Queen of Hearts Read Online Free PDF

unfeminine behavior I was discussing, Janna," he told her with a small smile, glancing up from his study of the menu. "I was about to point out that, on the contrary, your challenge is very, very female."
    "Ah! You are now an authority on the psychology of the sexes?" she quipped, not trusting the look in the grey-green eyes.
    "No," he admitted readily, watching her until in self-defense J anna lowered her own gaze to the listing of foods in front of her. "But there is something male in me that seems to understand something female in you. If you would stop fighting me long enough to think about it, you would probably realize what I'm talking about." Suddenly the velvet was back in the rich voice and janna felt herself tremble very lightly in response. She had to get a grip on herself! This strange reaction to a man like Adam Halleck wouldn't do! It was all wrong! He was all wrong. Especially for her. Scott Barrett would never have embarrassed her in a public restaurant! So why had she laughed so hard a small voice prodded. Janna ignored it. Certainly she and Adam had little in common and his domineering ways would soon irritate her beyond reason. And above all else, she realized with a small sense of shock, the only explanation for the fact that she was even with him tonight was that he had admitted he wanted to talk her out of marrying his brother!
    "Save your 'battle of the sexes' routine for someone more susceptible," she told him firmly. "The reason you and I are at odds is because of your brother. If it weren't for him we wouldn't even be here right now!"
    "You mean if Nat were removed as a bone of contention, you would melt into my arms?" he asked with lively interest, setting down the wine list to meet her eyes directly. There was laughter in those steel-green depths now, Janna knew, and what else? Eagerness? She pulled her own gaze away in a small, almost nervous movement. "You didn't listen," she retorted with an effort at lightness. "I said if it weren't for Nat we wouldn't be eating dinner together. We would never have gotten our association as far as a dinner date!"
    "I'll admit I owe Nat for the introduction, but beyond that I would have taken matters into my own hands. We would still be having dinner tonight, Janna, even if my obliging brother hadn't virtually tossed you into my lap!"
    "Not a chance," she said crisply, still not meeting his eyes. "You and I are not each other's type at all!"
    "Now you're trying to be the authority on male and female psychology?"
    "I'm simply stating a fact. Give me some credit for intelligence, Adam," she shot back aloofly. "I'm old enough to have come to some decisions about the kind of man who attracts me and whose lifestyle will be compatible with mine!"
    "Getting on in years, are you?" he asked sympathetically.
    "Twenty-five is old enough for a woman to have reached certain important conclusions!"
    "You're two years older than my brother, are you? I thought so. That's not good, Janna," he told her, suddenly serious.
    "Why not?" she bridled instantly. "Are you still caught up in the old theory that the man should be older than his wife so that he will be in a position to guide and instruct her from the depths of his own experience?" she inquired with patently false interest.
    "That wasn't the reason men were usually older than their wives," he argued firmly. "It was a matter of economics. A woman needed a man who was in a financial position to care for her. That usually meant he was a few years her senior. It takes time to establish a sound, secure economic base..."
    "Fortunately the financial aspects of the matter are no longer so important. Women have been working for several years now, in case you hadn't noticed. They no longer need to examine a potential husband's bank statement prior to accepting his proposal!" She lifted her chin and eyed him with a,small amount of menace. "And you promised me you wouldn't discuss the matter of who should support whom in a