Sweet Talking Lawman Read Online Free PDF

friend from Oak Ridge.”  She
smiled at Rafe.  “This is Jory Madison, my business manager, partner and
friend.”
    The sparks of anger that had
flashed briefly in Rafe’s dark eyes, cooled and he offered his hand to the
older man.  “Nice to meet you, I guess.  I’m Rafe Storm Horse.”
    The two shook hands and Jory
returned to the position he’d held earlier, nursing a soft drink at the end of
the bar.
    “Your bodyguard?”  Rafe
asked, drawing Mesa into his embrace as they moved onto the small dance floor.
    She smiled.  “He wears a
lot of different hats, but mostly, he’s my best friend.”
    Rafe’s hand settled against
her waist as he led her smoothly along to the slow music.  He closed his
eyes and inhaled the scent of her.  It felt so good to have her in his
arms and their bodies moved comfortably in unison, as if they’d danced together
for years.  Rafe’s arm tightened slightly, drawing her closer.  “This
is nice,” he said softly, tilting his head down so his mouth was near her ear.
    Mesa nodded.  “Yes it
is.  You know, I always had a crush on you while I was growing up.”
    He grinned, his straight,
white teeth sparkling.  “Really?  I didn’t know.  If I had, I
might have asked you out.”
    She pulled her head back and
looked up at him and smiled.  “I wasn’t but fourteen or fifteen when you
enlisted and left town and you had so many girlfriends you only saw me as
Jenny’s little friend.”
    He looked down at her, his
eyes wandering over her familiar features but stopping on her lips. 
“Well, that ended the night I opened that bathroom door and saw you standing
there.  I never saw anything childish about you again.”
    “This is the first time
you’ve seen me since then,” she reminded him quickly.
    His arms tightened again,
pulling her closer still.  His mouth hovered near her ear.  “Except
in my dreams and fantasies.  You’ve been a prominent figure in my mind
since that afternoon.”
    “For real?” she asked.
    “Yeah,” he replied. 
“For real.”  His voice had dropped a note and sounded coarse.
    Neither of them spoke for a
minute, Rafe savoring the feel of her body against his and Mesa unable to
believe that after all the years of him hardly knowing she existed, she was
finally in his arms.
    She shut her eyes and tried
to absorb the feel of his arms around her, one of his hands resting against her
lower back.  The other hand was clasped around her fingers, holding her
hand against his hard chest and the heat of his breath feathered her hair near
her ear.  Heat coursed through her body.  Her entire life, Rafe Storm
Horse had been the standard by which all other men had been measured and none
of them had even come close.  His Indian blood reflected heavily in his
features.  It showed in his swarthy skin, his high cheekbones, his black
hair and his penetrating chocolate eyes, but his classic, straight nose lacked
the prominence reflected by many of his ancestry.  His masculine beauty
was tempered by the testosterone laden virility that radiated from him, but
Mesa knew him also as a man deeply committed to his family and his country with
strong values and a sense of honor.  She’d never before experienced the
need to seek a more intimate contact with a male body but now she was almost
overwhelmed as he guided her through the slow movements of the dance.
    Good Lord in heaven, she
thought, I’ve gotta slow this down a bit.  A bit?  A lot!  Being
in Rafe’s arms had her heart racing like crazy and she was totally overdressed
in the heavy gown she was wearing.  She managed to lift her head away from
his.
    So,” she finally spoke. 
“Tell me about Jenny.”
    He stepped back enough to
look down at her, his coffee brown eyes sparked.  “Guess who she married.”
    Mesa tried to conjure up
faces from her past.  “She had an awful crush on Walter Cunningham the
third.  She called him Trey.”
    Rafe laughed.  “That’s
what he goes by now.