Before she could get her breath or her wits back, he’d turned and was on his way back to the Jeep, his lean-hipped stride holding her eyes against her will. He was so good to look at, and what she felt with him was terrifying. She knew then, hopelessly, that she’d give him anything he asked for. She couldn’t even run. The pull of attraction was too strong to fight. She watched him drive away without looking back and wondered sadly if this was how it would be when it was over, and he was going out of her life for good.
Gene knew she was still standing on the porch, but he didn’t wave. He was teeming with new and confusing emotions that he really didn’t want to explore too fully. His planned seduction was going sadly awry. His conscience was getting in the way.
Allison unlocked the door and went inside, half afraid that Winnie was going to see her. Impulsively she grabbed up a sweater from the clothes tree in the hall and slipped it on, pulling it over her breasts. And in the nick of time, too, because Winnie appeared in the hall as she was on the way to her room.
“About time, too,” Winnie said worriedly. “Where have you been?”
Allison told her, making light of the date and raving over the symphony.
“So that’s all it was,” Winnie relaxed. She smiled ruefully. “I’m sorry. I know I’m overreacting. But he’s so potent, Allie. So much a man...”
A sudden, horrible suspicion grew in the back of Allison’s mind. “Is he?” she probed.
Winnie grimaced. “I guess you’d better know. I dated Gene before Dwight cut him out. It was innocent; I never slept with him,” she emphasized. “The thing is, I would have,” she confessed miserably. “And he knew it. That’s why I warned you. Gene takes what he wants, but he has nothing to give in return. You’re playing a very dangerous game. I’m no Snow White, and I could have survived an affair with him—if I hadn’t fallen so hopelessly in love with Dwight. But you’re very innocent, Allie. I don’t think you could live with yourself. Especially after your upbringing.”
“I’m not sure I could, either,” she confessed on a hard sigh. “He’s...very potent.”
“So I see.”
The amused drawl brought her eyes down and she noticed then that the sweater had fallen open. She went scarlet, wrapping it protectively over her breasts.
“Don’t look so haunted,” Winnie said gently. “I understand. A man like that is too hard to resist. You can’t be blamed for being human. But to keep seeing him is asking for trouble.”
“I know.” Allison looked down at the floor. “I...think I’m falling in love.”
Winnie bit her lower lip. “He can’t help being the way he is. But he isn’t a man who knows how to love. Or commit himself to a long-term relationship.”
Allison looked up with haunted, sad eyes. “There’s still a chance.”
“And you’re too hooked to listen to warnings, aren’t you?” her friend replied gently. She hugged Allison to her with a sigh. “Try to keep your head, at least.”
“I’ll do that. Complications are the last thing I need.”
“At least you know about precautions,” Winnie sighed, smiling at Allison’s flush. “Your training may come in handy before you’re through. Okay, no more lectures. Go to bed. Is the wild man coming back?”
“Yes. Sometime in the middle of the week. He’s taking me to see the Custer Battlefield. Then next week, we’re going to the rodeo in Cody,” she said.
Winnie just shook her head.
Allison changed into her nightgown, awed and frightened by the way it had been. Her first intimacy with a man, and she couldn’t even admit it to him. She wondered if he’d have been different with her, had he known how naïve she was. Probably he’d have done what he swore at the beginning—he’d have left her strictly alone. He’d been honest about his opinion of innocence; that he wanted no part of it. She felt guilty about hiding hers, but she was falling in love. Even if he got angry at her later, she had to have a chance. He might fall in love with her, too, and then it would be all right.
Except that in the meantime he might seduce her, she thought worriedly. His ardor was unexpected and so was her helplessness. She’d never experienced those sensations, and they were addictive.
She tried to push it out of her mind when she went to bed. But she felt as if her body had scorched the sheets by morning. She’d never had such erotic dreams in all her life, and they were full of Gene.
Chapter Six
Gene was surprised by the force of his attraction to Allison. He’d meant to wait a few days before he saw her again, to give her time to miss him, to enhance her response to him. But he found himself thinking about her all too much. By the second day, the tables had suddenly turned on him and he was missing her.
He gunned the Jeep into the Manley driveway, smiling when he saw Allison out digging in Mrs. Manley’s small flower garden near the porch steps. She was wearing Bermuda shorts and a pink tank top, her long black hair in a ponytail, and she looked charming. He cut off the engine and climbed out of the big vehicle, his bat-wing chaps making a leathery rustling sound as he walked toward her.
“They’ve put you to work, I see,” he drawled.
Allison flushed and smiled shyly, getting to her feet. She’d just been daydreaming about him, and here he was! “Hi!” she said, her whole face radiant with the greeting.
His heart jumped a little. “Hi, yourself,” he murmured, moving closer. His eyes fell from her firm breasts
