Amelia by Diana Palmer Read Free Book Online Page B

don't like her," King replied bluntly, one corner of his wide mouth curling up with contempt as he stared at her and Ted on the dance floor. "She won't last long out here."
    Enid started to speak, her angry eyes eloquent, but King forestalled her.
    "Shall we dance?" King asked Darcy, and, nodding to his mother and Darcy's, he escorted her inside to the living room with the other dancers.
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    Amelia found Ted to be as undemanding and kind as she'd first thought. He had a bright personality, uncomplicated. As they danced, they talked of the East, because he was a frequent traveler there on business for his father's banking firm.
    "I know Atlanta very well," he told her. "It is going to be a major city one day, you know. It has the potential for greatness."
    "I find it maddening to live in," Amelia replied. "I enjoy the spaciousness of this vast land, although El Paso is no small town either! One can become lost there in no time!"
    "I don't doubt it. Miss Howard, may I call on you?"
    "I am staying with the Culhanes at present," she said reluctantly, "and my father is away on a hunting trip. I do not feel comfortable asking you to call on me there. It would be best if you wait until my father returns. We live in El Paso, in a boardinghouse."
    "I see." He glanced toward King and Darcy. King was glaring at them openly.
    "Mr. Culhane doesn't like me," Amelia said abruptly. "My father has decided that I would make a good match for King's brother, Alan. King does not share this sentiment. He feels that I am unsuitable."
    "Does he really?" Ted, who had known King for many years, had never seen him hostile toward a woman—especially a beautiful woman like this. It was unexpected, to say the least.
    "I should not have spoken so openly," Amelia said quickly, shocked at her own forwardness. She flushed. "Please forgive me. It has been a trying week."
    "There is nothing to forgive," he chided gently. "You dance divinely, Miss Howard."
    "Thank you. I haven't danced in many years, and only then with my brother. The band is very good, is it not?"
    "It is, indeed. The man playing the violin is my brother, and the flute-player is my sister's husband."
    "I am impressed!" she said. "Are you musical, Mr. Simpson?"
    "No, sadly. Are you?"
    "I play the piano, a little," she confessed. "It is my only real accomplishment." She wisely kept the rest of them secret. This man knew King. She didn't want her enemy to know that she was anything but his image of her—dull and not very bright and totally spineless. The last thing in the world she coveted was King's interest. Let Darcy have him, she thought in panic, feeling his eyes on her even across the room. Why was he always watching her?
    "I cannot believe that such a lovely woman has only one accomplishment." Ted chuckled. "I must get to know you, Miss Howard, and see what others you possess."
    "If my father agrees, I should enjoy receiving you," she said demurely.
    His hand around her waist contracted and pulled her almost imperceptibly closer. "No more than I shall, Miss Howard," he replied. He smiled down at her, and across the room, a tall, silver-eyed man had to fight down a sudden murderous impulse.
Chapter Four
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    K ing didn't ask Amelia to dance. His mother approached him just as the party was winding down and bluntly asked why.
    He was sipping punch, watching her dance again with Ted Simpson. "I have no desire to dance with Miss Howard," he said. "Isn't it obvious?"
    "You make it so obvious that the other guests are speculating about the cause," Enid said shortly. Her dark eyes narrowed. "You might bow to tradition long enough to give the appearance of civility toward her."
    He cocked an eyebrow. "Do I strike you as a man who gives a damn about tradition?" he asked with some of her own bluntness. "I have no affection for or interest in your guest," he added coldly. "I came here to spend some time with Darcy, whom I shall most likely marry one day soon."
    Enid had to