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

shrugged “—I don’t see any way around it.”
    Looking from his handsome face to his outstretched hand to his face again, Diana thought to protest further. But in the end, she figured he was right. She certainly didn’t want to upset Jane on her wedding day. Diana knew her grandmother would tell her to do whatever it took to be gracious, grateful and hospitable. To give utmost respect to both the occasion and those being honored. It was the way of the Kolheek.
    Sliding her fingers over his, Diana rose from the chair and allowed herself to be guided to the dance floor, all the while feeling as if she were being led straight to the gallows.
    Think of other things, she told herself. Think of walking in the woods. Think of staring at the stars. Think of how, once this dance is over, you can march right up to the bar and order a stiff drink to steady your nerves.
    Diana nearly groaned when Travis swung her around to face him. One strong hand settled on the small of her back, sending sparklike heat shooting up her spine, while the other one gently but firmly grasped her fingers.
    He moved easily for a tall, broad-shouldered man. With sure steps never leaving a doubt as to who was leading, he steered her around the outskirts of the dance floor.
    Diana focused on the other dancers, on the wedding guests who had chosen to sit this one out, on the children as they played near the front door of the banquet hall. She forced herself to direct her attention on anyone and anything other than the man who was holding her close.
    Close enough to feel the heat of his body. Close enough to smell his cologne.
    The heady scent of him brought to mind sensual images of romantic evenings. Of passionate kisses shared in the heat of the night.
    Squeezing her eyes shut, Diana fought to swim her way out of her carnal musings. They were only going to get her into trouble. The thoughts swelled like a rising tide, threatening to drown her there and then.
    Suddenly she sensed his attention on her, and helplessly she raised her gaze to his.
    The need expressed in his dark eyes was brazenly unmitigated. Enough to steal away her breath. She felt captured. Mesmerized. And although their bodies didn’t stop swaying to the beat, moving around the dance floor, she felt as if they stood stock-still. As though they were the only two people in the room. In the whole, entire world.
    Diana clearly saw that he must have been suffering from his own arousing notions. The sweet misery of them was expressed in the tension of his jaw, in the slight flare of his nostrils.
    It was as if their lips were connected by someinvisible elastic band that drew them, ever so slowly, closer and closer. She could feel his warm breath on her face, and the desire he felt was etched into every plane and angle of his ruggedly handsome face.
    The moment seemed to hang in some kind of suspension of time. Hovering. Throbbing. Enticing.
    Her heart fluttered like the wings of a frightened hummingbird, and her knees felt weak. Their lips were going to meet. Right here in this public place. In front of all these people. In the midst of all his friends. And there wasn’t a single, solitary thing she could do about it.
    The music ended. And the ceiling lights brightened a bit.
    Still, Diana and Travis stood as if they were riveted to the floor. Riveted to the moment.
    The lead singer announced that the band would be taking a short break.
    Only at the sound of the man’s voice did they breathe, and blink. It was almost as if they both awakened simultaneously from some strange, erotic trance.
    “Damn,” Travis whispered as he stepped away from her.
    His Adam’s apple bobbed in what looked to be a painful swallow. Diana thought that surely his throat must be as dry as her own.
    She watched as his head swung around to survey the people closest to them. Evidently he was anxious about who saw what, and what those watching might have thought about the intimate encounter they had witnessed.
    “Come