Land of Enchantment by Janet Dailey Read Free Book Online Page B

though, so she won't have to wait up for me to let me know.'
    'You do that, while I take care of the check,' Lije suggested.
    Diana's face was radiating her inner happiness when she hung up the telephone and turned to the waiting Lije. 'We leave on Sunday morning,' she announced.
    His inscrutable expression made it impossible to judge whether he was pleased by her news. Diana knew she was. With luck, it would mean another day in his company.
    'Does that mean you'll be working tomorrow?' he asked, as his hand rested on the back of her shoulders and guided her out the restaurant door.
    'Not until late tomorrow afternoon, Stella said,' Diana answered.
    'Have you been to the Alamo or along the river walk?' Lije inquired with that remote indifference that always bewildered her.
    'No.'
    The breeze caught a silver-gold lock of hair and blew it across her face. She swept it behind her ear in a graceful gesture as she picked her way among the chunks of gravel in the parking lot.
    "I'll conduct you on a personal tour tomorrow.' They had reached the pick-up truck as Lije made his statement. It was what she had wanted to hear, but considering his unpredictability she had feared another ambiguous statement. Diana wanted to tell him how much she looked forward to going with him, but all the words that came to mind sounded so trite.
    'What time?' she asked as calmly as she could.
    'I'll give you a call around nine.' His arm was resting on her side of the pick-up door, but he was making no attempt to open it. He was looking upwards at the night sky brightened with a blanket of stars. 'It's a beautiful night, isn't it?'
    Diana had been studying his lean angular jaw and cheek and the deep groove carved from the corner of his nose to the corner of his mouth. Even in the dimness of the purple night, she could discern that far-seeing quality of his eyes which always made it seem that he could see beyond the horizon. Any moment now he would look down at her. She forced herself to look up at the twinkling lights in the heavens.
    'The Big Dipper really stands out tonight,' she said, when she felt Lije's movement beside her and sensed his eyes on her. 'I never have been able to find the Little Dipper. Where is it?'
    'The two stars that form the outer edge of the cup point to the North Star. You have to follow their imaginary line.'
    As Diana continued to search unsuccessfully, Lije moved closer, bringing his arm around her shoulders so she could sight along it. The sudden contact with his lean hardness brought a weakness to her limbs. Masculine cologne enveloped her with its intoxicating scent as his breath stirred her hair. A tightness clamped on her throat as she fought the disturbance that was taking hold of her.
    'I still don't see it,' she breathed in deeply to cover her sudden shortness of breath.
    She made the mistake of turning as she spoke, and found herself at eye level with his mouth. The soft, sensuous curve of his lower lip had a hypnotic effect on her, and Diana couldn't draw her gaze away from it. A hand touched her cheek, the roughness of its skin rasping in a satisfying caress against hers before the thumb lifted her chin. She barely recognized the burning darkness in his usually remote grey eyes.
    Without conscious volition, her eyelids fluttered shut as Lije moved closer. The invitation for his kiss was written by her parted, glistening lips. The probing kiss was gently firm as he drew her around into his arms. Her hands raised to rest lightly on the back of his neck where dark curling hair waved over her fingers. Diana was torn by conflicting emotions of tenderness and urgency. Her mouth was moving in a restrained response to his as a rising tide of warmth began spreading over her.
    The hands that had been holding her easily in his arms began slow, steady movements that brought her closer to him, and the melting of her soft curves against the firmness of his chest produced a corresponding demand in the fiery touch of his lips.