Texas Proud and Circle of Gold (Long, Tall Texans #52) - Diana Palmer Page 0,51

leaned down, putting his lips reverently to it. “I’ll live on this my whole life.”

Her heart skipped. She just looked at him with everything she felt for him in her green eyes. His jaw clenched. He still wanted her, now more than ever. But he managed some control as he pulled down the bra and fastened it, then drew the sweater down over her waist.

She smiled and fastened the buttons of his shirt. He looked rumpled and his hair was mussed from her hands in it. She loved the way he looked. He was a little flushed, too, and his dark eyes danced as they met hers.

“You’d like Vegas,” he said. “For visits, anyway, it’s an exciting place. Plenty of music and neon lights. An oasis in the desert.”

She put her hands on his chest, over the buttoned shirt. “I don’t guess you’d like a little Texas town that draws the sidewalks in at dusk,” she said without meeting his eyes.

“I’d like wherever you called home, Bernie,” he said solemnly. “We come from different places. But that doesn’t mean both of us can’t adapt to something else, even if it’s just for a little while.” He bent and kissed her very softly. “I didn’t want to stop. You go to my head like whiskey. It was like sailing on the clouds.”

She laughed and pressed close. “For me, too.”

His arms contracted, holding her close and rocking her. “We’d better finish watching the movie. There may be a quiz after.”

She laughed with pure delight. “Okay.”

He drew her gently down beside him and clasped her hand tight in his. They watched the screen until the credits came on. Mikey turned off the entertainment center and drew Bernie along with him out the door and into the kitchen.

Paul and Sari looked up as they came into the room. Both were grinning.

“Yeah, we got a little friendly,” Mikey said defensively. “It was me, mostly.”

“It was me, too,” she said, and smiled up at him.

“You don’t need to excuse anything to us,” Paul chuckled. “We’ve only been married three years.”

“He means, we’re still on our honeymoon,” Sari teased. “So how about that coffee?”

“Sounds lovely,” Bernie said, and stars were in the eyes she turned toward Mikey, who looked like a cat who’d just eaten a canary.

* * *

That expression went along with Bernie to work the following Monday, where Jessie saw it and grew sarcastic and insulting.

“We all heard about you and Mikey going over to his cousin’s place. Some mansion,” Jessie drawled sarcastically, glancing at Sari as she paused by Bernie’s desk. “Got your eyes on that nice rich fish, don’t you? But do you think a little hick like you could land a man that sophisticated?”

Bernie’s face flamed, but she didn’t back down. “Backgrounds don’t make much difference when people have feelings for one another,” she said.

“As if he’d have feelings for you,” Jessie said with a laugh. “I don’t know him personally, but I know about him. He’s had women who were movie stars, and debutantes and millionaires’ daughters. He’s not likely to take up with a woman who’s looking at a wheelchair a few years down the road.”

“That’s enough,” Sari said icily, standing up. “One more word and Mr. Kemp is going to get an earful.”

Jessie knew when to quit. She shrugged. “Just stating facts, that’s all.”

“Ooh, somebody’s so jealous she can’t stand it,” Olivia drawled with an amused look at Jessie. “What’s the matter, sweetie, did he slap you down over at the courthouse and you’re getting even?”

Jessie actually flushed. ‘He did not,” she spit. “I could have him if I wanted him.”

“Do be my guest and try,” Olivia taunted. “We heard that you made him sick.”

Jessie was almost vibrating by now. She started to speak just as Mr. Kemp’s door opened and he came out. She went quickly to her desk with a forced smile at the boss and pretended to work.

Kemp, no fool, looked from Bernie’s flushed face to Sari’s angry one and drew a conclusion. He didn’t say a word, but the look he gave an oblivious Jessie wasn’t one that would have encouraged her about her longevity in this office.

Glory Ramirez came in the door, a little fatigued. “Court is bound over until tomorrow,” she told Mr. Kemp. Glory was an assistant DA, like Sari.

“Does it look like the jury will convict?” Sari asked.

Glory made a face. “Who knows what a jury will do?” she asked with a sigh. “I hope I’m good enough to put this