Texas Proud and Circle of Gold (Long, Tall Texans #52) - Diana Palmer Page 0,120

singing the Air Force song?”

“So that’s what it was,” Pauline scoffed. “Good Lord, I thought the plane was full of drunks.”

“Why were you afraid of flying?” Gil persisted.

Kasie averted her eyes to the girls. “My family died in an airplane crash,” she said, without mentioning under what circumstances.

He shifted uncomfortably and looked at his daughters, who were watching for exciting little glimpses of people playing in the surf on the white beaches as they passed them.

“I’m all right now,” she said. “The flight wasn’t so bad.”

“Not with a handsome man to hold your hand,” Pauline teased deliberately.

“He was handsome,” Kasie agreed, but without enthusiasm, and without noticing that Gil’s eyes were beginning to glint with anger. He leaned back, glaring at Kasie.

She wondered what she’d done to provoke that anger. It made her uneasy. Pauline obviously didn’t like it, either, and the woman was giving Kasie looks that promised retribution in the near future. Kasie had a feeling that Miss Raines would make a very bad enemy, and deep in her stomach, she felt icy cold.

Chapter Seven

It took an hour to get checked into the luxury hotel. The girls played quietly in the marble-floored lobby with a puzzle book Kasie had brought along for them, while Pauline complained loudly and nonstop about the inconvenience of having to wait for a room to be made ready. By the time the clerk motioned them to the desk, Gil was completely out of humor. He hadn’t smiled since they got off the plane, in fact. When they were given keys to a two-bedroom suite and a single adjoining room, Pauline’s expression lightened.

“Oh, that’s nice of you, darling, letting Miss Mayfield have a room of her own.”

Gil gave her a look that combined exasperation with impatience. “The girls can’t be alone at night in a strange hotel,” he said curtly. “Kasie’s staying in the room with them, and the other bedroom in the suite is mine. You get the single.”

“Why can’t I just share with you, darling?” Pauline purred, enjoying Kasie’s sudden flush.

Gil looked furious. He glared down at her from his superior height. “Maybe you’ve forgotten that I don’t move with the times,” he said quietly.

Pauline laughed a little nervously. “You’re kidding. What’s so bad about two...friends sharing a room?”

“I’m not kidding,” Gil said flatly. He handed Pauline her key and motioned for Kasie and the girls to follow him.

Pauline stomped into the elevator, fuming. She gave Kasie a ferocious glare before she folded her arms over her chest and leaned back against the wall. The bellboy signaled that he’d wait for the next elevator to bring their luggage up, because six other people had jumped into the elevator right behind Pauline.

Gil and Pauline led the way down the hall, with Kasie and the girls following suit.

“At least, you can take me out tonight,” Pauline told Gil, “since Kasie’s along to baby-sit. Come on, darling, please? They have the most beautiful casino over on Paradise Island, and floor shows, too.”

“All right,” he said. “Let me get the girls and Kasie settled first, and find out about room service. You will want to have supper up here, won’t you?” he asked Kasie stiffly.

“Of course,” she said, not wanting to make things worse than they were—if that was possible.

“Good. Kasie can take the girls out to the beach while I check with the concierge about reservations,” he added, watching Pauline’s face beam. “I’ll pick you up at your room at five-thirty.”

“But that only gives me an hour to dress,” she moaned.

“You’d look beautiful in a pillowcase, and you know it,” he chided. “Go on.”

“Okay.” Pauline walked off to her own room without a word to the girls or Kasie.

Gil opened the door, noting that the bellboy was coming down the hall toward them with the luggage on a rolling carrier. He motioned Kasie and the girls inside.

“The bedrooms both have two double beds,” he told Kasie stiffly. “And there’s a balcony off the sitting room, if you want to sit outside and watch the surf after the girls get to sleep,” he added, indicating the French doors that led onto a small balcony with two padded chairs.

“We’ll be fine,” she told him.

“Don’t let them stay up past eight, no matter what they say,” he told her. “And don’t you stay up too late, either.”

“I won’t.”

He hesitated at the door to his own room and looked at Kasie for a long moment, until her heart began to race. “You didn’t tell me that you lost your