Summer Secrets - Barbara Freethy [56]
"Never."
"Really? How is that possible?"
"I spent a lot of time in the middle of the country. Nobody owned a boat."
"Everybody I know owns a boat," she said with a sigh.
"Is that so bad?"
"It's hard to get away from it when everyone is so involved."
"Then why stay? Why not live somewhere else?"
"This is where I was born. The land is in my blood, my heart. Most of my family, the people I love, are buried in that cemetery on the hill."
"You stay for the people who are gone?"
"No, I stay for myself. Everything I need, everything I want, is here. I know it's not enough for most people, but it is for me. Every time I leave, even for an afternoon or an overnight trip to Seattle, I can't wait to get back. This is home. And I guess I'm a person who needs a home, a place to plant seeds and watch them grow."
"This is an amazing garden," Tyler said, sweeping his hand toward the bounty of flowers, bushes, ferns, berries, and trees. "I've never seen anything like this outside of an arboretum or a magazine cover. You have a green thumb, that's for sure."
"Do you have a house somewhere?" she asked.
"I have a tenth-floor apartment in downtown San Antonio, but I'm rarely there. I'm usually on the road somewhere. It's the only way I know how to live," he said on a somber note.
And the only way he wants to live, Kate thought, intensely aware of how different their lives were, and how different they would always be. She got to her feet. "I'm thirsty. I'll make some lemonade."
He smiled. "I haven't had lemonade in years."
"I like my life, Tyler. Don't make fun of it."
"I wouldn't dare. The truth is I like it, too." He stood up, blocking her way into the house. He moved in even closer, so close her breasts were almost brushing against his chest.
"You don't like it," she said, cursing the breathless note in her voice, but she could barely speak. Her breasts were tingling. Her heart was racing. And all she could think about was lifting her face to his and pressing her lips against his mouth.
"I do," he said, his mouth covering hers. His lips were warm, coaxing, and she could no more resist kissing him than she could resist taking her next breath. A wave of heat ran through her body, creating a deep ache within her as she pressed closer to him, running her hands up his back, feeling the taut, powerful muscles beneath her fingers. He was a solid man, a man who could sweep a woman off her feet and carry her upstairs and have his way with her.
"Kate, open your mouth," he whispered.
Her lips parted on command, and his tongue swept inside, deepening the intimacy between them. Dazed, she kissed him back with a need that grew more demanding by the minute. She wanted this man, wanted to slip her hands under his shirt, touch his bare chest, slip her legs between his, and get even closer to the hardness pressing against her belly.
"Again," he muttered as he allowed her a small breath.
She should have said no, told him to stop. This was madness. He could ruin her. He could ruin everything. But he tasted good and felt even better, reminding her that she was a woman who hadn't been kissed like this in a very long time -- maybe never.
"Let's go inside," he said, lifting his head.
She wanted to say yes. But how could she? This wasn't right -- it wasn't anywhere close to right. "I can't." She forced herself out of his arms and put a good two feet between them. "I don't have casual affairs with men who are leaving in the morning."
"I'm not leaving in the morning."
"Close enough."
"Kate -- "
"Tyler, listen to me. I'm the kind of person who gets emotional and attached. That's not the kind of woman you want to get involved with, is it? Don't you like things easy and simple and uncomplicated?"
"I used to," he muttered.
"You should go."
He hesitated, then said, "I probably should." He walked toward the