Free The Manning Sisters by Debbie Macomber

think I said anything?”
    â€œBecause I know you, and I want one thing clear right now. You can take me home, but nothing else. Understand?”
    â€œYou insult me, madam!”
    â€œGood. Now where’s Mandy?” Taylor asked.
    â€œShe’s spending the night with Chris,” Russ explained. “However, rest assured, you’re perfectly safe with me.”
    â€œI’d be safer in a pit of rattlesnakes,” she said wryly. “Do you have any idea how humiliating it was when you kissed me on that dance floor and then took off?” Her voice was a low hiss.
    â€œI promise I’ll never do it again,” he vowed, and led her across the parking lot where he held open the truck door.
    This was a newer model than the one she’d ridden in earlier. She paused and glanced inside and was relieved to see it had seat belts. However, the truck stood probably three feet off the ground, and there wasn’t any way she’d be able to climb inside without assistance.
    â€œHere,” Russ said, “I’ll help you up.” His hands closed around her waist and he lifted her effortlessly off the ground.
    Once she was inside and Russ had joined her, she asked him, “Where do you drive this thing? Through the Rockies?”
    Russ chuckled and started the engine. “You’d be surprised the places this truck has been.”
    â€œI’ll bet,” Taylor grumbled.
    She didn’t say a word during the short drive to her rented house. Russ didn’t, either.
    He pulled in to her driveway, cut the engine and was out of the cab before she could object. Opening her door, Russ helped her down. But when her feet were firmly planted on the ground, he didn’t release her.
    His eyes held hers in the dim light from a nearby streetlamp, and a current of awareness flowed between them. “You were the most beautiful woman there tonight.”
    â€œI’m surprised you even noticed.” The minute the words escaped, Taylor regretted having spoken. In one short sentence she’d revealed what she’d been doing all evening.
    Watching him.
    She’d counted the number of women he’d danced with and, worse, envied them the time they’d spent in his arms.
    Russ didn’t answer her. Not with words, anyway. Instead he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. His mouth was hard, his kiss thorough. When he lifted his head, their panting breaths echoed each other.
    â€œInvite me inside,” he whispered, his voice husky.
    Taylor felt powerless to do anything other than what he asked. Her hands were shaking as she drew the keys from her purse. Russ took them from her and unlocked the door, pushing it open for her to precede him.
    She walked through the living room and to the kitchen, turning on the lights. “I’ll…make some coffee.”
    â€œNo,” Russ said, stopping her. His arms anchored her against the wall. “I don’t want any coffee and neither do you.”
    Taylor gazed into his face and recognized his hunger, aware that it was a reflection of her own. Closing her eyes, she leaned against the wall, feeling needy and weak.
    â€œTrust me,” Russ whispered. “I know what you’re thinking. We’re both crazy. I should stay as far away from you as possible. You don’t want to feel these things for me any more than I want to feel them for you. We argue. We fight. But, lady, when we kiss, everything else pales by comparison.”
    â€œWhat we’re experiencing is just physical attraction,” she whispered as her fingers sank into his thick, dark hair.
    â€œPhysical attraction,” he repeated, seconds before his mouth came crashing down on hers. Low, animal sounds came from deep within his throat as his mouth twisted and turned over hers.
    Braced against the wall, she could feel every hard, rugged inch of him.
    Restlessly she moved against him as her hands clenched fistfuls of his