Free Now and Forever by Diana Palmer

sundress.
    â€œYou aren’t going to wear that, are you?” she asked.
    Tish bit her lower lip. “I…I don’t know if I’m going, Lena,” she said unsteadily.
    â€œBut the party’s for you! You’ve got to go!”
    A sound in the hall caught her attention. She turned away from Eileen’s pleading eyes and looked straight into Russell’s dark, unreadable ones.
    â€œYou’re going,” he said, pausing in the doorway, his shirt carelessly unbuttoned, hisjeans grass stained, his hair black and damp with sweat.
    She straightened proudly. “I’d rather not,” she protested.
    â€œIf you don’t go,” he said quietly, “Gus and Eileen don’t go. They’re riding over with us.”
    Her eyes fell before his insistent gaze. “I’ll get ready,” she said in a defeated voice.
    â€œTish, what’s wrong?” Eileen asked gently. “You look so depressed.”
    â€œI’m just tired, Lena,” she said with a forced smile. “Go on now and let me dress.”
    The younger girl left with a reassuring smile, but Russell paused in the doorway, his eyes studying her restlessly, searchingly.
    â€œMake it fifteen minutes, honey. We’re already late,” he said casually.
    â€œAll right,” she said without looking at him.
    â€œLost your tongue, hellcat?” he chided deliberately.
    She whirled glaring at him with stormy gray eyes.
    He only smiled, the challenge sparkling inhis bold gaze. “If you were a few years older, Saint Joan,” he said darkly, “I’d carry this afternoon’s lesson a few steps further. You’ve got a hell of a lot to learn.”
    â€œDon’t think I want to learn it from you,” she threw back at him. “You’re too brutal.”
    â€œIn that kind of situation, most men are,” he said coolly. “I hadn’t thought how overwhelming a man’s passion might seem to a virgin experiencing it for the first time. You were safe enough. Just don’t try it with a younger man.”
    â€œI…I don’t ever want to try it again,” she said, turning away from him.
    â€œYou will. Get your clothes on, honey.”
    She turned around to tell him she could dress without being told when to do it, but he was already gone.
    Â 
    Tish dressed, applied a thin coat of makeup and ran a brush through her long dark hair. She felt very much like a lamb going to slaughter and hated the nervousness that had robbed her of the confidence she used to feel when Frank was with her. If only he were here, she thought miserably, he could protect her. But…from what?
    Grabbing a white crocheted shawl from her closet, she curved it over her bare shoulders and went downstairs. Eileen and Russell were waiting for her in the hallway. He was wearing a white suit that accentuated his dark good looks and a rust-colored shirt that clung to his muscular chest like a second skin. As he turned, looking up at her on the staircase, she felt as if a burst of lightning shot through her veins. His eyes traveled the length of her body with a slow, thorough boldness that excited and flattered. They came to rest on her face, and a mocking smile touched his hard mouth.
    â€œOh, that dress is a dream!” Eileen breathed, wide-eyed. “Where did you find it?”
    â€œIn town,” Tish replied, avoiding Russell’s eyes.
    The doorbell rang, and, ignoring Joby’s efforts to reach it, Eileen went past him like a blue whirlwind, calling, “That’s Gus!” over her shoulder.
    Russell lit a cigarette, his probing eyes steady on Tish’s averted face. “Still sulking, little one?” he asked in a gruff whisper.
    â€œI don’t sulk,” she replied pertly.
    â€œYou didn’t fight me,” he reminded her with a narrow glance. “At the last, it was the opposite.”
    Her cheeks filled with color. “Please