Diamond Spur. Diana Palmer

her tongue going unsteadily to her dry lips, and he made a sound under his breath and almost pushed her away.

      “I’ve got to get back to work,” he said curtly. “I left calves scattered all over hell and gone.”

      “Thanks again for the beans,” Mary said. She glanced at him thoughtfully. “Would you like to come over for supper and sample them?”

      He lifted his eyebrows. “Who’s cooking, you or Kate?”

      Mary glared at him. “Why, you horrible man, and I was going to bake you a cake, too.”

      He tweaked Mary’s chin and bent to kiss her cheek. “You’re a great cook. I apologize.”

      “Kate’s cooking, anyway,” Mary muttered. She shook her head, laughing. “You horrible man,” she said again and started toward the hall. “I’ll get our purses, Kate, you can lock the back door after Jason.”

      “Yes, Mama,” Kate agreed.

      The silence in the room when she left it was deafening. Jason stared at her with all the barriers down. There was no teasing banter now to disguise the desire in his hard face.

      He moved toward her, tucking a hand under her soft chin to lift it. “Do you want my mouth as much as I want yours?” he asked under his breath.

      Her lips parted. “Oh, yes...!” she moaned.

      He bent and roughly opened her lips with his, teasing them in a silence that vibrated with tension. He lifted his mouth and brushed it lazily back and forth across hers, feeling the trembling start.

      He bit her lower lip softly. “Do that to me.”

      She did, and both his lean hands came up to frame her face, to hold it steady while his dark eyes blazed into hers for an instant.

      “Now let’s stop playing and do it for real,” he whispered gruffly, and bent with fierce purpose in his mouth.

      Her heart was going crazy when she felt that tentative searching, but before she had time to react to it, her mother’s footsteps echoed toward the kitchen door.

      “Oh, damn,” Kate whimpered under her breath. Jason stood erect on legs that felt weak and looked down at her with black frustration in a face like stone.

      “I wanted it, too,” he said quietly. “Tonight, I’ll give you that kiss, Kate. I’ll give it to you with interest...!”

      Mary walked in with Kate’s purse. “About six suit you, Jason?” she asked the taciturn man who was already at the back door, with his lean hand on the doorknob.

      “Six suits me fine,” he said, and grinned at them.

      “See you then,” Kate said lightly.

      Neither of them fooled Mary, who saw beneath the teasing tones to the intense tension she’d interrupted. “Don’t fall off your horse,” she told Jason.

      “Hold your breath,” he returned. “My God, a man can’t walk in the door around here without getting insulted.”

      “We only insult people we like,” Kate assured him. Her eyes traced his face lovingly. She was still shaking with hunger for the kiss she’d wanted so much.

      “Good thing I’m not on the bad side of you, then,” he chuckled. He winked at them and went out, leaving Kate to lock it behind him.

      “Jason’s a character,” Mary laughed, shaking her head.

      “He’s a nice man,” Kate agreed without looking at her mother, and she smiled. “Shall we go?”

      Nice, Mary thought as they left the house, was a word no sane woman would use when referring to Jason Donavan. She knew suddenly, and with almost tangible delight, that something was going on between Jason and Kate. Now if she could just help things along, she might not have to worry about Kate’s future after all.

      Kate, blissfully unaware of her mother’s plotting, was thinking dreamily of the evening ahead, already tasting Jason’s mouth on her own. She’d put the future out of her mind altogether. All she wanted now was as much of Jason’s company as she could get, and whatever feeling there was in him for her. She was in love with him, and because of that, she decided, she’d give him whatever he asked of her. Even if that meant eventually getting out of his life altogether.