Sleepless Nights (The Donovans of the Delta) (7 page)

Snapping the reins over the mule’s back, he urged her forward.

He felt a keen sense of loss when he stepped into the antique shop. Amanda was nowhere in sight.

Maxine made a beeline for him. “Hi there, good-looking. What can I get for you? As if I didn’t know.” She fluffed her hair and winked.

Tanner chuckled. “Is clairvoyance one of your talents?”

“I don’t have to be clairvoyant to know you’ve come back to see Amanda. Am I right, or what?”

“You’re right. When I left her here earlier, there was something I forgot to do.”

“She’s in the back room, but I’m not so sure she’ll be glad to see you. She’s trying to get you out of her system.”

Tanner knew he should be happy about that news, but he wasn’t. Not by a long shot. As a matter of fact, he reacted the same way old Josephine would if she had a burr under her saddle. He got ornery as hell.

“She is, is she? We’ll see about that.” He barely noticed Maxine’s smile of devilish glee as he settled his ten-gallon hat firmly on his head and stalked toward the back room.

Amanda didn’t see him at first. She was leaning over a trunk, her slacks stretched across her backside in a way that would set angels to thinking about sin. Tanner leaned against the doorway and took it all in. He remembered every curve and hollow of those hips—and exactly how they felt. Satiny, smooth, and firm. His mouth went dry. Reaching up, he swiped his hand across his brow. Maybe he should have kept on going toward home.

Amanda leaned deeper into the trunk, muttering to herself. Something about “damned puny buttons and froufrou.” Tanner wasn’t certain what she’d said. Nor did it matter. That last move had outlined her lingerie lines in clear relief. No panty line, merely the imprint of lace high up the side of her thigh. A teddy, he thought. Underneath those slacks she had on a teddy with French-cut sides. He wondered if it was black lace. Sweat beaded his upper lip, and he didn’t even bother to wipe it away.

He remembered the first time he’d seen her in a black lace teddy. It had been the summer between their senior year and college, long, lazy days when love seemed their own invention, and the future merely a bright, indefinable light that beckoned to them.

They’d gone down to Biloxi with a group of high-school friends, the sort of outing that marked good-bye to youth and initiation into adulthood. He and the rest of the boys had been deep-sea fishing that day while all the girls had gone shopping. That night, sunburned but still bursting with energy, they’d all gone dancing. Afterward Amanda had come to his room. It hadn’t been the first time they’d loved, but it turned out to be one of the most memorable.

Something about her had been different that night, as if she’d cast off the shy vulnerability of a teenager and become a woman. She’d been provocative, sensuous, and incredibly passionate. With the lights turned down low, she’d pushed him into an easy chair and stood before him. Then she’d stripped. The loud thrumming of his heart was the only music she needed. He’d felt certain she heard it.

First she’d taken the pins from her hair ever so slowly, caressing each flaming strand as it fell to her shoulders. At that moment he could have buried himself in her hair and died happy. He remembered how he’d felt, just looking at her hair. Then she’d slowly unzipped her dress, a bright red taffeta party frock. The sound of the zipper had sent chills through him. When she’d lowered the dress and revealed the black lace teddy underneath, he’d thought he’d die.

He’d started toward her then, but she’d held up her hand, stilling him. Not touching her had been sweet agony, but afterward he was glad he’d waited. She’d stepped out of the dress and stood before him, legs apart, hands on her hips, wearing nothing except the black lace teddy, red high heels so sexy that they should have been declared hazardous to his sanity, and a smile.

It was then that he made love to her, swiftly and thoroughly. Bending her over backward, he’d devoured her mouth. Locked together, he’d guided them to the bed.

It had been one of those unforgettable nights. From that moment on he’d never seen black lace without thinking of her.

Standing in the doorway, watching her bent over the trunk and thinking about that night, he felt his desire growing. Wanting her caused physical pain, but he knew he couldn’t take her, not even to get her out of his system. Deep inside, he knew that their rejoining would be a thunderous affair. And Maxine was out there in the shop. When the time came, he wouldn’t have an audience.

He felt a moan of agony rise in his throat, the pain of denial. Whether he’d given voice to the agony, he didn’t know, but suddenly Amanda’s back stiffened. She whirled around. Bright spots of color rode high on her cheeks.

