Texas Rose Read Online Free PDF Page B

seamlessly so. He could detect no wrinkles and only a few lines around her mouth, which Rose had once said Beth called laugh lines.
    â€œYes, I am.”
    â€œWell, don’t just stand out there in the cold hallway, honey.” Beth took a step toward him to pull him into the vast six-room Central Park West apartment. “Come on in and make yourself at home.”
    â€œHe was just going,” Rose insisted, looking at Matt for corroboration. She wished from the bottom of her heart that he hadn’t come.
    Was she really that eager to get rid of him? Was he just a poor, lovesick idiot wearing his heart on his sleeve for the first time? He had nothing to go by, no ruler to measure any of this with. He’d never felt for any other woman what he did for Rose. But it seemed to be one-sided, after all.
    â€œOh, but he can’t go,” Beth informed her sweetly. “He’s only just now come.” Calling an end to the discussion, Beth threaded her arms through Matt’s, two heavy bejeweled hands crossing over each other to hold him in place. “Now come inside and take a load off those dusty boots of yours.”
    His arm held prisoner, Matt had no choice but to allow himself to be drawn into the apartment.
    As he crossed the threshold, Matt looked around, slightly dazed. He had no idea that anything like this could exist in a city as crowded and noisy as the one he’d just walked through and left twenty floors below. The tremendous living room with its vaulted ceilings had modern furniture and an incredibly white rug that ran the expanse of the room. On the walls were framed photographs of Beth with celebrities and an assortment of husbands and several publicity shots from her acting career. He could feel the woman’s vitality fairly leaping from every one.
    Mindful of his boots, Matt looked down at the rug. It was as pristine as an untouched beach. “How do you keep it so white?”
    The wink Beth gave him was nothing short of outrageous. He had a feeling the woman had been dynamite in her younger years, and probably still was a force to be reckoned with.
    â€œYou can manage anything with enough money, honey.”
    He didn’t know about that. Money certainly wouldn’t win him the woman he loved.
    â€œCome.” Beth coaxed him over to the ice-blue Italian leather sofa. “Sit.”
    Rose knew that Beth meant well, but this was getting severely out of hand. She looked pointedly at her aunt. “Aunt Beth, can I please see you?”
    Making herself comfortable beside Matt, Beth looked up at her niece. “You see me now, dear.”
    Rose nodded toward the hallway beyond the living room. “In another room.”
    Matt inclined his head toward Beth. “I think she means without me.”
    Beth nodded. “I think so, too, dear. Always been a stubborn girl. But take it from me, she’s worth waiting for.” Rising, she patted his hand and then turned toward Rose, her caftan sweeping majestically. There was a patient look on her face. “All right, dear, I’m all yours. What room would you like to go to?”
    â€œThe den,” Rose told her. The den, at least, had a door she could close. She didn’t want her words being overheard by Matt.
    Damn it, she was here as much to get over him as to spare her family any embarrassment because of her condition. Why did he have to show up and send her back to square one?
    Who are you kidding? a small voice mocked Rose as she led the way to her aunt’s den. You’re not anywhere near even started getting over him.
    She knew it was the truth. She hadn’t really begun getting over him. But she didn’t have a prayer of getting started while he was still here. To get rid of him, she had to get her aunt to stop trying to make him so comfortable.
    Walking into the den, she waited for her aunt to cross the threshold before closing the door firmly behind her.
    Beth turned around and looked