Free The Barons of Texas: Jill by Fayrene Preston Page B

as he had told her they were going to a club in Deep Ellum, she had been certain she would feel out of place in the dress he had bought her. But, to her surprise, she didn’t.
    The people there spanned all ages and wore all manner of dress. There were those who wore clothing even dressier than she and Colin wore, as if they might have just come from the Morton H. MyersonHall, where they had attended a symphony, or perhaps the Music Hall, where they might have attended an opera or a musical.
    She thought she even caught a glimpse of a few of the Dallas Cowboys, including the quarterback, at a back table. Normally she would expect them to be mobbed, but here, everyone was leaving everyone else alone. They were there for the music and the company. And Colin had even been right about something else. She didn’t think she knew a single person there. Her spirits lightened.
    Maybe she could relax, after all, and enjoy herself.
    “You need to be looking at me.”
    She started. “Excuse me?”
    “It’s a basic rule, Jill. Your attention should be on the man you are with.”
    “Oh. Well, it’s just that the club is so interesting.”
    “And during conversations, you should hang on his every word, as if he’s the most fascinating person you’ve ever met.”
    She slowly exhaled. Just as she had decided she might be able to relax and actually enjoy herself, Colin had to remind her that they were there as part of her lessons. She was beginning to hate the word lesson . “Look, you can tell me things like that—after all, that’s the bargain we struck. But do I actually have to do the things you say?”
    His half smile gave her a peek at his dimple. “You absolutely do. Otherwise, how are you going to learn? I mean, if you don’t practice these things with me, you might do them wrong when you’re with Des.”
    He was right, she supposed. Damn it.

Five
    T he band was on a break, and Billie Holiday’s voice filled the club with her heartbreak as she sang “I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You,” a song about her unrequited love for a man.
    She didn’t understand that kind of love, Jill reflected. How could a woman continue to love a man if he didn’t love her? It didn’t make sense, and it certainly wouldn’t be productive.
    She and Colin had finished dinner, though she hadn’t eaten much. The fare was basically Cajun, and the few bites she’d taken from her plate had been very good. But she was having problems relaxing. Everything about Colin was overwhelmingly compelling. He was the most intensely virile man she had ever known.
    Why hadn’t she seen it before now? With her nextbreath, she answered her own question. Because she hadn’t allowed herself to. And now she knew why.
    Instinct had led her to keep Colin at arm’s length, and in retrospect, it had been a wise decision. She completely understood now why her female acquaintances tried so hard to get, then keep, his attention on them, and why they would become so distraught when inevitably, politely, he slipped away from them.
    She was after another man, but that still didn’t make her immune to Colin. Not by a long shot. Why? she wondered. She’d had men come after her before—powerful, attractive, important men—yet she’d had no trouble handling them. If it would gain her something, she would play them along until they had served their purpose, then she would walk away.
    So why couldn’t she be that objective with Colin?
    Intellectually, she knew she had his full attention because of a business deal they had made, but emotionally, she could feel herself coming dangerously close to being completely caught up in him. How could that be?
    She touched her forehead. She needed to regain control of herself and remember why she was with him in the first place.
    She felt his hand touch her shoulder. “Are you getting a headache?”
    He looked so concerned that, before she knew it, she had rushed to reassure him. “No, not at all.”
    “Are you