The Glory Game by Janet Dailey Page A

circulate. As a matter of fact, I think we talked to everyone there.”
    â€œYour duty,” she said icily. “And what arduous duty it was, I suppose. I’m sure you had to force yourself to laugh and smile all that time.”
    â€œI’m not going to deny that I enjoyed being with her.” There was a slow, patient shake of his head, his smile warm and indulgent. His calmness only increased her frustration and anger. “She made me feel young.”
    â€œThen what do I make you feel? Old?” Luz stalked back to the bed and sat down again.
    â€œOf course not. I was only trying to say that she was fun to be with.”
    â€œAnd was it
fun
kissing her good night?” She dragged the brush through her hair once, then clutched it between her hands to stare at the bristles.
    â€œI don’t believe this,” Drew murmured. “Luz, I kissed practically every woman goodbye when she left.” She bit at the inside of her lip, realizing that was true. He walked over to the bed and sat down beside her, bending his head to peer at her face. “I believe you’re jealous.”
    â€œWouldn’t you be? Everyone was making sly remarks.” She flashed him an accusing look. It had all been bottled up inside too long for her to get over the hurt so quickly—imaginary or not.
    â€œI regret that. I’m sorry.” He gazed at her with contriteaffection, yet it was his handsome looks Luz saw—that artful silvering at the temples and the deep cleft in his chin.
    Again, the brush absorbed her attention. “Maybe you’ve had other women since we’ve been married. I don’t know. Infidelity seems to be a male characteristic. But don’t ever flaunt an affair in front of me, Drew. I won’t stand for it.” She felt she had to say that so that there would be no doubt in his mind.
    His hand cupped the side of her jaw, the pressure of his thumb lifting her chin to force her to look at him. “How could there be another woman? After all this time, don’t you know how much I love you?”
    She softened under his intent regard, the corners of her mouth deepening in a whisper of a smile. “It might take some convincing.”
    He leaned toward her and covered her lips in a kiss that grew steadily stronger. Luz relaxed against him, tilting her head farther back to invite more ardent pressure. He obliged for several satisfying seconds before slowly ending the kiss. She opened her eyes to see his heavy-lidded glance follow the trail of his hand as it slid down her neck to finger the string straps of her gown.
    â€œIt’s been a long time since I undressed you,” he murmured, and he gently pushed the strap on one side, then the other, off her shoulder.
    A tremor of excitement quivered through her. It deepened into a wonderful shudder when his hand slipped underneath the lace bodice, cupping her right breast in his palm. Her nipple hardened to a nub in its center. The invasion of his hand forced the material downward, and Luz pressed her arms close to her side to let the straps fall the rest of the way, then slipped free of them.
    With the gown loose about her waist, Drew hooked an arm behind her to lift her back until she was lying crosswise on the king-sized bed. The action pulled the gown lower until it was resting on her hips. After that, a single movement of his hand drew it away from her body, the satin gown gliding over the satin quilt to land on the floor.
    Drew stepped back to admire her naked figure, lingering over her high, rounded breasts, and her parted legs, while he unbuttoned his shirt and stripped off his clothes. His slow studyof her body made Luz feel hot all over, and aroused. When he moved onto the bed to lie beside her, his muscled body so trim and tan, she watched him in anticipation. His hand stroked her, traveling over the tips of her breasts to the pale, curling hairs on her pubic bone.
    â€œYou’re