

  She chanted in her head, he’s playing you. He’s manipulating you. He doesn’t want to know you. She opened her mouth and before she could stop herself, she said, “Hearts on Fire.”

  A slow smile spread across his face as she felt hers go hot again. The song really was her favorite, but she hadn’t meant to let that out. It was a country song about the first time a woman makes love to the man she’s been in love with her entire life.

  Luke whispered, “I like that one too. Do me a favor and save my seat. I’ll be right back.”

  He let go of her hand and she watched him head for the men’s room. Butterflies the size of dinosaurs invaded her stomach. Her fight-or-flight instinct kicked in and she thought about running. She looked over at the door. It was about fifteen feet from her. There was no one there who would give her a second glance. She could be home in her pajamas and sipping her hot chocolate before he even came back from the men’s room. The music stopped and she stood up. She was about to make her break for it when two things happened: “Hearts on Fire” began playing, and Luke’s hand was on her arm.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Ditching me?” Luke walked back up to the table just as Annalisa stood up and looked at the door. She looked like a caged lion that really didn’t want to hurt anyone but just wanted the hell out.

  “No, I was just thinking about getting some air,” she lied. She was a terrible liar. It was written all over her face and he could hear it in her voice. Being a bad liar was definitely not a bad quality; it meant she probably didn’t do it often.

  “It is hot in here,” he said, going along with the lie. “Dance with me first and then I’ll walk you out for a breather.” He knew that she wanted to go home and get away from him and all of these people. He wondered why it was so important to him that she didn’t leave. The fantasies that had been good enough all these years suddenly no longer were. He wanted the real thing and he wasn’t going to let her get away that easily.

  She took his hand, albeit reluctantly, and followed him out to the dance floor. As he had promised, he took her to the middle where they were surrounded by other dancers and wouldn’t be the center of anyone’s attention. He put one hand on her waist, held her hand with his other one, and pulled her close as they began swaying to the music. She was stiff and obviously uncomfortable. He wanted to feel her body relax against him, so he put his mouth next to her ear and started singing along with the song. It was the sappiest thing he’d ever done, but he could actually feel her loosening up and melting into him. He could also feel something else, and he hoped she didn’t feel it against her hip. He didn’t want to scare her anymore than she already was.

  “You have a nice voice,” she whispered softly. He smiled into the side of her face. That compliment was probably hard as hell for her. It wasn’t that she was ever mean. She was always nice … when she spoke.

  She felt so good in his arms. In his naughty librarian fantasies she’d always felt great, but damn that fantasy was going to be good the next time now that he had something real to draw on. It would be even better if she’d give him a little more than a dance.

  The song was winding down, and he was really hoping the DJ would go right into another one. Unfortunately, what he heard instead of music was his mother’s voice announcing that it was time for cake. He reluctantly took a step back from Annalisa but didn’t let her go completely. She looked up at him, her face flushed, not like it got when she was embarrassed, more like turned on. He felt a twitch in his pants at the thought of what that pretty face would look like completely satisfied.

  “Ready to get some air?” he asked.

  “Your brother and Kadence are cutting the cake.”

  He used the hold he had on her arm and pulled her back into his chest. Putting his lips right back next to her ear, he said, “Cake is not the sweet I’m craving right now.” He heard her breath catch and smiled to himself. Taking a step back again he linked his fingers into hers and led her around the crowd gathering to watch the cake cutting and out the back door. The early summer night air was only slightly cool, but it was an amazing contrast to the heat of the barn. She was looking up at the sky; he wondered if that was just to keep from looking at him.

  “The sky is the thing I love most about Texas,” she said in a quiet voice. Hands still linked, they started walking. He looked up too. He’d lived in Texas his whole life and loved it, but he would have to admit that he’d never paid a hell of a lot of attention to the sky.

  “Describe it to me.”

  “What?” She looked at him with a confused look on her face.

  He stopped walking and let go of her hand. Putting his hands on her hips and drawing her in close, he said, “I like hearing you talk. Describe it to me and make me love it as much as you do.” He was killing himself with the sappy words, but strangely enough they didn’t feel fake at all. He really did love to hear her talk, and he really did want to hear her talk about the stars. It was just so not like him.

  She looked embarrassed again and he was sure she was going to refuse. Instead she sucked in a shaky breath, pulled back from him slightly, and looked up at the sky. “I love that matte-charcoal color and the way it’s covered in thousands of stars like someone just stood back from the wet canvas and tossed handfuls of glitter at it.” He gently slid her around so her back was to him, then he pulled her back so her head was against his shoulder and his hands were on her stomach. He wanted to kiss her so badly but he was making himself tread lightly.

