Cinderella's Big Sky Groom by Christine Rimmer Page B

“Then what do you want?”
    â€œI want…” She gulped, then made herself tell him. “First, I want to know for certain. Is there any hope, any hope at all that you and Trish might—”
    He shook his head before she could finish. “I meant what I said. Your sister is my secretary. That’s all.”
    She believed him. She’d known it all along, really. But it seemed terribly important that she make absolutely sure.
    â€œWhat else?” he prompted, running his hands down her arms and back up again, a slow, warm caress that wreaked havoc on her thought processes.
    She managed to whisper, “If we…” and then felt her face flushing hot and red. Oh, she could not go on.
    â€œIf we what?”
    â€œIf I…” She gulped again. She’d never been a liar, but right now she was thinking of the lies she might tell, thinking that yes, Lily Mae Wheeler had seen them drinking champagne at the State Street Grill, but that no one knew she had actually come to his house with him. That it was still early yet.
    True, Trish lived with her in the family home that Lynn’s father had left to Lynn in his will. Since Lynn always came home early, Trish would definitely notice if she suddenly returned very late.
    But if she didn’t stay too late…
    And if she got Danielle to cover for her, to say…
    Oh, sweet Lord, what was she doing?
    It was wrong, terribly wrong, what she was letting herself imagine. And she would have to face hell, from her sister and her community—or tell an ugly string of lies—to get away with it.
    And where would it go, anyway, if she did get away with it?
    She had seen the coldness in his eyes when he talked of that law firm in Denver. She knew about his divorce, that it had not been a friendly one.
    There was something…hard about him. Something closed in. She’d broken through that hardness tonight, with the help of a red dress and the strange, heady power her new look had given her.
    But a woman would have a big job for herself, getting through his defenses on any long-lasting basis. What made her dare to imagine that she would be the one to accomplish such a feat?
    Underneath the temporary glamour, she was still the same woman she’d always been: plain, reserved Lynn Taylor. The kindergarten teacher, born to be addressed as “Miss.” A woman at whom men like this one never looked twice.
    Tomorrow she’d put on her regular clothes and her flat shoes. With the help of the diagram and the makeup samples Kim had given her, she might try to recreate some semblance of the magic. But it wouldn’t be the same.
    And his defenses would go back up.
    No, spending the night with him—making love with him, because that’s what they’d be doing—was impossible. She was a teacher, for heaven’s sake. There were certain moral standards that the peopleof Whitehorn rightfully expected her to uphold. When and if she ever did make love with a man, she planned to be married to him first. She couldn’t just fall into bed with someone she’d met face-to-face only that afternoon.
    Lynn could hardly believe she kept letting herself consider it, kept thinking how much she wanted it, wanted him to kiss her—a real, deep, all-consuming kiss. Wanted his fine hands caressing her, all over her body. Wanted—
    She heard a chiming sound, faint but still discernible, coming from downstairs. The clock on the mantel. Announcing the hour.
    It was eight o’clock.

Chapter Five
    J ust as Lynn was about to step back from him, Ross dropped his hands away and stepped back himself.
    Something deep inside her cried out in hungry bewilderment at the loss of his touch, at the sudden absence of his body, which had been so deliciously, temptingly close.
    She resolutely ignored that silent cry.
    He said, “I’m sorry. This is foolish, just as you said.”
    â€œYes.” She made her head bob up and