World's Most Eligible Texan by Sara Orwig Read Free Book Online Page B

primeurs au beurre de persil,” he ordered in what sounded to her like flawless French. “I’ll have a steak, medium rare, and a baked potato.”
    â€œYou really do speak French fluently, don’t you?” she asked as soon as they were alone.
    â€œYou make it sound like I rob gas stations often,” he answered with a twinkle in his eye.
    â€œSorry. It’s just another difference between us.”
    â€œWell, I won’t converse with you in French, darlin’,” he said, lapsing into a West Texas drawl.
    She smiled slightly, but she didn’t look happy.
    â€œBelieve me, we wouldn’t be out together if there weren’t differences between us,” he said and she shrugged her shoulders slightly.
    All through salads, his sizzling steak and her smoked salmon and new potatoes, he sensed a reserve in her that she hadn’t had before. Something wasn’t quite right, and he didn’t know what it was. But when he looked into her guileless blue eyes, his heart raced. In their depths was desire.
    He could feel that same volatile chemistry between them, that urgency that made sparks dance between them and kept him touching her lightly as often as possible. He wanted her in his arms, as close as possible. He wanted another night with her like the one they’d had. And he knew she was responding to his touches and looks. No matter how coolly she seemed to act, he could see her fiery response in her eyes. Buddieswho knew he had taken her home the night of the gala had teased him unmercifully, talking about the ice maiden, the woman no man could touch. He’d learned about her mother. Justin had clued him in on that one, and he dimly remembered hearing things about Dolly Miles and the men who slept with her. Did that have something to do with Pamela’s reserve? But Dolly Miles was of his parents’ generation. Growing up, Aaron had paid little attention to rumors about Dolly Miles. He hadn’t even known she’d a daughter, but Pamela was much younger than he was.
    Over candlelight, he gazed at her, and for once couldn’t eat much of a delicious steak. All he wanted was to devour the woman, looking regal and poised, sitting across from him. He even loved the smattering of freckles across her straight nose. And she was country in all the best ways, down-to-earth, practical. Except there was something she was holding back. He could sense it and there was no mistaking the cool reserve that held her in check most of the evening. Occasionally, he could bring forth a laugh and then the reserve was gone, and once she seemed to forget herself and reached over to grasp his wrist while she told him about a little boy in her second-grade class.
    While he laughed with her, he was far more aware of her fingers holding his wrist. He twisted his hand around and grasped hers, raising it to his lips to brush a kiss across her knuckles. Instantly, she drew her breath and fires flickered in her gaze.
    â€œLet’s go home,” he said in a husky voice and after a moment’s hesitation, she nodded.
    When she slipped her hand away from his, he motioned to their waiter. As soon as the waiter left them alone again, as Aaron put away his wallet, she touched his hand.
    â€œAaron, we rushed things before. I don’t want to do that again.”
    He knew instantly what she was telling him, and he could not keep from being swamped with longing and disappointment. He wanted her in his arms again, bare to him, lovinghim totally, but lovemaking had to be the lady’s choice. When he nodded solemnly, she looked relieved.
    Was it her past? Her mother’s reputation that she feared? Surely not. That was long ago. It had been her mother, not her. Pamela had a reputation for being circumspect and untouchable. Aaron certainly would do nothing to change that reputation either. He hadn’t said a word about her spending the night at his house. His friends just knew