Larkspur Road by Jill Gregory Page A

I?” she heard herself mutter inanely as if from a great distance.
    “What was your first clue?” Travis grinned.
    Don’t you grin at me, Travis Tanner. Not now. Not ever.
    That’s dirty pool.
    Whenever he’d come to town over the past years, she’d reminded herself that she wasn’t attracted to him anymore. That he was history. Old, buried, irrelevant history.
    It was so much easier to believe that when she didn’t actually have to
see
him. Up until now, she’d managed to avoid him just fine.
    But now, here he was right in front of her. Tall and tough-looking, with the brawny build of a lumberjack, his jet-black hair glinting in the sun, his eyes keen and intent on hers.
    And he isn’t wearing a shirt
.
    It took all of her willpower not to drink in the sight of that lean, tanned torso or to stare at the bulge of muscles in his arms and chest.
    Don’t look at his body. Look at his face.
    Under normal circumstances that would be a pleasure. Except that looking into Travis’s face was every bit as dangerous as looking at his body. The man was hands-down gorgeous. He’d been handsome even as a boy, but he’d grown into a man with the kind of ruggedly dark good looks that could make a woman forget what day of the week it was, where she lived, and even her middle name. That strong jaw, the dark brows, and intelligent, penetrating eyes the color of gun smoke drew you in. Against your will.
    For most women, staring into Travis Tanner’s face would be a pleasure. But for Mia, it was torture.
    She couldn’t possibly still have feelings for him—not after all this time. It was just that when Travis looked at her, something seemed to quake inside her.
    It’s only some crazy reflex,
she told herself. It had been that way since the first time he’d spoken to her in the hallway of Lonesome Way High School. She was wandering around lost, searching for her locker, a shy freshman, bewildered and a little intimidated, when in the rush of students stampeding down the crowded corridor, a pack of girls had bumped into her and accidentally sent her tumbling into a wall. She’d nearly lost her balance and had dropped her algebra book and her backpack.
    Travis had appeared out of nowhere at her side, asking her if she was all right. He’d handed her the book, lifted up her backpack, grinned at her in a slow, easy way, a way he’d never had when she and Lissie were little girls playing with their Barbies at Sage Ranch.
    The same way he was grinning at her right now. And she felt her heart trembling.
    Come on. You’re so over him,
she reminded herself.
You’re hardly sixteen anymore.
    But she felt the pull. And a deep, buried hurt stirred inside her.
    Damn it, no.
Get a grip.
    “How’ve you been, Mia?”
    “Great. Never better. You?”
    Travis fought the urge to step closer to her. She looked a whole lot better than great. She looked as beautiful as the first day of spring. And every bit as sexy as an exotic dancer in those tight-fitting jeans and that skimpy little tank top that hugged her breasts.
    But her tone was cool. Just this side of sarcastic. Actually, it was in danger of sliding over the edge.
    The teenaged girl he’d known long ago had always been warm, honest, and as sweet as his grandmother’s ginger cookies.
    Well, what do you expect?
he asked himself impatiently.
Especially after the way you treated her. She’s different now. And so are you.
    But at least, he told himself grimly, unlike at Rafe and Sophie’s wedding, she was speaking to him.
    Sort of.
    “I’m terrific now that I’m home,” he told her and saw the flicker of surprise in those luminous amber eyes that had continued to haunt him over the years. “Looks like I’m going to be sticking around for a while.”
    “Sticking around?” Her petite, insanely curvy body went rigid, further accentuating the swell of her breasts beneath that pale blue tank top. Her eyes were locked on his. But not in a good way.
    “You’re…moving
back
here?”