The Second Time Read Online Free PDF Page B

handsomeness.
    But all the changes were unquestionably improvements. All her senses, everything inside her seemed to rush out, reaching for him. It was like a torrent being unleashed, a torrent of love and regret that seemed to spill from her in waves, yet she never moved, never took a step forward to greet him, and never changed her expression. The tumultuous reaction was all contained inside. Dawn had learned too well, during her marriage to Simpson, how to hide her true feelings.
    When she finally met the flint-gray in his eyes, she was glad she hadn’t begun the meeting on anemotional note. The aloofness in his gaze was chilling. When she finally spoke, she felt she was literally breaking the ice.
    “Hello, Slater.” Her voice was smooth and even. “It’s good to see you looking so well.”
    “Thank you.” He inclined his head at the compliment with a thick trace of mockery. “Or, perhaps I should say ‘thanks to you.’” The barbed correction was accompanied by a challenging flick of his brow, but he continued smoothly without waiting for a response. “I’d like to take the opportunity to offer you my condolences on the untimely death of your husband.”
    She doubted it was a sincere offer of sympathy, but she didn’t question it. “Thank you,” she murmured.
    His gaze made a sweep of her. “I expected to find you elegantly clad in black, Mrs. Lord—the grieving widow mourning for her beloved husband.” There was a mocking twist of his mouth. “But these days, I guess not even the rich follow the custom of wearing black.”
    “That’s true,” she admitted, refusing to take offense at his thinly veiled jibes. She had not arranged to meet him to take part in a war of words, with herself constantly on the defensive, so she was determined not to parry any of his sharp thrusts. “It’s no longer considered improper to wear other colors.”
    “Pity. You would be stunning in black,” he murmured with a lazy glance at her fiery mane of hair, but his coolness took any hint of a compliment from his voice.
    Dawn was stiff, trying to keep in check the natural instinct to defend herself from his subtle attack. “I’ll try to remember that,” was the most indifferent reply she could make, but even it betrayed that his stinging comments were getting through.
    “You have a slight accent,” Slater observed.
    “Have I?”
    “After living so long in Texas, I guess it’s to be expected,” he said with an uncaring shrug, then smiled. “But you don’t need to be concerned. A little drawl is very sexy, but then—it goes with the body, doesn’t it?”
    Despite the rake of his eyes, Dawn had the feeling Slater didn’t find her at all sexually appealing. It seemed he had crushed out every feeling for her. Had she really thought it would be otherwise? She dug her long nails into her palm, resisting the impulse to slap him and hurt him physically the way he was hurting her mentally. Any other response was impossible so she made none.
    Her silence seemed to irritate him, however briefly. “I believe you were interested in this house.” He reached in his pocket for the key and moved past her to unlock the front door. “I only acquired the property recently so I haven’t had the opportunity to have the yard cleaned up and the house put in order. Naturally the price will be reduced to compensate for its neglected condition.” Pausing, he pushed the door open and turned to hold her gaze. “That is, if you are actually interested in purchasing it?”
    It was the skepticism in his eyes that prompted Dawn to put him through the formality of showing her the house, although she had serious doubts that a sale would ever come to pass. For a moment she wanted to forget about her true purpose in meeting him and avoid all this unpleasantness. But she recognized it was a selfishly motivated desire. There was Randy’s need to consider as well.
    “I am interested,” she stated and walked past him to enter the house,