Free Magnolia by Diana Palmer Page A

murmured as she continued to apply pressure to the treadle under her feet to move the needle along the seam.
    He stuck his hands deep in his pockets, drawing the fabric taut against the powerful muscles of his thighs. “Well, one or two people have remarked upon the fact that wearen’t seen at social functions. I suppose we should be more outgoing.”
    â€œWhy?” she asked, lifting clear gray eyes to his. “Does someone think you’ve murdered me and buried my body in the garden?”
    His mouth twitched. “I don’t know. Perhaps I should ask.”
    She took the fabric from under the needle and cut the thread with her small pair of scissors, holding the seam up for critical inspection. “I’m quite content with my life as it is,” she said, not looking at him. It made her heart skip to see the long, powerful lines of his body in that unconsciously elegant pose. He was so handsome. It took her breath away to look at him at all, but she couldn’t let him see. She’d had quite enough taunts from him about her helpless attraction to him.
    â€œDon’t you miss pretty clothes and parties, Claire?” he asked.
    â€œI’ve never had either, so why should I want them?”
    He considered that for a minute. It was true. She’d never had much in the way of material things. Now she had access to them through him. So why wasn’t she taking advantage of it? Diane would have. She’d gone on a shopping spree immediately after her marriage to Eli Calverson that still had tongues wagging today.
    â€œBuy a new gown,” he said abruptly. “There’s a party at the Calversons’ next Saturday evening, and we’ve been invited. Apparently Eli thinks you’ve had long enough to grieve for your uncle and become accustomed to marriagewith me. He wants to introduce us both to a new investor. A very important one.”
    â€œWhy us?”
    â€œBecause I’m vice president of the bank, Claire, and investors keep us solvent. This gentleman is the head of an investment firm, and he’s very thick with Eli. Apparently, he’s rich as Croesus.”
    â€œHow nice for him. But I don’t want to go to the Calversons’.”
    He took an impatient breath. “I’ve told you that I have no back-door dealings with Diane!”
    She looked at him steadily. “So I should go with you and spend the evening watching you eat your heart out over the sight of her? No, thank you.”
    His eyes flashed angrily. “It would be far better than to spend the evening here, watching you eat your heart out over me,” he countered icily.
    She threw the underskirt down on the floor and got to her feet, her gray eyes like lead bullets as she went right up to him.
    â€œI am not eating my heart out over you! I hardly see you, in any case. I have no secret hankering for such a conceited, overbearing—”
    Suddenly he reached for her and pulled her against him. In his leaning position, she found herself pressed intimately to his long legs—in between them, in fact—with his arms wrapped tightly around her. The look on her face amused him, taking the heat out of his anger.
    â€œDon’t stop there,” he invited, with a smile. “Do go on.”
    She wanted to, but her heart was beating too rapidly to allow speech. The whalebone corset she was wearing constricted her breath enough, without the added pressure of his embrace. She could barely breathe at all.
    Her hands pushed weakly at his chest. “Let go,” she said faintly. “I can’t…breathe.”
    â€œRelax, then.”
    â€œIt’s the corset,” she whispered, pushing as hard as she could.
    He loosened his arms. She felt his hands tracing the bones, his thumbs brushing up under her breasts in the muslin chemise that contained them above the edge of the corset. The light, teasing pressure made her stiffen with unexpected pleasure.
    He was