crooned against her moist parted lips. Tasting her mouth sent a back draft of incendiary heat roaring through his groin.
Dana held his gaze, admiring the smoothness of his dark skin, the silken black eyebrows arching over a pair of large penetrating eyes, and the delicate line of his thin nose and firm masculine mouth.
“There’s no need for you to come back.”
“But I
want
to come back.” What Tyler wanted totell Dana was that he
needed
to come back,
needed
to see her, again and again, until he uncovered why she and not some other woman had touched something so deep within his psyche that he feared losing control of his emotions. He wanted to know why he’d waited forty-one years to meet a woman who unknowingly elicited a pull that exceeded his obsession with medicine.
Dana forced herself to look away. Staring into the deep dark depths of Tyler’s fathomless obsidian gaze was perilous. Just a look, a single glance from him, sent her hormones out of kilter. She’d tried ignoring the heaviness settling in her breasts, tightening her nipples until they were hard as pebbles, and the sudden rush of wetness between her legs. It had been so long since she’d lain with a man that she had almost forgotten the pleasurable sensations that always left her with an amazing sense of completeness.
“Please go, Tyler, and take care of your patient.”
He hesitated, seemingly committing everything about her face to memory, then turned on his heels and walked back into the house. Dana sat motionless, staring at the profusion of vibrant purple flowers spilling over the clay pot of a hanging fuchsia.
Tyler rushing off to see a patient reminded her of her father. Had Alicia strayed because Harry hadn’t given her the attention she craved? Had Harry’s patients become more important than his wife and child?
Dana remembered her mother’s frustration because Harry hadn’t been there for his daughter’s milestones: her first piano recital, sixth-birthday party, and when she’d gone to Jackson to compete in the statewide spelling bee.
Why had everyone in Hillsboro blamed Alicia and not Harry for her infidelity? Had anyone, other than Dana, overheard Alicia accuse Harry of “carrying on” with several of his female patients?
Closing her eyes, she tried recalling the virulent accusations whenever her parents verbally attacked each other. There was the name-calling, the threats, and the constant bickering that had never failed to set her nerves on edge. Alicia and Harry’s arguments had escalated until she could not remember when they hadn’t fought.
She sat sipping the chilled Perrier until she heard the telephone. Pushing to her feet, she rushed to the kitchen to answer the call before the answering machine activated itself.
Picking up the receiver, she greeted the caller with a friendly hello, sobering when she heard Eugene Payton’s voice. “Yes, Mr. Payton. Thank you. Good-bye.” She hung up, her hand trembling.
The call had lasted less than twenty seconds. Eugene Payton had set up an appointment to see her Monday morning. And at that time, the contents of Georgia Rose Sutton’s last will and testament would be revealed to her.
With the reading of the will, the past would meet the present, while at the same time impacting on her future. Exhaling, Dana closed her eyes; there was no doubt Monday’s events would stay with her for a long time; she was certain the conditions of he grandmother’s will would change her and her life forever. Not to mention that she’d committed to date a man socially for the first time in six years—a man she’d found herself attracted to despite her resolve not to fall under his sensual spell.
Dana opened her eyes, mentally dismissing the image of Tyler. Now that she had use of both hands, she would begin the task of sorting through her grandmother’s possessions to see what she would keep, give away, or discard.
Turning on her heels, she returned to the porch.First, she would
Dana held his gaze, admiring the smoothness of his dark skin, the silken black eyebrows arching over a pair of large penetrating eyes, and the delicate line of his thin nose and firm masculine mouth.
“There’s no need for you to come back.”
“But I
want
to come back.” What Tyler wanted totell Dana was that he
needed
to come back,
needed
to see her, again and again, until he uncovered why she and not some other woman had touched something so deep within his psyche that he feared losing control of his emotions. He wanted to know why he’d waited forty-one years to meet a woman who unknowingly elicited a pull that exceeded his obsession with medicine.
Dana forced herself to look away. Staring into the deep dark depths of Tyler’s fathomless obsidian gaze was perilous. Just a look, a single glance from him, sent her hormones out of kilter. She’d tried ignoring the heaviness settling in her breasts, tightening her nipples until they were hard as pebbles, and the sudden rush of wetness between her legs. It had been so long since she’d lain with a man that she had almost forgotten the pleasurable sensations that always left her with an amazing sense of completeness.
“Please go, Tyler, and take care of your patient.”
He hesitated, seemingly committing everything about her face to memory, then turned on his heels and walked back into the house. Dana sat motionless, staring at the profusion of vibrant purple flowers spilling over the clay pot of a hanging fuchsia.
Tyler rushing off to see a patient reminded her of her father. Had Alicia strayed because Harry hadn’t given her the attention she craved? Had Harry’s patients become more important than his wife and child?
Dana remembered her mother’s frustration because Harry hadn’t been there for his daughter’s milestones: her first piano recital, sixth-birthday party, and when she’d gone to Jackson to compete in the statewide spelling bee.
Why had everyone in Hillsboro blamed Alicia and not Harry for her infidelity? Had anyone, other than Dana, overheard Alicia accuse Harry of “carrying on” with several of his female patients?
Closing her eyes, she tried recalling the virulent accusations whenever her parents verbally attacked each other. There was the name-calling, the threats, and the constant bickering that had never failed to set her nerves on edge. Alicia and Harry’s arguments had escalated until she could not remember when they hadn’t fought.
She sat sipping the chilled Perrier until she heard the telephone. Pushing to her feet, she rushed to the kitchen to answer the call before the answering machine activated itself.
Picking up the receiver, she greeted the caller with a friendly hello, sobering when she heard Eugene Payton’s voice. “Yes, Mr. Payton. Thank you. Good-bye.” She hung up, her hand trembling.
The call had lasted less than twenty seconds. Eugene Payton had set up an appointment to see her Monday morning. And at that time, the contents of Georgia Rose Sutton’s last will and testament would be revealed to her.
With the reading of the will, the past would meet the present, while at the same time impacting on her future. Exhaling, Dana closed her eyes; there was no doubt Monday’s events would stay with her for a long time; she was certain the conditions of he grandmother’s will would change her and her life forever. Not to mention that she’d committed to date a man socially for the first time in six years—a man she’d found herself attracted to despite her resolve not to fall under his sensual spell.
Dana opened her eyes, mentally dismissing the image of Tyler. Now that she had use of both hands, she would begin the task of sorting through her grandmother’s possessions to see what she would keep, give away, or discard.
Turning on her heels, she returned to the porch.First, she would
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