The Barons of Texas: Jill by Fayrene Preston Read Free Book Online

turned with a feigned look of surprise on his face. “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
    As he moved back toward her, a dozen thoughts went through her mind. Unfortunately, they were allabout him. He was dressed casually in a shirt, slacks and a sport jacket, which made him look wonderful. The problem was, she now knew what he looked like beneath his clothes, and try as she might, she couldn’t wipe away the memories.
    She remembered exactly how his muscles had rippled across his back as he’d dressed and the way those black briefs had fit him so well that she could picture the shape of his buttocks. Then there was the warm, safe way she’d felt when she’d awoken in his arms. His scent, his feel…
    She wiped a hand across her brow and was surprised to find she wasn’t sweating. She had to be crazy to do what she was about to do. Bringing up anything about last night was dangerous, but in this case…
    Instead of sitting, he stood to the side of the chair and slipped his hand into his slacks pocket. It was a casual stance, but in his case, it was almost a stance of power. “What is it?”
    She cleared her throat. “I’ve been remembering more about last night, and I, uh, remember you talking about Des.”
    “That’s right.”
    Nodding her head, she fiddled with the corner edge of the folder he’d given her. “As I recall, you seemed to have very definite opinions about what he likes and doesn’t like.”
    “As I said last night, we’ve become very good friends.”
    She glanced down at the folder. “I would never ask you to betray a confidence of course, but I wasjust wondering…has he ever said anything about me?”
    “Only in the most general of terms.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “He sometimes refers to you and your sisters as ‘the girls.”’
    “As if we were one entity?” Equal parts surprise and offense filled her voice. She and her sisters had never been one entity, never been so close to one another that they were like one. Their father had seen to that.
    “I don’t know how much you remember about our conversation, but I did tell you that he considers you family.”
    Lord, the task of getting Des to the altar was going to be even harder than she had anticipated. She wiped her fingers across her forehead, realized she was repeating something she had just done, then straightened and leveled her best businesslike, unblinking gaze on him. “You also said that you felt he was dead wrong for me. That was an outrageous statement to make, Colin.”
    “Maybe, but it is also true.”
    “You can’t know that for sure. No one can.”
    “Maybe not, but I can have an opinion based on a certain amount of knowledge.”
    “I see.” She rose from her chair and paced to the window, then back to the desk. “And that knowledge, I assume, is partly based on your belief that I’m not a femme fatale.” She hated even saying the words. She’d always prided herself on the fact that she had never used her womanly wiles to get where she was today. Now she had to wonder if she even had any womanly wiles.
    “You’ve pretty much remembered our entire conversation.”
    “Yeah, it’s just other parts of the night that I’m having a little trouble with.” She paused, picked up a pen and tapped it against her hand. “I also remember your statement that you think I’ve decided that now is the time to go after him.”
    He smiled. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
    She couldn’t help it. Her expression turned perplexed. “How could you possibly come to that conclusion? You don’t know me that well.”
    “I know you better than you think, so don’t even bother telling me I’m wrong on that. Let’s focus on the other thing I said—that you’re not a femme fatale. Are you telling me I’m wrong?”
    She chewed on her bottom lip, then stopped herself. But the tapping of the pen became faster. “I’ve never thought about it.” Until now, she added to herself.
    “And now that you have…?”
    Now that she had,