Page 32 of A Lone Star Love Affair
He brushed a light kiss on her lips. “C’mon with me. You can leave whenever you want.”
“Tony.” She sighed, shaking her head. “You are a spellbinding man.” How many times in her life did she get to spend evenings like this one? She told herself she would just stay a short time.
“Good. Just for a while longer together,” he said, smiling and taking her hand as they left.
They took the elevator up one floor and stepped out into a short hallway. He unlocked and held open a door. She entered a suite larger and even more luxurious than her own. From a small entryway, they walked into a spacious living area that held one wall of floor-to-ceiling glass and a staircase to a ground level extension of the room. Through the glass she could see whitecaps. “The view from here in the day must be spectacular.”
“I think the view is sensational right now,” Tony said in a husky voice, and her cheeks flushed. Desire filled his dark gaze. “I’ll build a fire,” he said.
She watched as he hunkered down to stack logs in the fireplace and ignite kindling. In minutes he had a roaring fire and she moved toward it. With sundown the temperature had dropped, the air had chilled and now the fire’s welcome warmth felt cozy.
A light knock on the door surprised her. She watched while Tony greeted a waiter who wheeled in a cart with a drink and two beers on ice, as well as a bottle of wine on ice. After tipping the waiter, Tony closed the door behind him.
“Before we left the bar I ordered another piña colada for you since you barely touched yours and left it behind in the bar,” he said as he brought her drink to her.
“Thank you.”
Turning off the lights so they had only the orange glow from the blazing fire, he opened a cold beer for himself and led her to a sofa near the fire. “Sit here and we’ll talk.” He sat close, turning so he faced her, winding his fingers in her hair while he sipped his beer. “Now tell me about yourself,” he said. “Tell me about your family.”
For a moment the only sound was the crackle and hiss of the fire. The more details about her life she shared with him, the closer she would be drawn to him and the more deeply she might fall in love with him. His dark eyes were on her and she had his undivided attention. He made everything that involved him too tempting to resist.
“I have two older brothers, a younger brother and a younger sister. In that order they are Josh, Talbot, Trent and Faith. Only Faith is married. There are no grandchildren.”
“Any other graphic artists in the family?”
“No. Josh is an accountant in Fort Worth. Talbot has his own construction company in Denton, Trent is a professor at a community college here and Faith is a teacher in Plano. Everyone is in the Dallas area, so we have family get-togethers fairly often.” While she talked, he combed his fingers through her hair, so slight, yet still heightening her response.
“My family gets together for some holidays. Sometimes one or another or all of us are scattered because we’re traveling,” he said.
“What about when you were children?”
“Especially when we were children. We weren’t traveling, but our parents often were,” Tony replied, caressing her nape, feathery strokes that had a deeper effect and were more sensual. “Do you know a man named Dylan Kinnaly?”
“Yes, I do,” she replied, and she hoped he would talk about what he had done for his sister. She had to admire him for that and she wouldn’t mind telling him.
“I thought you might through your graphic arts connections. My sister wants to marry him. Dylan is an okay guy and also, I think my sister knows what she wants. She seems deeply in love.”
“He is more than an ‘okay guy.’ Dylan’s a close friend. I think a lot of him.”
“That reaffirms my feelings about him. My sister is level-headed. At least she usually is. People in love see the world in a skewed manner.”
Isabelle smiled at him. “Don’t sound so cynical about people who fall in love.”
“Show me someone in love who can think consistently in a clear, rational manner, particularly where the loved one is involved. You won’t be able to find anyone. I just see reality.”
“No, you don’t,” she said with a smile. “You’re cynical, Tony, when it comes to love.”
“Love makes the world go round,” he said in a husky voice, and lifted her hair off her shoulders and neck while he leaned close to brush a warm kiss on her nape, stirring a wave of sparks.
“I’ve met your sister,” she said without thought. Her attention was on Tony, his kiss, the faint caresses on her nape, all creating sparks.
“You knew Sydney after you met me or before?”
“I met her afterward. It was a film festival held at one of the local museums. We talked a little because we both are fans of old films. Since then, I’ve seen her several times with Dylan at graphic arts celebrations or parties. Dylan and I are both members of a Dallas graphic artists’ group.”
“All this time, Sydney knew you and where to find you? Damn. Why didn’t she tell me about you?” His eyes narrowed. “You didn’t tell her that you knew me, did you?”
“I didn’t see any point in it,” she admitted. She would never tell something that might hurt feelings, but she suspected Tony had little experience with rejection from women, and his total self-confidence would keep any hurt feelings from happening.
