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 mou
th opened over hers and she tasted of his tongue with all the pleasure she gave to the food he’d introduced her to. Her breasts 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 passion, 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 hell.
“You’re to make Taylor show passion,” 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, wishing 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.
Amanda kept her courage all the way up the stairs and into her room, but when she shut the door behind her, every ounce of strength left her and she fell back against the door, her eyes closed. In the woods, alone with that awful man, she’d turned into another person—a swaggering, courageous young woman who wasn’t like the real Amanda at all.
She looked around her sedate, tidy, colorless room and knew this was the real Amanda. She walked to the desk and picked up Taylor’s new schedule. She was already off course, and the moment she touched the paper, she felt Taylor’s power over her return.
Heavily, she sat down on the chair. What in the world had she done? She was to entice Taylor? Make improper advances to Taylor? She’d rather walk across burning coals.
But if she didn’t do it, she’d have to go to a dance. Of course she could always tell Dr. Montgomery she’d been joking. And he, being the civilized man he was, would no doubt throw her over his shoulder and carry her out the door. Then everything really would be over between her and Taylor.
She put her elbows on her desk and buried her face in her hands. What awful thing had she ever done to deserve the curse of Dr. Montgomery? God gave the Egyptians the twelve plagues and to her He gave Dr. Montgomery. Job would have thrown in the towel if he’d had to deal with this man.