One Night with the Wealthy Rancher

by Brenda Jackson

  “Don’t you have anything to do?”

  Summer blinked and saw Darius standing in her doorway. She glared at him—so much for thinking they could be decent to each other. “You should have knocked before entering my office.”

  He shrugged. “The door was open.”

  “And that gives you the right to just walk in? I could have been with a client.”

  “In that case, I would hope you’d be professional enough to shut the door for privacy. But you aren’t with a client and you knew I was coming back, so stop making a big deal out of it,” he said, stepping into her office and closing the door behind him.

  Summer just stared at him for a moment, wondering how on earth the two of them were supposed to get along. Of course, whoever hired him had no idea they knew each other, and there was no way she could go to anyone at the TCC and request that they swap security companies without a valid reason.

  “Look, Darius. You have a job to do and so do I. Evidently, I’m the last person you expected to see today. However, we’re professionals and are mature enough to make the best of it. It shouldn’t take you more than a day at the most to finish up here and—”

  “Wrong.”

  She lifted her brow. “Excuse me?”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “I said you’re wrong. Finishing up things here will take me every bit of a week. Possibly two.”

  His words hit her like a ton of bricks. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “I don’t kid.”

  She pressed her lips together to keep from saying, No, but you do kiss and tell. Instead, she asked, “Why will it take that long to install a security system?”

  There was a pause. A long pause. And for a moment, she wasn’t sure he was going to answer her.

  “The reason it will take so long is because in addition to installing a new security system on all the computers in this building, I’ll be setting up a billing system for the Texas Cattleman’s Club. I’m getting paid well to do a good job and I don’t intend to do otherwise by rushing through things just to make your life less miserable.”

  “My life isn’t miserable,” she all but snapped.

  “Sorry. It was foolish of me to assume that it was. And I see you’re not wearing a ring so I guess you didn’t get a rich husband after all.”

  Summer wondered what he was talking about and decided she really didn’t want to know. “Look, Darius—”

  He moved to her desk so quickly she jerked back in her chair. He placed his palms down on her desk and leaned over, his face within inches of hers. “No, you look, Summer. You’re right, we are two professionals. Two adults who just happened to have had an affair that led to nowhere. I’m over it and so are you. So let’s move on.”

  “Fine,” she snapped.

  “Great.” He straightened his tall form, moved away from her desk and looked at a closet door across the room. “Unfortunately, the mainframe is in this office so I’ll be spending more time in here than any other place. You might be inconvenienced a few times.”

  “If I’m scheduled to meet with clients, I’ll use one of the vacant conference rooms,” she said, trying to keep her voice civil.

  He nodded. “And if you’re not scheduled to meet with a client?”

  “I have the ability to work through distractions.”

  He lifted a brow and held her gaze for a moment. “Do you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then we don’t have anything to worry about,” he said, looking at his watch. “Are you meeting with a client sometime today?”

  “No, I just have paperwork to do. Will you be shutting down my computer?” She could tell they were both trying to be courteous and hold a decent conversation in less-than-biting tones. But in spite of everything, she couldn’t stop the sensations that stirred inside of her every time she looked into his eyes.

  “No, but if that changes I’ll give you advanced warning.”

  “Thank you.”

  He moved to the other side of the room. “Right now I need to get into this closet.”

  She swallowed as she stared at him under her lashes. His hands were on his hips, unconsciously drawing emphasis to his jean-clad hips and thighs. Tapered. Perfectly honed.

  Deciding she had seen enough—probably too much—she picked up a file off her desk, leaned back in her chair and began reading. She tried like heck to concentrate on the document in front of her, but every so often she would look up and glance over at Darius. He was standing in front of a huge unit that had a bunch of wires running from it. He was concentrating on the computer’s mainframe but her eyes were concentrated on him, drinking him in with feminine appreciation. He might be an arrogant ass but he was a good-looking one.

  And as if he could feel her eyes on him, he looked up and met her gaze. Their eyes held for a moment longer than necessary before she dropped hers back to the document in front of her, thinking, so much for working through distractions.

  Darius stared at Summer. Although he wished he were anyplace else other than here, he couldn’t stop looking at her and remembering. She had gone back to reading, so he let his gaze travel over her, noticing the way her shoulder-length hair had fallen in her face. She absently brushed it back, giving him a view of her face once again. It was a face that had been his downfall the first time he’d seen it.

  He could vividly recall just when that had been. After crawling through her bathroom window, she had seen him before Whitman had known he was in the house. With eye contact, Darius had encouraged her to stay calm and not give him away. Using the training he’d acquired, it had taken only a couple of quick kicks to bring Whitman down. He hit the ground before he’d realized what had happened to him.

