She wasn’t going to dwell on it.
Holding her head high in what she hoped was an elegant manner, she pushed open the door and entered the Greenville Country Club.
Amanda’s entrance caused a stir. Though others, including Tanner, called her a head-turning beauty, she knew it wasn’t her looks that had people in a dither. Nor was it her dress—a twenties-style ivory satin gown that clung to her body like a lover. It was the anticipation. Greenville residents, who could remember the way Tanner Donovan had raged when Amanda Lassiter walked down the aisle with his best friend, wondered what would happen with the two of them in the same room all evening.
They weren’t long in finding out.
Amanda had barely cleared the doorway when she saw him coming. She felt a melting warmth all the way down to her toes. In a tuxedo, Tanner could be declared illegal. Broad-shouldered, slim-hipped, solid, and well toned, he was unmistakably an athlete. A delectable one. As she watched him move, a bright memory flashed through her mind—Tanner lying beside her on the riverbank, sunlight gilding the dark hairs that shadowed his sweat-slick chest, his blue jeans riding low on his narrow hips.
Her throat constricted and her palms dampened, but she couldn’t turn away. She had a strange premonition that this encounter had been arranged by fate.
She tipped her chin in what Maxine called her stubborn look, then smiled.
“If that smile’s designed to make me forget every other woman in this room, then you’ve succeeded.” Tanner had stopped so close beside her that she could count the fine laugh lines fanning out from his eyes.
“I don’t wear the smile by design. It’s just my natural good humor.”
She loved the way his eyes lit up when he laughed.
“Did anybody ever tell you modesty is a virtue?” he asked.
“They did, but I never believed them.”
“Neither did I.”
His gaze raked over her boldly. She could feel his eyes on her, like hands searching, touching, caressing. They lingered over her cleavage and, moving upward, hungrily studied her lips. Her body’s response was instantaneous. As if it had been only yesterday since they’d loved, she felt her nipples tighten against the revealing satin of her gown.
He noticed. She could tell by the daredevil gleam in his eyes and the slight lifting of one cocky eyebrow.
“Am I disturbing you, Amanda?” he asked.
She wanted to shoot him.
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
“You disturb me.” Reaching out, he gently lifted a strand of her copper hair and let it sift through his fingers. She stood still, afraid that any move she made would be straight into his arms. “As a matter of fact, you ruined a good night’s sleep for me last night. I think you owe me for that.”
“I thought we settled our debts yesterday.”
“That was mine. This one is yours.”
“I don’t think they serve hot chocolate here. Will a glass of wine do?”
“I was thinking of something more substantial.”
The hand that had been holding her hair dropped onto her shoulder and drifted down her back, tracing the deep vee of her dress all the way to her waist. She was determined that he not see how his touch affected her.
She was the one who had left him; she was the one who had chosen a safe marriage with a good man instead of the frenzied competition with pro football for Tanner’s affection; she was the one who had come between two best friends. She was also the one who had borne the burden of guilt. But she’d carried the load long enough. It was time to put Tanner Donovan behind her, once and for all.
“I’m substantial but not available.”
He chuckled. “I think you are, and I intend to find out.”
She looked directly into his eyes and smiled. “And I intend that you don’t.”
“So much the better. I love a good pursuit.”
She laughed. “I don’t plan to run. Running away is not my style.”
“I remember your style, Mandy. I remember it so well.”
The steam practically rose between them as their gazes clashed. She was the first to break the spell.
“Why, Tanner? Why pursue me when you could have any woman in town?”
“I don’t want any woman in town. I want you.”
“For old times’ sake?”
“No.” His arm snaked out and pulled her solidly against his chest. Tipping her head back with one finger, he bent so close that their lips were almost touching. “Make no mistake, Amanda. This is not love. I stopped loving you a long time ago.”
“And I you.”
She could scarcely breathe or speak as realization slammed into her. A part of her still loved Tanner. The truth shook her to the core. She’d married Claude, had lived with him for six years, had loved him. But all the while something deep in her soul had never forgotten the wild, wanton love of Tanner Donovan. She fought against the truth, tried to shut it out of her mind, but how could she deny it when she was back in his arms and being there felt like heaven?