Free The Doctor's Medicine Woman by Donna Clayton Page A

that Travis had said was Greg’s baby daughter, Joy. The three of them made such a sweet family. Diana offered up a quick and silent prayer for the Hamiltons’ happiness.
    Glancing around the small banquet hall, Diana again felt an acute twinge of being out of place here. She’d protested when Travis had asked her to attend the marriage celebration. The last place she neededto be was in a confined room with Travis dressed to the nines in that dark tuxedo and crisp white shirt. The midnight-black jacket matched his eyes to a T, his long, straight hair was tied back in a neat queue. Shivers coursed over every inch of her skin as unbidden images invaded her mind…images of what it would be like to have his long, satiny hair loose and brushing against her naked flesh. Her eyes went wide at the startling vision, and she forced herself to look away from him.
    Ever since that night in the kitchen, when they had shared that soul-wrenching kiss, Diana had become more aware of him than ever. If that were possible. And Diana had quickly discovered it was.
    His every word, his every move, intruded on her senses, encroached on her day-to-day activities, violated her dreams. It was getting to the point that, when they were together, thought rushed out of her head, the words in her mind turning to smoke she couldn’t quite grasp.
    She hated to lay down at night to sleep, for images of his face, his lips, his hands, his body, would torment her in disjointed, erotic apparitions. Every time she closed her eyes, her subconscious conjured Travis as some sort of nocturnal specter who teased her with kind words, taunted her with his warm, silken fingertips. Sleep had become agony for her.
    So when he’d suggested she come to the wedding, she’d declined. But he’d been so full of rationale meant to convince her to change her answer. This gathering would be a great opportunity for Diana to meet his friends, he’d said, the people who would be close to the boys as they grew into adolescents andthen adults. Besides that, he’d continued, the twins might have some questions regarding Native American marriage customs that he wouldn’t be able to answer.
    Diana had silently but seriously doubted that. The boys were too young to think about such things; however, in the end she’d agreed to come, thinking that any opportunity to talk to them about their heritage would be good. And she had been curious about Travis’s friends and their children.
    She smiled now as she spied Jared and Josh being herded around the room by Sloan’s triplets, the girls introducing the boys to various people in attendance. Travis’s sons would surely flourish in this friendly and loving environment.
    “You’re sitting over here all alone.”
    Travis’s unexpected appearance made her flinch.
    “I’m sorry.” He frowned. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
    “I—I was just—caught up in my thoughts. I’m okay, here.” She offered him a small smile, hoping to put his mind at ease—and make him go away.
    Far away.
    “You’re not okay according to the bride.”
    There was tension in his tone. Diana heard it.
    “I have orders to get you out on the dance floor,” he said. “Jane said you’re a guest at her wedding, and she didn’t want you to go home feeling as if you hadn’t had a good time.”
    “B-but…I wouldn’t think that at all,” she rushed to assure him. “I am having a good time.”
    The idea of being held in Travis’s arms, swaying to slow music had her desperate to get out of dancingwith him. “I’ll smile more,” she continued. “I promise. I’ll go over and introduce myself to…to…” Searching the room, she pointed to the first people she spied. “To that other couple over there.”
    “Won’t do.” Travis held out his hand to her. “Come and dance. Make the bride happy.”
    She knew her eyes expressed the panic she felt.
    Softly he admitted, “Diana, I don’t want to do this any more than you do. But—” he