Free A Long Tall Texan Summer: Tom Walker by Diana Palmer Page A

sorry."
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    “You said yourself that we have a second chance, Tom," she replied.
    His breathing was audible. "We do. And we're going to make the most of it." His eyes darted toward her face. "You won't get away from me this time, Mrs. Nash," he mused. "No matter how far or fast you run."
    "I don't think I want to run anymore," she told him.
    "Good. Because I'm getting too old to run."
    She chuckled. "You'll get over that if you're around Crissy much more. She loves all sports. Just wait until school starts!"
    "I'm rather looking forward to a real Christmas for once," he said. "I haven't had one since Kate and I left our grandmother's house. I miss decorating a tree and having presents to open."
    "We'll see that you have both," she promised,
    her gray eyes twinkling.
    The restaurant he took her to was in the best section of Houston, an elegant one with no prices on the menu at all and a table near the window overlooking the canal that brought sea traffic into the city.
    Huge
    ships were visible in the distance, and she imagined that in the daylight, sea gulls dipped and soared
    everywhere here.
    "This is very nice," she remarked.
    "Yes, it is," he agreed. "I used to come here with business clients when I worked in Houston. Never with
    a woman, though, except once," he added with a cold look.
    "Bad experience?" she queried softly.

    "She was one of those very aggressive businesswomen who liked sex as a sideline. I wouldn't play ball and I lost a very big contract."
    He glanced at her warmly. "If you could have seen the look on her face.
    She was very attractive and she tried every trick in the book."
    "And you wouldn't?" she asked, fascinated.
    "I couldn't," he replied. He smiled softly, searching her lovely face. "I haven't ever wanted another woman. Only you."
    She flushed. "Isn't that...unusual?"
    "I don't know," he said honestly. "I'm not experienced." Amazing how easy it was to admit that to her.
    He toyed with his fork. "I just didn't feel anything at all, not even when we danced and she plastered herself against me.
    She was experienced enough to know that she wasn't having an effect. She walked out of the restaurant in a huff, without finishing her food."
    "I guess her pride was hurt."
    He smiled. "She called me the next week to apologize," he added.
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    “I’ll bet that surprised you."
    "Shocked me," he agreed. "But she was sure she'd guessed why it was like that. She said that I'd been an idiot to let the right woman get away, and that I was worth ten of the men she'd done business with. I got the contract after all."
    "I hope you don't still have it," she said icily.
    His eyebrows shot up with patent delight. "Yes, I do," he told her. Then he added, "Hers, and her brand-new husband's."
    She flushed again. "Oh."
    "Jealous?" he teased.
    She glared at him. "Of course I'm jealous," she said irritably. "You're the only man I've ever known...that
    way."
    He stared down at the fork instead of at her. "I've wondered ever since that night how it would be if we were totally honest with each other, if we had no secrets at all." His thumb pressed the fork down absently and his jaw tautened. "I've read a lot of books since that night. I think I could make it more pleasurable...
    now."
    She lifted her eyes to his. Her breath seemed to catch in her throat as she met that smoldering glance.
    "Tonight?"
    His cheeks went ruddy. "I hadn't thought about it that soon."
    She didn't drop her gaze. "But you want to."
    His jaw clenched. "My God, of course I want to," he said in a harsh undertone. "It's all I think about lately."
    "I'm glad," she replied. "Because it's all I've thought about since we kissed last night in my kitchen."
    His hand slipped across the small table and caught hers, fingers interlacing. His skin felt as hot as her own did. His eyes were steady, unblinking.
    "I love