Lone Star Wedding by Sandra Steffen Read Free Book Online Page B

breathing deepened. She was trying to follow the course the conversation was taking, really she was, but a young woman with dark hair and a skintight dress drew her attention. Why, it almost looked like Maria.
    â€œOr are you more the arm-wrestling type?”
    What would Maria be doing in San Antonio? She never came to the city anymore. Hannah’s heart beat a little harder. She loved her younger sister, and she ached for a glimpse of her. She wanted so much more.
    â€œHannah?”
    â€œHmm?”
    â€œIs everything all right?”
    She glanced up at Parker, and then back at the sidewalk across the street. She’d lost the young woman in the glare of headlights. Hannah surveyed the entire area. There were other dark-haired women out and about, but the woman in the brightly colored dress was nowhere to be seen.
    â€œI’m fine,” she told Parker. “I thought I saw someone I knew.”
    She told herself it couldn’t have been Maria. Surely there were a lot of women in San Antonio who bore the dark, exotic traits of their Apache and Mexican parentage. And Maria certainly wasn’t the only girl in Texas who had a walk she claimed measured seven point five on the Richter scale.
    â€œAn old flame?”
    She tried to recall how the conversation had gone from bachelor parties to old flames. They’d reached an intersection a few blocks away from The Pink Flamingo. Waiting for the crossing signal, she studied Parker’s profile. His nose was straight, his chin was well defined and set at an angle that was the epitome of smugness. He glanced down, his gaze homing in on hers.
    â€œNot an old flame. My sister. But it wasn’t. Either of those things. An old flame, I mean, or Maria.”
    Hannah wondered when she’d become daft. While she was at it, she wondered when she’d been so drawn to a man she had no business being drawn to. She was so caught up in what was happening between her and Parker that she didn’t notice the voluptuous redhead until she’d sauntered up to Parker, ran a long, bloodred fingernail along his cheek, and slipped something into his pocket. She wiggled her hips, winked, puckered up her painted lips and kissed the air near Parker’s cheek.
    With a quirk of her eyebrows, Hannah watched her saunter away. Oh, no, Maria most definitely did not have sole rights to provocative moves and gestures.
    The Walk signal came on. Ignoring it, Hannah reached blithely into Parker’s pocket, pulling out a skimpy pair of panties. “How sweet.”
    â€œThat isn’t what it looks like.”
    Hannah lifted her gaze to his. “This isn’t a pair of silk, thong bikini panties?”
    â€œSilk? Really?”
    She batted his hand away. “It’s white, but in this case I doubt it’s virginal.”
    Parker regarded the item in Hannah’s hand. She was right. Paula was definitely no virgin. “All right. It’s what it looks like, but it isn’t what you’re thinking.”
    â€œThen, she isn’t a friend of yours?”
    â€œA client, actually. A former one. Paula’s just trying to show her appreciation.”
    â€œFor what, pray tell?”
    The unusual combination of vitality and sarcasm in Hannah’s expression made it difficult for Parker not to smile. His heartbeat sounded in his own ears as they started across the street, hurrying at the prodding of a car horn.
    Reluctant to release her elbow even though they’d reached the other side, he said, “I won her ten thousand dollars a month, the summer place, the winter condo in Florida, and if I remember correctly, the family poodle.”
    â€œWhat did the husband get?”
    â€œLet’s just say he’s never slipped a pair of his Jockey shorts into my pocket.”
    â€œI’m relieved to hear it. Tell me, Parker…never mind.”
    â€œWhat do you want to ask me?”
    â€œIt’s none of my