Lone Star Valentine (McCabe Multiples) by CATHY GILLEN THACKER Read Free Book Online Page A

right. I do see the value in compromise.” Lily zipped her briefcase shut with quick, jerky motions. Hunted around for her purse.
    Finally finding it, she flung it on her desk next to her briefcase, then defiantly marched toward him, chiding him all the way. “And if you’d grown up the way I had, as the fifth-born of six daughters, you, too, would be happy to get whatever you could—whenever you could—and never ever expect too much because...”
    Recognizing another We Can’t Do This speech coming on, Gannon decided the time for treating her with kid gloves had passed. Lily was all woman. He was all man. And the attraction between them was tantalizingly real.
    Wordlessly, he closed the remaining distance between them and took her in his arms. Flattened one palm over her spine and threaded his other hand through her hair.
    Smiling at her gasp of surprise, he tilted her head up, lowered his mouth slowly and deliberately over hers.
    “What are you doing?” Lily sputtered, her turquoise eyes flashing.
    Just this once, Gannon decided to stop putting his own wants and needs aside. “Showing you exactly what you could expect if you ever let down your guard with me.”

Chapter Four
    Lily saw the kiss coming. Knew she could have prevented it simply by flattening a hand over Gannon’s broad chest. But she didn’t push him away. Didn’t do anything to keep his head from lowering, ever so deliberately, to hers.
    She had dreamed of this moment for years. Yearned for it. Been afraid of it. And the sensation of his lips and body pressed against hers was, she quickly found out, everything she had ever worried and wanted and dreamed it would be.
    He was just so darn hard and warm and strong. All over. So tall. So comforting. So alluring.
    He tasted good, too. Like mint and man. And desire.
    And, oh, sweet heaven, she wanted him in that instant more than she had ever wanted anything or anyone in her life. Which was why she knew she had to end this now.
    Hands against his chest, she pushed.
    He lifted his head, as she knew he would.
    If there was one thing Gannon was to the core, it was a Texas gentleman.
    “See?” he teased, sifting a hand through her hair. “That wasn’t so bad, now, was it?”
    Bad! It had been artful. Seductive. And enthralling. It was all she could do not to groan out loud. Lily gathered her wits and pushed the rest of the way away from him. “I never said I wasn’t attracted to you.”
    He caught her about the waist and reeled her back to him. Ran a hand lovingly over her spine, eliciting new tingles of awareness everywhere he touched. “Good to hear,” he said gruffly, grinning at her prickly manner. “Because I never said that, either.” His hot gaze skimmed her face. “In fact, just the opposite is true.”
    His stubborn words mirrored her own wistful feelings. Which was why she had to be practical. “And that’s exactly why we can’t take this any farther than we have.” His eyes narrowed in response, but Lily forged on. “My life is here. Yours is in Fort Worth. I have a son. You love living the bachelor life.” If that wasn’t enough to make them put on the brakes, she didn’t know what was!
    Deep grooves formed on either side of his mouth, and he studied her grimly. “You have it all figured out, don’t you?”
    Lily drew a bolstering breath. “I don’t want to get hurt again, Gannon. The biggest mistake of my life was starting something with someone who I was never destined to be with.”
    The mention of her former lover was enough to throw a bucket of cold water on his desire. “Bode,” he said, letting her go.
    Lily nodded sadly. Figuring she might as well tell him the truth about this, she looked him in the eye and admitted, “It wasn’t just you who had reservations from the get-go.” She pressed a thumb to her sternum. “I knew I wasn’t meant for him, any more than Bode was meant to be with me.”
    A muscle worked in Gannon’s jaw. “Then why did you embark on a