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Sinful Seduction_The Davies Family Book 1

Page 19

by Ann Christopher


  “There’s nothing to understand.” She hesitated, shrugging. “You’re making assumptions. That’s the problem.”

  Assumptions?

  He supposed he was. Hell. Wasn’t this whole trip down to the Village to see her all about one giant assumption?

  And yet…

  She was into him, too. He knew it. He could feel it.

  Straining his brain, he tried to think of the letter—the exact paragraph, sentence and words—where she’d admitted she had feelings for him. She had said it, hadn’t she? Why couldn’t he remember? Why had he taken her precious letters with him that last day, tucked inside his vest pocket for luck? Luck. Yeah. Funny. Luck hadn’t saved him from being captured, and it hadn’t saved his letters, which had probably been kindling for some insurgent’s fire.

  Now he couldn’t reread them and find the proof he needed.

  Oh, but it got worse.

  In this cold light of a May day, months later, he had to admit that it was possible he’d imagined something between the lines of her letters—something that had never been there.

  Had he imagined her tenderness?

  Was he that deluded, on top of the PTSD?

  No, something shouted inside him.

  Where did the absolute certainty come from? Maybe it was that crawling gut instinct that had repeatedly kept him alive during the war, or maybe he was just insane, pure and simple.

  “Talia.” He chose his words carefully, afraid of getting everything wrong and driving her away by sounding like an arrogant jackass. “I thought we were developing something.”

  She nodded, her gaze now fixed on some immovable point to the right of his eyes.

  “We were. Friendship. That’s all. I don’t have romantic feelings for you.”

  Bullshit, screamed his gut instinct.

  Inside him, the frustration rose.

  “That’s all?”

  “Yes.”

  “If it’s that cut-and-dried, why aren’t you looking at me?”

  That got her. Her gaze flickered to her fingers, which were twined and buried in her lap, then to his collar. She opened and closed her mouth. Opened it again. Finally looked into his eyes.

  The utter darkness he saw there made him flinch. It was like staring into one of her black hole paintings. It leached the soul out of his body and left nothing but emptiness.

  “I don’t want a relationship right now, Tony. I’m not sure I’ll ever want one. I don’t have room in my life—”

  “Why not?”

  Her mouth worked and worked, but no words came out.

  “Why not?”

  “I’m taking time off from work. I want to travel. I’ve hardly been anywhere in my life—”

  “Travel, then. I’d never try to stop you from doing what you want to do, Talia—”

  “—and I just… I can’t handle any complications right now.”

  “Wow. That’s pretty much everything and the kitchen sink. Anything else?”

  Her brows contracted into an indignant line.

  “Is this a cross-examination? Am I on trial? Is that what’s going on?”

  “You’re not on trial. But I don’t believe anything you just said. Especially the part about not having feelings for me.”

  She nailed him with a glare that nearly made his face bleed.

  “Nice. Arrogant, much?”

  Brilliant, Davies.

  He ran a hand over his nape, trying hard to arrange his features into an expression that felt less intense.

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that…” He fumbled, struggling for words that kept skittering just out of reach. If he’d cut out his tongue with his boot knife, the conversation still would have been easier than this. “I can’t stop thinking about you. Your letters meant so much to me. And then when you refused the last one—”

  “I didn’t think it was fair for me to give you mixed messages. That’s why I sent it back. You were reading too much into it.”

  Funny she should mention mixed messages.

  He stared into her face, seeing her turbulence, and he felt the ghostly imprint of her body fitted perfectly against his. He heard the echoes of her joyful cry when she had first seen him just now, and of her needy sigh when he’d almost kissed her.

  Most of all, he remembered the unspoken subtext of longing in her letters.

  Weighing all of that against her unimpressive denials, he decided that, while he might well be crazy, it was more likely that she was a liar.

  Since he couldn’t figure out why she would lie if she wasn’t involved with someone else, he felt the first twinges of anger.

  “You’re pretty good at giving mixed messages, Talia.”

  Something flashed in her eyes, and he couldn’t tell if it was anger, fear or garden variety turmoil. He was still struggling to make sense of this giant and incomprehensible puzzle when she speared him right through the heart with the worst possible weapon against him.

  “They were only letters, Tony,” she said coolly. “I’d have done the same for any soldier.”

  If you enjoyed this excerpt, grab

  SINFUL TEMPTATION

  today!

  Also by Ann Christopher

  JOURNEY’S END Small-Town Contemporary Romance Series

  “Book” 1: A JOURNEY’S END Novella

  Book 2: LET’S DO IT

  Book 3: ON FIRE

  “Book” 4: LET’S STAY TOGETHER Novella

  Book 5: UNFORGETTABLE

  Click here for more titles in this series!

  Billionaires of Journey’s End Contemporary Romance Series

  Book 1: NO ORDINARY LOVE

  Book 2: BEYOND ORDINARY LOVE

  Click here for more titles in this series!

  DEADLY Romantic Suspense Series

  Book 1: DEADLY PURSUIT

  Book 2: DEADLY DESIRES

  Book 3: DEADLY SECRETS

  IT’S COMPLICATED Contemporary Romance Series

  TROUBLE

  RISK

  JUST ABOUT SEX

  SWEETER THAN REVENGE

  The Davies Family Contemporary Romance Series

  Book 1: SINFUL SEDUCTION

  Book 2: SINFUL TEMPTATION

  Book 3: SINFUL ATTRACTION

  Book 4: SINFUL PARADISE

  The Warner Family Contemporary Romance Series

  Book 1: TENDER SECRETS

  Book 2: ROAD TO SEDUCTION

  Book 3: CAMPAIGN FOR SEDUCTION

  Book 4: REDEMPTION’S KISS

  Book 5: REDEMPTION’S TOUCH

  Boxed Sets

  DEADLY Series

  IT’S COMPLICATED

  SWEET LOVE

  Single Titles

  CASE FOR SEDUCTION

  THE SURGEON’S SECRET BABY

  SEDUCED ON THE RED CARPET

  Novellas

  TAILS OF LOVE

  GIFT OF LOVE

  To Richard

  Acknowledgments

  Special thanks to:

  Earthly Charms, for the lovely cover; and

  VCM, for the sharp-eyed edit.

  © Copyright 2012 by Sally Young Moore

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  This is a work of fiction. All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone, living or dead, bearing the same name or names. All incidents are pure invention from the author’s imagination. All names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information or retrieval system, is forbidden without the prior written permission of both publisher and Author copyright owner of this book.

  For information, contact:<
br />
  Blue Iris Press LLC

  7350 Montgomery Road #36476

  Cincinnati, OH 45236

  www.BlueIrisPress.com

  Second Edition:

  Print ISBN: 978-1-948176-10-1

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-948176-09-5

  Excerpt from Sinful Temptation © 2012 by Sally Young Moore

  About the Author

  A recovering lawyer, Ann Christopher has been published since 2006 and writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense.

  When she’s not writing, Ann likes to do the following, in no particular order: read; cook; eat; hang out at Target looking for new stuff she doesn’t need; play with her 2 rescue dogs and 2 rescue cats; and travel the world with her family. She lives in Ohio with her family.

  If you’d like to recommend a great book, share a recipe for homemade cake of any kind, or have a tip for getting your teens to do what you say the first time you say it, Ann would love to hear from you!

  Stay in touch with Ann!

  AnnChristopher.com

  ann@annchristopher.com

  Learn about Ann’s deals on BookBub

 

 

 


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