Free Blind Promises by Diana Palmer

him to know…”
    “It’s not for any special reason,” she said quickly. “It’s just that, well, he doesn’t need to know, does he?”
    He turned away before she could see the tiny smile on his face. “No, of course he doesn’t.”
    They walked quietly back to the house, and Dana gathered all her nerve before she knocked at the door of Gannon’s study.
    “Come in” was the harsh reply.
     
    She opened the door, to find him sitting in his big armchair with tumbled furniture all around him, a black scowl on his face and a smoking cigarette in his hand.
    “Who is it?” he asked shortly.
    “It’s me,” Dana said.
    The scowl blackened. “Back from your daily constitutional?” he asked sarcastically. “Did my brother go with you?”
    “Yes, he did,” she said coolly. “It was quite a nice change, to walk and talk without yelling.”
    He snorted, taking another draw from the cigarette. “Can you find me an ashtray?”
    “Why?” she asked innocently, noting the pile of ashes beside the chair on the carpet “Are you tired of dumping them on the floor already?”
    “Don’t get cute. Just find me an ashtray and bring it here.”
    She didn’t like the silky note in his voice, but she got the ashtray and approached him warily.
    “Where are you?” he asked, cocking his head and listening intently.
    She set the ashtray softly on the arm of the chair and moved back. “Back here,” she replied then. “Your ashtray is next to you.”
    He muttered something. “Afraid to come too close? Wise woman.”
    She shifted from one foot to the other. “It’s my time off,” she reminded him, “but I wanted to ask you something.”
    “I know it’s your time off,” he said curtly. “You remind me every day exactly how much you have and when you want it, so why the poor little slave girl act over the supper table? Playing on Dirk’s sympathies? I
     
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    Blind Promises
     
    Diana Palmer
     
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    might warn you that my brother is something of a playboy: He likes skirts.”
    “He’s a nice, kind man, and you ought to be half as blessed with his good humor,” she threw back.
    “Shrew!” he accused, sitting up straight. His face hardened; his eyes darkened. “If I could see you, you’d be in considerable trouble right now.”
    “What would you do, take me over your knee?” she asked.
    His nostrils flared. “No, I wouldn’t risk breaking my hand.”
    “How discerning of you,” she murmured.
    His eyes searched in her direction, and something wicked flared in them. “I think I’d rather kiss you speechless than hit you.”
    She couldn’t help it. She flushed like a budding rose, gaping at him. Her knees felt strangely weak as the words brought back vivid memories.
    “No comment?” he murmured. “Have I shocked you? Or would you rather forget that last night in my arms you responded like a woman instead of a shrew?”
    “I’m your nurse, Mr. van der Vere, not…!” she began.
    “You’re a woman,” he interrupted, “and somehow I think that fact has escaped you for a long time. You have the feel of fine porcelain, as if you’ve never been touched by human hands. Is it part of the shield you wear to keep the world at bay? Are you afraid of feeling too much?”
    “I’m afraid of being accused of unethical conduct,” she returned. “You aren’t the first man who’s made a pass at me, Mr. van der Vere, and, sadly, you probably won’t be the last. Sick men do sometimes make a grab
     
    for their nurses if the nurses are young and not too unattractive.”
    “The unattractive bit wouldn’t matter to a blind man, would it?” he asked shortly.
    “The blindness is temporary,” she said firmly. “The doctors have told you that. Your sight will return; there’s no tissue damage-“
    He cursed roundly. “There is!” he shot back. He got to his feet and almost fell in his haste.
    She rushed forward without thinking and helped him regain his balance, only to find herself trapped in his