  It was then that a nearly traumatized Summer had rushed into his arms, holding on to him as if her life depended on it. Even after the police officers had rushed in and handcuffed Whitman, she had still held on to him, like she was too shaken to let him out of her sight. Since it had been almost quitting time, he had followed the squad car that had taken her to the hospital to get checked out. He’d also dropped by her place the next day to repair her broken window.

  During the weeks that followed, he would find some excuse or other to see her, and when he’d learned that her ex had been let out on bail, he had made it a point to drive by her house a couple of times a night just to make sure she was okay. Most of the time they would sit in her living room and talk.

  During that time Summer had shared a lot about her life. He knew she had been raised by an aunt and that she had left her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, for California with dreams of becoming an actress or, better yet, to find a rich older man to marry. At the time he’d thought she was teasing, but he’d discovered a few months later she’d been dead serious.

  He’d found out the hard way that while he had been falling in love with her, she had been looking for a man with a lot more money than he’d had.

  He fought back the anger that tried consuming him all over again, anger that seven years hadn’t erased. He must have muttered something under his breath because she looked up and again their eyes met.

  He tried looking away but couldn’t. And when he moved to close the closet he told himself to head straight for the door and walk out. However, he couldn’t do that, either.

  Instead, he found himself crossing the room to where she was sitting. Although he had tried to forget it, he was still bothered by the fact that she had left him for another man. A man who h
ad been old enough to be her father from what he’d heard.

  By the time he reached her, she was standing. “What is wrong with you?” she asked, backing away from him until her back hit a solid wall and she couldn’t go any farther.

  His lips curved into a forced smile. “There’s nothing wrong with me, Summer.”

  “Then what do you think you’re doing?” she asked in a whisper.

  “You still ask too many questions,” he murmured, just seconds before leaning in and capturing her mouth with his.

  The instant their mouths touched it registered in Summer’s brain that she didn’t have to accept his kiss. She could outright refuse it. However, any thoughts of doing so tumbled from her mind as he expertly took control of her mouth in a way she remembered so well.

  His tongue surged between her parted lips and the moment it tangled with hers, she was a goner. Instead of being swamped with memories of the past, she was overtaken by sensations from the present, where he was causing a stir within her so effortlessly.

  And it wasn’t just about tongue play; it was a lot more than that. It was about body heat and the way she felt pressed against him, with his arms wrapped firmly around her waist and hers finding their way around his neck.

  And then it was about a need. She could not characterize his, but she could certainly define her own. It had been seven years since she had been kissed by a man. Seven years of denying herself this one particular pleasure as well as numerous others. Those denials, especially the primal ones, were coming back to haunt her in the worst kind of way, thanks to him.

  And then, she thought, when he pulled her body closer to his, closer to his heat, there was the idea, the very fact, that after all this time she was still attracted to him and he to her. Some things couldn’t change. There was the chemistry, physical attraction, sexual tension. Lust was a strong benefactor, especially when motivated and fueled by sexual need.

  He changed the angle of his mouth to deepen the kiss and tightened his hold around her waist. And then he used his tongue to taste her in a way he’d never done before. It was as if he were trying to get reacquainted with her flavor, sliding his tongue from one side of her mouth to the other.

  Then, in a move she could only deem as sensuously strategic, he captured her tongue with his and began mating with it in a way that nearly brought her to her knees. He was building desire within her, slowly escalating their fiery exchange. Her hands moved from his neck to his shoulders, and then she spread her palms over his back as he elicited a response from her that she felt in every pore of her body.

  Despite the greedy protest of her lips, he finally pulled his mouth away from hers. She drew in a much-needed breath. The kiss had been totally unexpected—completely without warning—and had managed to leave her breathless, speechless, with her senses heightened to their full capacity.

  And then reality returned. She stiffened, determined that he would not assume the kiss would be the first of many, or that he was on the verge of finding his way back into her heart with the sole purpose of finding his way back into her bed.

  Too late she began berating herself for letting the kiss last as long as it had. He was staring at her and she wondered if the kiss—especially the intensity of it—had been some kind of point he’d wanted to make. Probably, but she had news for him.

  “If you want to keep your job, Darius, I would advise you to never do that again,” she said in a cutting tone. “If you do, I will report your actions to the Texas Cattleman’s Club. I’m sure there are other security companies they could use to do what you were hired to do.”

  She thought she saw a smile touch his lips before his gaze narrowed slightly. “Does it matter that you kissed me back? Moaned in my ear? Rubbed your body against mine?” he asked with a hint of scorn in his voice.

