Hawk's Way Grooms by Joan Johnston Page B

away from her, putting her at arm’s length and gripping her hands tightly in his.
    He smiled, but she didn’t smile back.
    When she pulled free, he let her go. “We can still talk,” he said, wanting her to stay, wanting to confess the truth to her. She was still his best friend. But somehow things had changed. He couldn’t tell her everything, not the most private things. Not anymore.
    Maybe he had been wrong to expect her to confide in him. Maybe she felt the same awkwardness he did, the distance that had never been there before. A distance he had put there, because he saw her not just as a friend, but as a woman he wanted to kiss and touch.
    â€œI’m going to bed, Mac.”
    â€œWill you walk with me tomorrow?”
    â€œI don’t think—”
    â€œPlease, Jewel. You’re my best friend. I’d really like the company.”
    She hesitated so long, he thought she was going to refuse. “All right, Mac. I suppose I owe you that much.” She turned and left without another word.
    He waited until her bedroom door closed before he moved, afraid that if he did, he would go after her.
    He wondered what had been troubling her. He wondered what she would have done if he had lowered his head and sucked on her breasts through the thin cotton. Blood pulsed through his rock-hard body, and he swore under his breath.
    Mac went to bed, but he didn’t sleep. He tossed and turned, troubled by vivid erotic fantasies of himself and Jewel Whitelaw. Their legs entangled, their bodies entwined, his tongue deep in her mouth, his shaft deep inside her. She was calling to him, calling his name.
    Mac awoke tangled in the sheets, his body hot, hard and ready, his heart racing. And all alone.
    He heard Jewel calling from outside the door. “Mac. Are you awake?” She knocked twice quietly. “It’s time to walk.”
    Mac groaned. “I’ll be with you in a minute.” As soon as he was decent.
    From the look of Jewel at the breakfast table, she hadn’t slept any better than he had. She was wearing something even less attractive than the sweatshirt and cutoffs she had worn previously. It didn’t matter. He saw her naked.
    Mac shook his head to clear it. The vision of her breasts, large and luscious as peaches, and her long, slim legs wrapped around his waist, remained as vivid as ever.
    â€œAre you all right?” Jewel asked.
    â€œFine. Let’s go.”
    She chattered the whole way to the canyon, but he would have been hard-pressed to remember a word of what she had said or his own responses.
    Everything was different. Something was missing. And something had been added.
    He wanted their old relationship back. He was determined to quench any desire he might feel for her, so things could get back to an even footing. He figured the best way to start was to bring the subject out into the open and deal with it. On the walk back to the house, he did.
    â€œAbout what happened last night…It shouldn’t have happened.” His comment was vague, but he knew she understood exactly what he meant when pink roses blossomed on her cheekbones.
    She shrugged. “I was just a woman in a skimpy nightgown.”
    â€œJewel, I—”
    She stopped and turned to him, looking into his eyes, her gaze earnest. “Please, Mac. Can we pretend it never happened?”
    He gave a relieved sigh. “That’s exactly what I’d like to do. It was an accident. I never intended for it to happen. I wish I could promise it won’t happen again, but—” He shot her a chagrined look. “I’ll be sure you’re never embarrassed again. Am I forgiven?”
    â€œThere’s no need—”
    â€œJust say yes,” he said.
    â€œYes.”
    She turned abruptly and started walking again, and he followed after her.
    â€œI’m glad that’s over with,” he said. “I can’t afford to lose a friend as good as you,