The Art of Love (The Windswept Saga) by Tommie Conrad Read Free Book Online Page A

one hand and she shook it, not wanting to let go when she felt warmth of his palm, the gentle yet firm touch of his fingers.  “Ready to get to work?”
    “Absolutely,” she replied, defogging her brain in the process.  Long after she’d left his office and found her place behind the counter, she felt the heat of his palm on her hand—and if she closed her eyes, just for a second, she could feel it rest over her heart, too. 
    *** 
    Chandler leaned back in his hair, rested his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes.  He drifted back through time to another day, a happier, more naïve era.  Alison stuck her head through the door and whistled.  His thoughts had been inappropriate for the workplace, even if he was the boss, and he reddened considerably.
    “I’m headed home,” Alison mentioned quietly.  “You okay?”
    “Yeah,” he replied once he’d gotten his bearings.  “Just thinking.”
    “You wanna talk about it?”
    “Sure,” he said wearily.  “Taylor’s gone home for the day.”
    “You’d like to relight an old flame,” Alison guessed with frightening accuracy.
    Chandler cleared his throat.  “She’s not ready.”
    “And neither are you, honestly.”  She walked toward his desk, sat down on the corner closest to him.  “What you’re feeling is part nostalgia, part knight in shining armor.  Listen, you two were kids when you fell in love, and now you’re adults.  You’ve both done a lot of living and you’re not the same.  Those emotions are still there but, buddy, they’re far more complex now.” 
    “ And it’s really not fair to distract myself away from the gallery—or your store, for that matter.”
    Alison smiled crookedly.  “I’m not going to go broke, and neither are you.  Don’t worry about me.  Focus on yourself for a change—you’ve earned it.”
    Chandler sighed.  “Have I?”
    “Hell yes.  After years of being worried about your family, take five minutes for yourself.  Christa would tell you the exact same thing, so think of me as sister by proxy.”  She extended her finger and pointed it not quite into his che st.  “I’ll send CJ down here.  He’s better than this man-to-man crap anyway, and he’s been missing you.  There’s no one to pick on now.”
    Chandler smirked.  “Can’t wait.”
    She kissed him on the cheek.  “Take it easy.”  He wished her a goodnight and she was gone, locking up her side of the building and leaving him alone.  He stood and stretched, wandered toward the front door and checked that it was bolted.  He turned down the lights and locked the outer door of his office so he wouldn’t have to worry with it again for the evening.  He resumed his position at the computer and scanned his usual websites before returning to his gallery duties.  He yawned loudly and leaned back in the chair. 
    “I’ll just doze for a few minutes,” he muttered dreamily.  He was the o nly soul there.
    “Why would you want to date me?”
    His lips curved into an easy smile.  “Because you’re just about the best looking thing I’ve ever seen, outside of my Dad’s palomino horse.”  She laughed at his apparent jesting.
    He grinned playfully, and she responded by sliding her hand around the nape of his neck. “We’ve been friends for a long time.  Why would you want to ruin that?”
    “Kissing makes everything better.”
    She laughed.  “I had heard that.”
    He gripped her gently at the waist and pulled her into his arms.  He brushed her lips softly at first, and as his pulse raced kissed her a little more firmly.  She jerked in surprise but didn’t stop him.  She melted into his embrace—relaxed, easy, and most importantly, loving.  Chandler understood, for the first time, what those intense feelings his siblings had already experienced could produce; that strange sense of ownership over another’s love, possessing their heart as strongly as they possessed yours.  It felt simultaneously antiquated