Part 10 (2/2)

”Let's discuss something neutral,” he said. ”Such as love and courts.h.i.+p and your wedding night with ol' Taylor.”

Amanda choked.

”Lemonade?” he asked innocently, holding out a gla.s.s. ”But I guess you know all about s.e.x, what with a mother like yours and all the studying you've done. Tell me, does Taylor put lovemaking on your schedule or is it something he does spontaneously?”

”He doesn't-” she said angrily, then stopped. ”Taylor is a gentleman.”

”I'm sure he will be on your wedding night too. Did you ever think that as much as he likes educated women he's going to be disappointed with a bride who knows so little about... shall we say, the physical side of marriage?”

”Taylor is my teacher and I'm sure he'll teach me what I need to know.”

”So he'll be your teacher even after you're married? It won't stop at the ceremony? Will you be given a schedule every day of the rest of your life?”

Amanda stood abruptly and glared down at him. ”You are despicable, Dr. Montgomery.”

Hank sat with his eyes fixed on her legs-long, slim legs with those black silk stockings. ”Amanda,” he whispered, putting his hand out to touch her calf.

But Amanda was already headed toward the pond to retrieve her still-damp dress. Within minutes she had it on and her wet hair pulled back into a tight knot. She walked back to the cloth where the food and Dr. Montgomery were sprawled. ”I want to go home now,” she said as coldly as possible.

He looked up at her with angry eyes. ”Home to the open arms of the man who loves you?”

”Dr. Montgomery, my life is none of your business. How can I make you understand that?”

In one rolling motion, he came to his feet to stand in front of her, his face close to hers. ”I'll understand when I see that it is your life. All I see now is a puppet, not a woman, and Taylor pulls your strings to make you do whatever he wants you to do.”

”That's absurd! I control my own life. I-”

”Prove it!” Hank snapped. ”Prove to me that Taylor wants you and not just your father's ranch and I'll leave you alone.”

She took a step backward. He had said, out loud, her most secret fear. ”Of course he wants me,” she said in little more than a whisper. ”Taylor loves me and he proves it every day. Every night he writes my schedule. He cares about what I eat, what I wear; he directs my learning, he-”

”Keeps his job,” Hank said, jaw clenched. ”Your father can't dismiss him as long as he's still teaching you. You're twenty-two years old, Amanda. When do you get to graduate? When do you get to cut your strings and be free?”

He was confusing her and making her angry at the same time. ”You are making my head hurt, Dr. Montgomery. Please take me home.”

”Home to that automaton you say you love? My car has more feeling than Taylor Driscoll has.”

The confusion was beginning to leave Amanda and all that was left was anger. ”What proof do you need?” she snapped at him. At that moment she felt she would do anything to make him stop antagonizing her. ”Tell me what I need to do to prove to you that Taylor is the man I love.”

”Pa.s.sion,” Hank said quickly. ”The man is incapable of pa.s.sion. Even if you marry him you'll die an old maid. Make him prove he can cut the mustard.”

Her face turned red, embarra.s.sment overriding anger. ”I will ask him- ”

”No, don't ask him anything. Invite him to your room. Throw yourself at him. Sit on his lap and run your hands through his hair.”

Amanda stared at him for a moment, trying her best to visualize sitting in Taylor's lap, but she couldn't. She turned away from Dr. Montgomery and headed toward the car. ”You are a frivolous man,” she said under her breath.

Hank grabbed her arm and spun her about, pulling her close to him. His mouth came down on hers with a mixture of hunger and anger.

Maybe it was Amanda's anger, too, that made her respond to him, but her arms went around his chest, pulling him closer as his mouth opened over hers and she tasted of his tongue with all the pleasure she gave to the food he'd introduced her to. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s pressed against his chest, her hips against his as he pressed into her. His knee moved between her legs, and Amanda slid her body upward, letting him support her weight, with only the toe of her left foot touching the ground.

Hank moved from her lips, his mouth searing its way down her neck.

Amanda's whole body was throbbing and pounding, her heart pumping wildly, but she managed to push away from him. ”Is that what you mean by pa.s.sion, Dr. Montgomery?” she was somehow able to say.

The rage in his eyes was enough to kill a person. He didn't say anything as he grabbed the edges of the cloth and began rolling dishes and food together, then dumped it into the cardboard box and strapped it on the back of the Mercer.

”Get in,” he commanded her as he held the car door open, and Amanda obeyed.

He drove too fast back to the Caulden Ranch, then had a devil of a time getting the brakes to halt the car. At the garage Amanda started to get out, but he stopped her. ”We have a wager, remember?”

Amanda didn't want to look at him. His hands, his lips, his food, his words were all making her life h.e.l.l.

”You're to make Taylor show pa.s.sion,” he said.

”Dr. Montgomery, I think-”

”It's Hank,” he snapped. ”I think you could be that intimate with me.”

She kept looking straight ahead, wis.h.i.+ng he'd get out of her life so she could go back to what she knew and understood. ”It was something said on the spur of the moment, and I don't think-”

”If you win, I'll leave Kingman.”

She turned to look at him then and the hope in her eyes made him angrier.

”If I win, you go to the dance with me tonight.”

With you and Reva Eiler, she almost said, but there was no reason to even think of the dance because she was not going to lose. She was quite willing to climb into most any man's lap if it meant getting rid of the obnoxious Dr. Montgomery. ”And what of your unionists?”

”I'll send someone else, someone who couldn't care less about Caulden's pretty daughter, someone to whom it won't matter that you throw your life away.”

”How melodramatic you are,” she said, concealing her anger. ”Tell me, how do you plan to ascertain the winner of this idiotic wager? Do you plan to hide behind the door and spy on us?”

”I'll trust your word for it. You have until 7:30 this evening to entice Taylor into some sort of primitive display or-”

”Such as yours?” she interrupted.

”Or you go to the dance with me,” he said, ignoring her.

”You had better pack.”

He gave her a smug smile. ”I'm going into town to buy you a dress for tonight. I doubt if Driscoll's bought you anything suitable for a night of tangoing.”

She stepped out of the car. ”I hope you know someone else who can wear it, because I won't be needing it.” She shut the door and gave him a malicious smile. ”It's been interesting meeting you, Dr. Montgomery, not pleasant but interesting. I will meet you at 7:30 in the gazebo and I expect you to have your suitcase with you.” She turned on her heel and walked back to the house as the car drove away behind her.

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