A Marriage Made in Texas (The Brothers Kincaid) Read Online Free PDF Page A

did she want nothing more than to have a good, hard cry?
    Emotions. She pressed her hands to her eyes and willed herself not to cry. Fear, excitement, relief had all cascaded through her. Naturally, now the crisis had passed she felt a little let down. But hell, that wasn’t the problem and she knew it.
    She wanted what Cat had. A faithful, loving husband, her children, a career she loved. And while Gail did have two out of the three, she’d never had anything resembling a faithful loving husband. A man who wanted to share his life with her, a man she could depend on.
    Jay walked into the bedroom. “Are you going to the hospital right away?”
    Gail shook her head. “I want to clean house for them first. I’m meeting the rest of the family there later. You go on, I’ll see you there.”
    “Let me help you. There’s no reason for you to do it alone.”
    Her smile grew more strained. “I work faster by myself. You go on. Really.”
    “Is something wrong?” Concerned, he looked at her closely. “You look upset.”
    “Of course nothing’s wrong. My sister just had a beautiful baby. Everything’s p-p-perfect,” she said, a sob choking on the last word. Horrified, she turned around. Unfortunately, now she stared into the mirror. She closed her eyes and prayed he’d go away.
    No such luck. His hand dropped to her shoulder.“Hey.” He squeezed it reassuringly. “Cat’s doing great. The baby’s going to be all right. You don’t have to worry anymore.”
    She gave a strangled laugh and opened her eyes. If he knew what she was really thinking he’d think she was terrible. Tears welled, threatening to spill as she shook her head. “I know,” she managed to whisper.
    “Come here.” Ignoring her protests, he turned her around and held her firmly in his arms, his hand going to her head to place it against his shoulder. “Go ahead. I’ve been cried on before.”
    “I’m not crying,” she said after a moment, the words muffled by his shoulder. In fact, the desire to cry had left her the minute he took her in his arms. A frisson of sexual tension crept up her spine, as she remembered the last time he’d held her in his arms. And that time, he hadn’t been offering comfort.
    Relax, she told herself. You’re overreacting to a friendly hug. No big deal. “I’m okay.” She raised her head to look at him.
    He searched her eyes, then smiled. “Yeah, you sure are.”
    Tension hummed between them. Both of them knew he wasn’t referring to her emotions. “You can let me go now.” No, she hadn’t imagined it. The glint in his eyes told her comfort wasn’t all he offered.
    “I could.” But he didn’t let her loose. He drew her closer.
    Mesmerized, she watched his eyes darken to jade, his mouth come closer to hers. Could almost taste the kiss as his warm breath washed over her lips. Herlegs wobbled, her breasts tingled. And then, thank God, she remembered. She slapped a hand on his chest. “Don’t even think about it, buster.”
    He blinked and looked confused. “Don’t think about kissing you? Why?”
    She pulled away and crossed her arms over her chest. It infuriated her that a part of her desperately wanted to forget her pride and kiss him anyway. Her spine straightened. Pacing away a few steps, she turned back and nailed him with a hostile glare. “Gee, I don’t know, Jay. Maybe because the last time you kissed me I ended the evening feeling like the biggest loser on the planet.”
    For a minute, he just looked at her.
    Pleased, she saw that she had truly left him speechless. “What, no easy answer?”
    He blew out a breath and shook his head. “Well, shit. I had a feeling you were ticked at me about that.”
    She gave a humorless laugh. “Brilliant deduction. Yes, Jay, you could say I’m still ticked.” And humiliated.
    “Gail, let me explain.” Man, talk about having murder in her eyes. He’d screwed this up, big time. “Why don’t we sit down.”
    “There’s nowhere to sit in here,”