“What do you mean, sneaking up on me like that?” She straightened and faced him defiantly.

“I didn’t sneak. As a matter of fact, I made quite a bit of noise. You were so engrossed, you didn’t hear me.”

She pushed her hair back from her forehead, a gesture of frustration he remembered from years gone by.

“Well, why didn’t you say something?”

“And spoil all the fun? The view was absolutely entrancing.”

Her face flamed even brighter. “Tanner Donovan! That’s just like you. Always taking what you want without asking.”

“An apt choice of words.” Tossing his hat onto a chair, he left the doorway and stalked her. “I want something from you, Amanda, and I’ve come to get it.”

She moved out of his reach, putting the trunk between them. He had the nerve to laugh. She could have screamed.

“Didn’t you vow you’d never run from me?”

“I’m not running. I’m merely standing over here until you tell me what you want and until I can decide whether I’ll give it to you.”

“It’s no fun if I have to ask.” He feinted a pass, then closed in for a touchdown. Standing behind the trunk with her pinned against his chest, he smiled. “I forgot to kiss you good-bye, Amanda.”

“An oversight we could both live with.” She shoved against him. “Don’t be fooled into thinking that the Hershey bars softened me up. I’ve made up my mind. I’ll resist you or die trying.”

“I can think of better ways to die. For instance, this.” His mouth crushed down on hers. It wasn’t a good-bye kiss, it was an explosive assault.

Determined to hold him off, she struggled briefly in his arms. Then the drugging power of Tanner Donovan took over. She could no more have resisted than she could have flown to Tahiti without a plane. She welcomed him, reveled in him, feasted on him. The incredible joy of being held by him blotted out everything else.

Need flamed in her. She pressed closer, trying to merge her body with his. Vaguely she was aware of soft sounds, whimperings of desire that were her own. He’d know. The thought flitted through her mind. He’d know how much she wanted him, but she didn’t care. Nothing mattered at that moment except being in Tanner’s arms, being kissed by him.

She absorbed him, the familiar taste of him, fresh and delicious and somehow very masculine; the familiar shape of his mouth, beautifully molded and firm, exactly right for kissing; the familiar feel of him, broad and solid and enduring. Home, she thought. Home is being held next to Tanner’s heart.

She felt him pulling back, ending the kiss.

“No.” She wound her hands in his hair and pulled his head back down. She didn’t care what he thought: She had to have more of him. Something to get her through the rest of the day and the long night ahead.

His lips touched hers again. She could feel the lines of his smile. Let him feel triumphant, she thought. Let him think that he was the victor. She had won, too. She was taking what she wanted, and she would walk away in one piece.

The room became steamy with their harsh breathing. Jungle heat, Amanda thought. She and Tanner wanted each other in a basic, primitive way. Whether it had anything to do with love, she didn’t know. For her part, perhaps it did. But she knew his intentions. He’d made them plain enough. Love was not what Tanner Donovan wanted.

It was that last thought that made her brave enough to back away from him. She called upon an unknown strength to let him go, then broke away and stood back. “You can go now. I took what I wanted.”

He reached out and touched her cheek. She hoped he didn’t feel its heat. Like a fever, Tanner was contagious, and she’d forgotten to stay in quarantine.

“You were always especially beautiful after lovemaking.”

“I suppose your enormous ego makes it necessary for you to exaggerate a simple kiss.”

His laugh was mocking. “Nothing is simple between us, Amanda.” When he removed his hand from her cheek, she felt deprived. “The next time there won’t be clothes between us.”

He picked up his hat and strode toward the door, then he was gone. Amanda cupped her burning cheeks with her hands and groaned. Getting Tanner out of her system was going to be the hardest thing she’d ever done.

CHAPTER FIVE

“Tanner Donovan, if you prowl through this kitchen one more time, you’re going to wear the floor out.”

Anna smiled at him with such fond indulgence that he knew she didn’t mind if he wore fifteen floors out. He scooped an apple out of the bowl on the table as he made another circuit through the house. “Exercise.” He grinned at her over the apple.

“Pooh! You exercise by running all over the county. Seems to me more like restlessness. Did something happen on that surrey ride you want to talk about?”

“Nothing that I can’t forget if I try.”

Anna wiped her hands on a towel and reached up to cup her tall son’s face. “I want you to be happy.”

