THE TIME STAR Read Free Page B

fashioned.
    So close, too. Waneeta became aware of
how close he was standing. His clean male scent filled her nostrils, and she
let her eyes wander up his wide chest to his face. He was no longer smiling at
her. He stared into her eyes, and, well, right into her soul. Her heartbeat
ripped upward as her breath stalled within her. This guy didn't realize it, but
the sex appeal pouring from him was torrential. The fire had since quieted
down, and for the longest minute, there was nothing but the two of them, and her
sharp intake of breath.
    Feeling suddenly warm, Waneeta whispered,
"I don't even know your name."
    "Thomas Stafford." His gaze
held hers and oddly, he took her hand and drew it up to his lips. The warmth he
radiated surged up her arm, heating her further. Oh, wow. Even as his lips
touched her hand, his eyes remained fixed on hers. "Charmed to meet you,
Miss..."
    Oh, double wow. She was the one who was
charmed. Now, what the heck did he ask? Oh, yeah, her name.
    Waneeta found her voice. She'd lost it
somewhere between his smile and his whisper. Somewhere around the time those
lips found the back of her hand. "Waneeta Meadows," she whispered.
    A smile lingered on his smooth, sensuous
lips, lips she could still feel on her skin. "Juanita," he repeated,
testing the name with Hispanic flair. "You don't look Spanish."
    "I-I'm not. It's spelled
phonetically." She was having trouble catching her breath. He was so
handsome. So debonair, a gentleman in plaid. When she reddened yet again, he
took her arm and eased her back onto the pillow.
    "You'd best lay down, Miss Meadows,"
he advised her politely. "You were unconscious when I found you, remember?"
    Mutely, Waneeta obeyed. Gone was the
gentle teasing, and the wonder of what was surely an unreal man that had suddenly
dropped into her life.
    All that remained was the essence of
attraction, distilled until it would surely burn if ignited by a spark like
those she'd had rain on her this very evening.

Chapter 3
     
    Suddenly, Thomas remembered his manners.
"What a terrible host I am, Miss. You must be thirsty! Would you like a
cup of tea or some water?"
    He had seen worse injuries, but not on a
tender lady as Waneeta. It would be improper to offer her an alcoholic
beverage, and considering what he read in the book, he was glad he had none.
    "Just some water, thanks," she
answered quietly, as if all that was happening around her was perfectly normal.
    Thomas took a china cup from a hook
beside the fireplace and ladled some water out of the barrel. His guest
hesitated when he offered it to her.
    "Well, down the hatch. It can't be
any worse than the treated town water I drink every day." She grinned
bravely. "Besides, how else are you going to store water here, when you don't
appear to have a well?"
    She sipped the water and her smile
relaxed. "It's good."
    He found himself smiling back. "I
have bread and cheese that I bought in Eganville on my way here. Would you like
some of them?"
    "No, thanks. I'm actually hoping
Kevin will find me. It's getting late, and I really should get home."
    Thomas walked over to the window and
peered out. Then, turning and frowning, he shook his head, "It's already
started to snow as you predicted. He'll most likely wait until morning to look
for you, if he isn't injured himself."
    "Ha! I doubt Kevin's injured,"
she answered. "He probably just went home, expecting me to follow."
    "He would just leave you here to
find your own way home? What kind of an idiot is he?"
     
    Waneeta blinked, dumbfounded at his outburst.
She wanted to explain that she knew her way home, but Thomas interjected, "I'm
sorry. I've no right to speak that way about your cousin, Miss. I'm sure he's
not the monster you make him out to be."
    She frowned. "He's just immature,
that's all. It's probably because I've always been in charge when the two of us
are together. Because I'm older." She sighed. "But you're right. He won't
bother to look for me until morning." Waneeta wished it was