Less-than-Innocent Invitation Read Free

several of her crew were watching them with more than a passing interest. So were some of Royal’s finest citizens, people she’d known when she’d lived there. She quietly groaned. The last thing she wanted to do was to cause a scene right there in the middle of the ballroom.
    â€œIt’s just a dance, Melissa,” Logan coolly stated. At the indecision in her eyes a sudden rush of desperation shot through him. He wanted her to say yes—but for all the wrong reasons.
    Yeah, sure, he wanted answers from her, but he found himself wanting to hold her once again. The knot in his stomach twisted a little tighter. At sixteen she’d been cute, at twenty, pretty. Now, at thirty-one, she was flat-out beautiful. Her long chestnut hair fell in curls around her face, setting off her fascinating green eyes. His gaze drifted lower, over her bare shoulders and slim, athletic figure. Her dress hid very little of her perfect skin. No wonder the television industry had her in front of the camera.
    Shaking his head, Logan forced himself to stop thinking about how beautiful she was and centered his attention on what he really wanted from her. Answers about why she’d left. If she’d lied about loving him. And now, after seeing her again, he needed to prove to himself that these new feelings of awareness were based on nostalgia and nothing more, that the desire he’d felt for her all those years ago was long gone.
    â€œAre you here with someone?” Melissa asked. She looked at his hand, searching for a wedding ring but finding none. She told herself it didn’t mean anything. Because work on a ranch could sometimes be dangerous, even if he was married, he probably didn’t wear a ring.
    He grinned at her. “No.”
    â€œAll right,” Melissa answered, more than a little surprised at his response. And curious. Did that mean there was no one special in his life? Or that he was alone just for this evening?
    She held out her hand and Logan closed his around it. They walked to the dance floor, and a shiver of anticipation whispered through her as he pulled her into his arms. Her lungs constricted with a needy ache. She was a fool to do this, to be this close to him, to let him anywhere near her heart. Even as she acknowledged she was playing with fire, her hand traitorously trailed across his shoulder to rest close to his neck.
    Closing her eyes she breathed in his scent, and the enticing, woodsy smell took her back to another time, another place, when he’d held her in his arms in more intimate ways as his big hands caressed her skin until she’d trembled with anticipation.
    Oh, this is not a good idea, her mind chanted over and over again. She leaned away, placing some much-needed distance between them. Opening her eyes, she searched his face to see if she’d had any effect on him. His emotionless mask, however, gave her no clue to his thoughts. She quickly looked away. “It’s a nice party,” she commented, struggling to ground herself.
    Logan nodded. “The town’s planned a lot of events to commemorate its anniversary.”
    She gave him a practiced, on-camera smile. “And the Texas Cattleman’s Club is doing its part.”
    â€œWe aim to please.”
    Which meant he was now a member of the Texas Cattleman’s Club. She found that interesting, but under the circumstances, she wasn’t about to stroke his ego by pursuing that topic. “A lot of work has gone into putting this ball together.”
    â€œIt isn’t every day the town has something this exciting to celebrate.” Logan felt the softness of Melissa’s hand in his and was suddenly very glad that he hadn’t left the ball. Not that he intended to have more than a dance with her.
    His mind drifted to the last time he’d made love to her, how she’d… No he wasn’t going to punish himself with the memories. What they had shared together was a long