“I am, Mom. I have everything I need.”

“Except somebody to love.”

He roared with laughter. “If the Donovan clan were any bigger, I’d have to live two lifetimes in order to get around to loving them all.”

“I’m not talking about kinfolk; I’m talking about somebody special.” She turned back to her cooking. “It’s not my way to meddle, but I don’t think you ever got over that Lassiter girl. Land sakes! How you two used to carry on, talking about how Claude would be best man at the wedding, counting the children you’d have. You even said you’d name the first girl after me. I always thought that would be so nice.”

He leaned over and pecked her on the cheek. “I find bachelorhood to my liking. You’ll just have to settle for adorable me.”

She laughed. “You Donovan men. Cocky as the day is long.” She dropped the last of the dumplings into the pot. When she turned around, Tanner had started out the door. “Now where are you going? Supper will be ready in a minute.”

“Outside. Theo’s hellions need some supervision.”

“Supervision, my eye. You’ll be right in the middle of their games, having more fun than they do.”

Tanner winked at his mother. “Don’t tell. I’m trying to change my image.”

“What image?”

“Will-o’-the-wisp.”

He left Anna shaking her head. She’d never understand, he thought. Even he didn’t understand. What did it matter after all these years that Amanda had found Claude’s steadiness more appealing than his will-o’-the-wispness? What in the hell was a will-o’-the-wisp, anyway? He needed to put that woman out of his mind.

He turned his attention to his nephews. “Hey, Raymond, Kenneth—let’s play some ball.”

Theo’s sons galloped toward him on gangly teenage legs, whooping for joy.

“Hey, Uncle Tanner. Show us that play you made in the Super Bowl.”

“Yeah, man. I want to see if you’ve still got the stuff.”

Tanner ruffled their hair. “I’ll show you the stuff.”

The backyard game held his attention for thirty minutes, thirty blessed minutes during which Amanda didn’t invade his mind. Then Kenneth missed a pass. The ball rolled under a holly bush, startling a cardinal into flight. Suddenly Tanner thought of Amanda. It might have been the setting sun shining on the red bird’s wing, reminding him of her hair; or it might have been a flash of memory, a rare white Christmas long ago when he and Amanda had seen a flock of cardinals in the snow. Whatever the reason, he knew that he had to see her. Now.

Promising his nephews another game later in the week, he excused himself and went back into the house. It smelled of Anna’s chicken and dumplings and spiced pumpkin pie. Tanner knew exactly what to do.

“Hey, Mom. Do you still have that big picnic basket?” He strode around the kitchen, pulling open every cabinet door.

“Land sakes! What are you up to now?”

“I’m going on a rescue mission. Do you have plenty of food, enough for me to share with a friend?”

“You know good and well that I always cook enough to feed everybody in Greenville. Would this friend happen to be the same one you took out in the surrey this morning?”

“Now, Mom. Get that gleam out of your eye. It’s not what you’re thinking.”

“How do you know what I’m thinking?”

He laughed. “Weren’t you the one talking about somebody special and wishing for a namesake? I don’t want you to be disappointed. This is not that kind of mission.”

“Hmm.” Anna found the picnic basket and began to stuff it with food. “I hope she has a hearty appetite. I do so like a girl with a hearty appetite.”

Tanner placed the basket in the backseat of his Corvette and backed it out the driveway. As he pointed the car toward Amanda’s house he pressed the button to let his windows down. The evening air was crisp and invigorating. It smelled of the river and pine trees and rich Delta earth. Strings of colored lights and bright tinsel decorating the neighborhood houses lit his way.

A great warmth filled Tanner’s soul. He blamed it on Christmas. As he neared Amanda’s house a song filled his heart. He began to whistle. The song was
Someone to Watch Over Me
.

 o0o

Amanda stood in her bare feet, staring into her refrigerator. As usual, she had given only scant thought to food. It appeared that her choices for an evening meal were limited to cheese and pickles, or pickles and whatever happened to be wrapped in a piece of foil, provided it hadn’t already turned green.

Just before she had left the shop, Maxine had delivered a stern lecture on the consequences of not eating right. As Amanda looked at her paltry food supply, she wished she’d paid more attention. The seven Hershey bars she’d had for lunch were now only a memory, and she was hungry.