LITMIR.BIZ

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you’re trying to bribe me into a good humor about this, it won’t work,” she said, frowning at him.

      “Not at all. I want to show you a good time and a night to remember.”

      “Ryan, how can I possibly forget one moment with you?” she asked in a tight voice.

      Then she watched as they swung into the lane for the airport. Her amazement grew when they pulled up to a hangar and crossed the tarmac to a dazzling white jet.

      “What are we doing?” she asked, realizing he was completely unpredictable to her.

      “I’m just taking you to dinner at a place I hope you like.” He took her arm, leading her to the plane while the sun slanted toward the horizon on the warm spring afternoon.

      In minutes they were airborne in his private jet. Ashley watched Dallas slip away below, and realized they had banked and were heading south toward the Gulf.

      She turned from the window to find Ryan watching her. Her racing heartbeat was one thing that her anger with him hadn’t changed. Whenever the magnetic tug of his bedroom eyes focused on her, her pulse accelerated, no matter what she thought about him.

      He sat across from her in a plush seat, and the well-decorated, comfortable interior of the plane reminded her of his money everywhere she looked. His money, and she was marrying into it. The idea amazed her, but didn’t help her ruffled feelings over his authoritarian manner. She could get along without Ryan and his money. She always had. And she had a family who would love her baby and support her, whether Ryan was on the scene or not.

      “Penny for your thoughts,” he said.

      “I’m still fuming and wondering how you can possibly expect this marriage to work.”

      “The chances of my marriage to you being happy are vastly greater than the chances for success I figured I had when I was a kid—so much so that this wedding prospect doesn’t give me many qualms.”

      “You have done a complete turnaround since that weekend when you let me know you preferred to remain a bachelor for many years to come.”

      “I didn’t know you then—or had known you only a few hours. I wasn’t expecting a baby and I didn’t see the great possibilities for the future.”

      She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “And you expect me to simply turn my life over to you and let you make all the decisions.”

      “Hardly,” he said, smiling at her. He moved to the seat beside her and turned her swivel chair to face him, then cupped her chin in his hand. “Just this one thing. I have to get my way on marriage because it’s what’s best for all concerned, and I expect the day to come when you’ll agree. I don’t think we have time to wait and hash it over.”

      “Yes, we do,” she said. “You could take time to court me. We could get to know each other, and then you could propose like a normal person, instead of taking charge and getting your way.”

      “By offering to end your family’s problems? I don’t think that’s too evil.” He was close and his gaze bored into her, making her weak-kneed as she argued with him. When he looked down at her mouth, taunting memories seized her. Her lips parted, tingled, and she couldn’t repress her blatant physical response. “Ashley,” he whispered, “You’re pregnant. Face it, I can make things easier for you.”

      “It’s not evil, Ryan. It’s generous and wonderful, but arrogant, and you don’t know whether you’re getting us into a lasting relationship or not.”

      “Who knows that for certain when they marry?” he asked, but she focused on his mouth and couldn’t think about his question.

      “I’d like you in my arms and in my bed,” he said. “I want to love you and I don’t intend to wait.” He touched her cheek lightly. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

      Her heart thudded at the last and she couldn’t get her breath. She ached to reach for him, yet knew this wasn’t the time nor place.

      “You’re a handsome charmer who weaves spells,” she accused. “I’m caught in one and don’t like it.”

      “Stop fighting me. Stop resisting both of us. You feel some of what I do. I can see it in your eyes and hear it in your voice and feel it in your throbbing veins.”

      She turned away. “That has little to do with what I want,” she said.

      She saw him study her. “Did you go to work today?”

      “Yes, I did,” she replied stiffly.

      “That surprises me. I thought you might stay home.”

      “I left the office early,” she said coolly. “And I didn’t share my plans with anyone.”

      “Did you leave ahead of time to get ready for tonight, or because you couldn’t work for thinking about our marriage?”

      “If you must know, I couldn’t work. It was not to get ready for a big evening out with you,” she lied.

      He fanned himself with his hand. “If mere looks could set me on fire, I’d be blazing away right now.”

      “You’re immune to looks from me.”

      “Au contraire,” he said in a lower voice, leaning forward. “You give me looks that can melt me or fry me to a crisp.”

      “I don’t believe that,” she said, but there wasn’t any firmness in her voice, and warmth stole along her veins at his statement. Could she really have that effect on him? She turned away to look out the window in silence.

      When they flew over Houston, the sun had set and lights had blinked on, a dazzling display far below. Ashley watched for a few minutes, entranced by the sparkle before she turned around. Her heart missed a beat when she met Ryan’s steady gaze.

      “I wondered if you’re as dazzled as I am by this scene out the window, but I see you’re not. You’re burned out on flying, I suppose.”

      “No,” he said, leaning closer. “I’ll never get enough of this view,” he said, looking directly at her.

      She inhaled swiftly. “Stop flirting, Ryan.”

      “Why? That’s the sizzle in life—getting to flirt with you, seeing where I can go with it, letting my imagination run.”

      She smiled and received an enticing, warm grin from him as he leaned forward to touch the corner of her mouth with the tip of his finger. “That’s more like it.”

      The announcement from the pilot about landing broke into their conversation, and they both tightened their seat belts.

      A uniformed driver in a limousine met Ryan and Ashley and drove them to a hotel. At the top-floor restaurant they were seated at a linen-covered table in a quiet corner. A pianist played old favorites in the background; candles burned at the tables; and fresh roses filled the centerpiece vases.

      “If you’re trying to impress me, you’re succeeding,” she said, watching two couples circling the small dance floor across the room.

      “Good. I hope I can impress you a great deal more than this.” Candlelight flickered, highlighting his prominent cheekbones and causing his black lashes to cast shadows there. If only he hadn’t insisted on marriage, she thought, and then realized she was succumbing to the seductive trappings and to Ryan.

      Their waiter brought menus, and after they had placed orders and were alone, Ryan stood and took her hand. “Let’s dance before dinner,” he suggested. Her immediate reaction was eagerness, swiftly tempered by caution as she placed her hand in his and went to the dance floor.

      She walked into his arms and into memories of his lean, muscular body.

      This was the second time she’d danced with him and it opened a Pandora’s box of devilish longing that taunted her. Yet she was as conscious of

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