  Summer felt heat flush her cheeks. Had she actually done all those things while they’d been kissing? Okay, she had returned his kiss, possibly even moaned a few times in his ear, but had she really rubbed her body against his? Due to the intensity of the exchange, that may very well have been a possibility. But that didn’t mean she’d given him free rein to enjoy her mouth anytime the mood suited him. She needed to make sure he understood that.

  “Fair warning, Darius. Kevin Novak of the TCC will be meeting with me this week to see how things are going at the shelter, and we’ll be discussing ways that things around here can be improved. I’m sure getting this job was a feather in your cap and I’d hate to ask that you be replaced, but I will if you don’t keep your hands to yourself.”

  His gaze locked on to hers for longer than necessary, and then he stepped back. Evidently, he realized she hadn’t just made an idle threat. There was a long silence as they stood there staring at each other and then to her surprise, he smiled and said, “You enjoyed that kiss just as much as I did and I will bring up that fact to Mr. Novak if he questions me about anything. If you’re thinking about putting me on the hot seat, then be ready to join me there. The TCC hired you to do a job, just like they hired me.”

  His dark eyes hardened. “And need I remind you that I’ve been living in Somerset a lot longer than you have? People around here know I’m a professional who’s selective when it comes to friends. I have a tarnish-free reputation. This is a nice town, close-knit. You’re the stranger here, Summer, not me. But I will heed your wishes. The next kiss, you’ll initiate. Until then, you’re safe with me.”

  She lifted her chin, wondering when he had become so arrogant, so sure of himself. For him to assume she would make a move on him was outright preposterous. “That won’t happen.”

  He smiled. “Then I guess that means you’re safe with me.”

  She was about to give him a blistering retort when his cell phone rang. “Excuse me,” he said, and Summer watched as he quickly pulled it from his belt clip. She figured it was probably some woman calling him.

  He muttered a few words to the caller and then glanced back at her and said, “I need to take this call. Remember what I said.” And then he turned and walked out of her office.

  Darius strolled into the lobby of the shelter, a safe distance from Summer’s office, yet close enough so he could see if she left. He pulled in a deep breath and then remembered he had Kevin holding on the phone.

  “Okay, Kev, I can talk now. What’s up?”

  “Just a reminder we’re meeting at the TCC’s game room Thursday night to shoot pool.”

  Darius couldn’t help but grin. If Kev was calling to remind everyone, that meant he was feeling lucky. “I won’t forget.”

  “Where are you?” Kevin asked.

  “At Helping Hands. I decided to install the security system myself since I’m the one who’s going to set up TCC’s billing account for the shelter. Besides, all my men are handling other projects.”

  Darius then remembered something. “Your name came up in a conversation I had with the social worker here, Summer Martindale. You’re supposed to meet with her sometime this week.”

  “Yeah, don’t remind me. That was something Huntington was supposed to do and he delegated it to me like he’s the king and I’m one of his lowly subjects. That man really grates on my last nerve.”

  Darius understood just how Kevin felt. He, Lance, Mitch and Justin all felt the same way. The five of them, along with Alex Montoya, were the most recent inductees into the Texas Cattleman’s Club. This didn’t sit well with some of the club’s old guards—namely Sebastian Huntington and his stuffy cohorts—who for some reason felt the younger men really weren’t deserving of membership in what was known as the most exclusive social club in the state of Texas.


  “Hey, man, I thought all of us agreed to just overlook Huntington and his band of fools,” Darius reminded his friend.

  “Yeah, but he just rubs me the wrong way at times. He doesn’t want to put his full support behind the shelter since the funding of it was our idea and not his.”

  “But he was outvoted, so eventually he’ll get over it,” Darius said. “And if he doesn’t, then that’s too bad. Maybe it’s a good thing that he’s having you do it instead of him. He wouldn’t do anything but find fault with everything anyway.”

  “You’re probably right. So, you’ve met Ms. Martindale?”

  “Yes. She’s the Summer I was involved with before moving here to Somerset.”

  “Damn, man, she’s that Summer?”

  “Yes, she is that Summer.” Kevin didn’t know as much about what had happened as Lance, but both of his best friends knew Summer had screwed him over in a bad way, which was the reason he’d wanted to leave Houston and start a new life here in Somerset.

  “I need you to do me a favor,” he said to Kevin.

  “Sure. What do you need?”

  It had always been this way between him, Lance and Kevin since their college days. Kevin had agreed to the favor without even knowing what would be required of him. The three trusted each other implicitly. “I’ll go into full details when I see you Thursday night, but when you meet with Summer Martindale, if my name comes up, I don’t want it mentioned that I’m affiliated with the TCC.”

  “No problem.”

  Darius had made the decision to tell Summer the truth when he was good and ready. He couldn’t wait to see her face when she realized he was probably just as wealthy as the old man she had left him for.