Eye of the Tiger by Diana Palmer Read Free Book Online

You’re ruining my appetite.”
    “Oh, gladly,” he murmured, and whirled her around the floor with a smug expression that wasn’t lost on the tall, handsome redhead with the stunning brunette in his arms.

Chapter Four
    W ade kept his sailboat in a slip at the marina on Cave Run Lake. It was a beautiful area, in the Daniel Boone National Forest, and there were hiking trails and a sky lift in the forest area. It was late spring, almost summer, and the woods were filled with picnickers and fishermen and hikers. Eleanor stared after them a little wistfully as Wade led the way to his slip at the sprawling marina. She liked boats but knew little about them. Her tastes leaned much more toward fishing and walking in the woods than toward water sports. It was another of the big differences between Wade’s lifestyle and her own, but perhaps she could adjust.
    He looked handsome in his white slacks and navy pullover shirt, not a bad-looking man at all. She glanced ruefully at her jeans and multicolored knit shirt. She hoped she was properly dressed for sailing. She’d remembered the tennis shoes he told her to wear, but hehadn’t specified what kind of clothes to wear. She sincerely hoped he didn’t have any ideas about taking her to an exclusive restaurant dressed like this.
    “We have a budding sailing fraternity here,” he was telling her, glancing over his shoulder with a smile. “In October we have the Grand Annual Regatta. You’ll have to come with me this year,” he added, taking it for granted that theirs was going to be a long-term relationship. Eleanor beamed.
    “Is it all sailing?” she asked innocently.
    “Mostly,” he replied. “It’s the first weekend in October, and starts out with around-the-course racing the first day, with a big dinner that night and another race the second day. There’s an open regatta for all classes.”
    “Do a lot of people from Lexington race in it?” she asked.
    He grinned at her. “Darling, it’s only a short drive from the city. Even shorter from where we live, outside the city. In fact, the Tabers have a slip here, and Keegan and Gene won their class in the regatta last October.”
    Her face colored. She knew that Keegan loved sailing, but she hadn’t remembered that he kept his sailboat here, or that his father raced with him. It was the kind of thing that Gene Taber would do, though. Like his son, he had a reckless streak. It was one of the first things she’d admired about Keegan, that recklessness.
    “Speak of the devil,” Wade muttered, staring past her just as they reached his slip.
    She half turned and found Keegan Taber walking casually along the marina, as if he spent every day there and was right at home.
    “Hello, Wade!” he called with a friendly wave. “Youhave a call at the desk. I told them I’d relay it, since I was on my way to my own slip.”
    Wade sighed. “I might have known. You can’t ever get away from work, not as long as there are telephones anywhere on the planet.”
    “Wait until the cellular phones catch on,” Keegan said with a grin.
    “God forbid! Be right back, darling. Thanks, Keegan.”
    “Sure.” Keegan stuck his hands in his pockets. “I’ll watch out for Eleanor until you get back.”
    Eleanor glared at Keegan as Wade disappeared into the marina office. He looked as casual as she did, in jeans and a yellow knit shirt. And in deck shoes he didn’t tower over her as much as usual. The boots he wore around the farm gave him even more height. The wind was blowing his red hair around, disrupting its slightly wavy perfection, and against his deep tan the white flash of his teeth was even more attractive. The wind was behind him, blowing the heady scent of his aftershave into her nostrils, drowning her in its masculine lure.
    “What are you doing here?” she asked.
    “The same as you. Enjoying myself.”
    “Aren’t you a little far from home and your houseguest?”
    His eyebrows lifted. “Which houseguest?”
    “The