  “Go on,” he whispered. Her eyes were closed. Did she want him to kiss her?

  Another shaky breath and she said, “I love the way you can see star after star. The sky isn’t like that in the city. Here it’s just a never-ending dark blanket with tiny lights. I’ve always wanted to learn to read them the way that sailors did in the olden days or astronomers do now. It fascinates me that the light we see in the Texas sky has traveled billions and billions of miles to get here and there are billions more stars out there that we can’t see with our naked eyes.” She opened her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  He pulled her back tighter. “For what?”

  “Going on like that.”

  “I enjoyed it. I really do love listening to you talk. You should do it more often.” She let out a little laugh. It dawned on him that he didn’t remember ever hearing her laugh before. He suddenly flipped her around so that she was facing him again. She looked terrified as if she were going to run. He’d seen that look in the eyes of countless deer that lined the sides of the road at night or the jackrabbits he startled when he was riding his horse. She wanted to bolt. Simple curiosity and his hands were all that held her in place.

  If someone had told him that morning that he’d be craving Annalisa Jamison like a heroin addict craved a fix, he would have told them they were insane. Sure, he’d gotten off many times thinking about her, but he’d never once actually considered going through with it, until tonight. He didn’t want her to leave, and he wanted to kiss her more than taking his next breath of air.

  “Annalisa.”

  “Yes?” Her voice was a husky whisper.

  “I’m going to kiss you, okay?” He didn’t usually ask permission. It was normally obvious when a woman wanted it. With Annalisa it was just so hard to tell.

  “Why?”

  He couldn’t help it; he laughed. That was not the response he was expecting or hoping for, but it was definitely Annalisa. “Because you’re beautiful and sexy and I’ve fantasized about doing this for a really long time.” He lowered his face and covered her mouth with his before she had a chance to respond. She was stiff again but he kissed her slowly, licking her lips softly and giving her time to acclimate to it.

  It didn’t take her long. Her sweet lips parted and he slid his tongue into her warm mouth. He was surprised when she brought her own up right away and they began an erotic dance. He moved one of his hands up and cupped her face. Her skin and the long hair that brushed against the back of his hand felt like silk. He pulled her hips against his with his other hand, and she moaned into his mouth when she felt how obviously he wanted her. She reached up and pulled off her glasses, making him smile. He’d never seen her without those glasses.

  He was amazed at the way his body was responding to her. He had been with countless women; he couldn’t remember them all if he tried. But in that moment he knew that if his contact with Annalisa ended with this one kiss, he would never forget it, or her. He wanted her more than he could remember wanting any woman, ever.

  When he absolutely had to take a breath, he pulled back only far enough that they could both suck in the cool night air. Her brown eyes were wide and looking directly into his. He liked that, and he liked the way they sparkled without the glass covering them and was entranced with the strange blue ring around the irises. For years she’d spoken to him with her eyes on the floor as if she didn’t believe she was good enough or pretty enough to look him in the eye.

  His whole life he’d been with women who worshipped him for his looks. He suddenly knew why he’d been so miserable lately. He was finally grown up enough that he didn’t want that, or need that any longer. What he really wanted was a woman he could worship. He wanted a woman he could make feel things as deeply as what he saw in Stephanie and Kadence’s eyes when they looked at his brothers. He wanted what he saw in Annalisa’s eyes right now. He wanted her.

  “Luke,” she breathed out, “what are you doing to me?” She put the glasses back on her face.

  He smiled. “I should be asking you that question.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t do this.”

  “What’s that, Annalisa? You don’t take walks under the stars and share kisses with men you’ve known nearly your entire life. I might add that those kisses were knock-your-socks-off, the best I’ve ever had.”

  She pulled back, and he missed her body against his immediately. “That … that’s what I mean. I’ve known you my whole life and you’ve never once given me any indication that you were attracted to me. All of a sudden tonight, you’re all over me. I don’t do one-night stands, Luke. I don’t want to be your hook-up.”

  That was more words than he’d ever heard her string together since second grade. He smiled and reached for her face. She started to pull back, but when the palm of his hand touched her, she laid her face into it.

  “I don’t want you to be my hook-up, Annalisa.”

  “You don’t?”

  “No. I started fantasizing about you my junior year in high school. I went to the library one day to check out a book for literature—”

 

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