Page 45 of Native Hawk
He would have slipped her dress off of one creamy shoulder, running his tongue lightly along her collar bone.
He would have…
“Do not stare at me like that.” It was a breathless plea.
“I can’t help it,” he said sincerely. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
She didn’t believe him. He could tell by the way she lowered her eyes in the mirror and gave a little shake of her head.
“You don’t believe me?”
“You are only, what is it when you play cards? Bluffing.”
“Bluffin’? No, ma’am. I swear.”
Catalina felt the same way about him. But she certainly wasn’t going to let him know. Not now. Not since he’d made such a strong argument against any kind of permanent relationship.
She should have known better than to listen to Anne and Emily and Miss Hattie, who had convinced her that Drew might have tender feelings toward her.
He’d made it plain that while he found her pleasing to look at, he wasn’t interested in anything lasting.
She told herself that was fine. She needed to focus on her work anyway. Two nights with Drew meant she was closer to affording her sewing machine. She had to look at their time together as a business transaction. He paid her, and she let him share her bed.
He was staring at her again, making her blush. In the mirror, she saw how he caressed her with his eyes. She could feel the warmth of his gaze. It was doing strange things to her insides.
She gulped. She’d washed her face and brushed her hair. Now all she had left was getting out of her clothes.
“I need to undress now,” she told him. “You must…close your eyes.”
“No.”
“What?” She blinked.
“No.”
She wheeled around to him. “But you are causing me…great distress.”
“Good.”
“How can this be good?”
“’Cause you’re causin’megreat distress.”
What did he mean by that?
“Look, Cat,” he told her, “you said no touchin’. Fine. You said no sex. Fine. So I figure I paid twenty dollars to sit in this bed and watch you undress. And that’s what I’m gonna do.”
His smug smile was infuriating. His twinkling eyes made her livid. She hated him for ogling her, even more for being right. Hehadpaid a huge sum, and for what?
But the sight of him reclining in her bed, so self-assured, waiting for her, sent a shiver of apprehension through her. She almost wished she’d brought that bottle of whiskey.
“You scared?” he asked, arching a brow.
That did it. Now she was insulted.
“Scared? Never!”
Catalina—who’d defied her father, the lord of Ferrara, left her homeland on her own, and set out all alone to follow her dreams—wasn’t afraid of anything.
