Free The Texas Christmas Gift by Cathy Gillen Thacker

button of his shirt. “I didn’t always go with my gut instincts.”
    Trying not to think what he would look like with that shirt off, Eve pushed the thought away and asked, “What were you like?”
    His lips twisting ruefully, he admitted, “Analytical to a fault. It’s what got me into my first marriage, which was, in hindsight, the biggest mistake of my life.” Abruptly, the distant brooding look was back on his face. Sorrow and regret crept into his low tone. “The only good thing about it was Tiffany. Had I not married Carleen, I wouldn’t have my daughter.”
    Able to see he needed comforting the same way she had the night her mother had checked herself out of the hospital, Eve reached over and squeezed Derek’s hand. “You’re very lucky to have her. She is such a beautiful child. Always a good way to look at it.”
    He brought his other hand around to cover hers, and squeezed slightly, inundating her with his warmth and strength. Then, restive again, he stood and began to pace. Finally, he pivoted to face her and admitted gruffly, “When it came to choosing a mate the first time around, I ignored my instincts, which told me that although I liked Carleen very much, and we were great friends, we never had the physical passion we should have had.” He let out a long, slow breath. “And I know now you should never marry someone you aren’t completely wild about.”
    “So it’s not a mistake you intend to make again.”
    Derek slid Eve a pointed look and shook his head. “If and when I marry again, it will be because I know for certain that the two of us have what it takes to grow old together.”
    She stood, too, realizing they had lingered for far too long. She felt Derek’s eyes on her as she straightened her skirt and walked toward the door on legs that felt shaky again. “You agree with my position, I take it?” he drawled.
    Eve nodded and moved past him toward the stairs. Hand on the rail, she made her way down to the first floor. “I think marriage is serious business. To be successful, you have to be one-hundred-percent sure it’s the right thing.”
    Derek was close behind her. “We’re on the same page, then.”
    She paused at the newel post in the foyer. “Apparently.”
    Another silence fell, more companionable this time. They walked through the downstairs, switching off lights here and there, closing more blinds. “But back to business,” he said, when at last they had finished and were about to head for the front door. “Now that we’ve concluded ours, there really is nothing stopping us from moving on.”
    There was something new in his voice. Something that had an exciting ring to it. Eve’s throat grew dry and tight. “Moving on how?” she rasped.
    He smiled, sexy and self-assured. “By having that first date.”
    “A date,” she repeated, achingly aware of how good it felt to be flirting with Derek, without the specter of business between them. Too good, if she was honest....
    He gently cupped her shoulders with his big palms, keeping her in front of him when she would have run. “You know,” he explained in a deadpan tone. “A social occasion between two people that usually is romantic in nature.”
    Pretending she wasn’t totally thrilled with the very idea, Eve nodded with mock gravity. Damned if he didn’t have the most mesmerizing eyes. And smile. Darn it if she didn’t like—and lust after— nearly everything about him. “Ah,” she quipped. “That kind of date.”
    “Yes.” He stepped nearer, standing so close she could feel the heat of his body, inhale his cologne and see the sudden intensity in his eyes. “Would you like to go on one with me?”
    More than he knew. But wary of rushing headlong into anything only for them to both regret it a few weeks from now, Eve held up her index finger and extricated herself from his grip. Then she walked a short distance away, pulled her phone from her purse and quickly accessed her calendar.
    Aware of his eyes