To Love and Cherish by Diana Palmer Page B

away. It was as if his eyes were magnets, drawing hers, holding them, and she trembled at the undisguised passion she read in them.
    â€œI want you,” he said forcefully.
    She blushed furiously and lookedaway. Her heart shuddered in her throat.
    His fingers contracted around hers. “Don’t panic. I’m not going to wrestle you down in the floorboard and attack you.”
    The gentle levity brought a wan smile to her face. “I wish you wouldn’t say things like that.”
    â€œI know. That’s why I do it.” He brought her hand to his lips. “We’ll talk about it at the ranch. Feel better now?”
    She nodded. The hearse pulled up in the small road ahead, and she recognized the sprawling, well-manicured cemetery where her mother’s plot was located. The last hurdle, she thought ironically. Just this left to go through, and it would all be over. She could put it behind her and go on living. With resolution, her hand went to the door handle.
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    The elder Brannts welcomed her back with mingled joy and sympathy and immediately set out to involve her in the ranch. Although she tried not to make it obvious, Shelby stayed out of King’s way as much as possible. She found excuses to go places with Kate, to spend time with the two elder Brannts in the evenings when King was working in the study. Danny called every night to talk to her, and she felt guilty about the length of time she kept him on the phone, but it was another way of keeping out of King’s sight since she could stay in her room when she finished the conversation. She refused invitations to sit with King while he worked. She refused invitations to go riding with him. And day by day his temper grew quicker and hotter.
    She knew he was angry, but she couldn’t help it. He wanted her. He’d told her so, and what King Branntwanted, he got. She knew she could never say no to him if he asked, because she loved him too much. The only alternative was to keep him from asking, and she worked at it feverishly. By the end of the week she’d managed not to spend one single minute alone with him.
    But Friday night upset all her plans. Jim and Kate announced that they were going out for the evening. Danny, who’d planned to come home for the weekend, called to say that Mary Kate was meeting him in San Antonio to take in a concert and he wouldn’t be heading home until Saturday. And there Shelby sat, in the living room with King, who seemed to find more than enough to keep him at home.
    â€œScared, Shelby?” he taunted when the elder Brannts had gone out the door.
    She swallowed hard. “Yes,” she admitted in a bare whisper.
    His heavy brows shot together. “Why?”
    Her face lifted bravely. “You know what you said.”
    â€œSaid? What did I say?” he demanded angrily. He thought for a moment and the scowl left his face. “That I wanted you?” he asked incredulously, his eyebrows lifting at her scarlet blush. He laughed shortly. “My God, what did you think I meant to do, drag you behind my desk some evening while I worked on the books?”
    She gasped. “King!”
    â€œWell, was it?” He slammed his half empty glass down on the desk, sending a drop of whiskey onto the glossy finish. “Damn it, you make me so mad I can’t even think straight! Do you think I could enjoy makinglove to you if I had to fight at the same time?”
    Her cheeks went scarlet.
    â€œOr is that what you’re afraid of?” he asked narrowly. “That you wouldn’t be able to fight me?”
    She lowered her face, unable to deny it, her hands clutching each other numbly in her lap.
    â€œWell, I’ll be damned,” he said softly.
    She heard him move, and the long, powerful legs came into view just in front of her.
    He reached down and pulled her to her feet, holding her lightly by the waist. “Don’t you know how dangerous it is to make that