One Night with the Wealthy Rancher

by Brenda Jackson

  “All I want to know is do they make good hamburgers?” he asked, easing his car into traffic.

  “I’ve never eaten one of their burgers. I’m a salad girl.”

  He glanced over at her and grinned. “So, you haven’t kicked that habit?”

  “You want to consult Dr. Oz to determine which of us is eating healthier?”

  “No.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh. “I figured as much.”

  It felt good to laugh. She would never admit it to anyone, especially to Darius, but Samuel Green had truly frightened her and she was glad Darius had been there. When Mr. Green had burst through that door after breaking the glass, she’d had flashbacks to that time with Tyrone when she’d been exposed to his true colors. She had seen his anger out of control, and that anger had been directed at her. A backhand blow had sent her sprawling across the room but she had been quick enough to make it to the door before he could do anything else.

  That had been the one and only time Tyrone had raised a hand to her, and she made sure it was the last. A courier had returned her engagement ring to him in the same box it had come in and later that same day, he’d been notified of the restraining order she’d filed. Thinking about it now, she appreciated the fact that she’d gotten out of an abusive situation. She had known when it was time to part ways even if Tyrone hadn’t.

  She glanced over at Darius. “Did you get much work done today?”

  He shrugged. “Not as much as I would have liked, but that’s okay. Typically, a job of this sort wouldn’t take a whole lot of time, but security is a concern at the shelter, as it should be.”

  There was no way she would argue with that.

  “And as far as the billing system goes,” he continued, “I understand the TCC has money, but they want a firm accounting of how their money is being spent.”

  “Yes, and rightly so,” she said, wondering if he thought she felt otherwise. “This shelter is fortunate to be funded by such a distinguished group of men. Do you know any of them?”

  He lifted a brow. “Any of whom?”

  “Members of the TCC?”

  “Why would I know any of them?”

  She noted that he sounded offended by her question. “I didn’t mean if you knew them personally. I was just wondering if you’ve ever met any of them. After all, you were hired by them.”

  He didn’t say anything for a moment. “Yes, I’ve met some of them. They’re okay for a bunch of rich guys, and I respect the club for all the things they do in the community. It’s my understanding that some of the members prefer not having their identities known. They like doing things behind the scenes without any recognition.”

  Summer nodded. She could respect that, knowing there were a number of wealthy people who preferred being anonymous donors. She appreciated everything the TCC had done so far and all the things they planned to do. She was definitely looking forward to her meeting with Mr. Novak on Friday. Presently, Helping Hands could accommodate up to fifteen women and children that needed shelter care. Already the TCC had plans in the works to expand the shelter’s facilities to triple that amount.

  “You’ve gotten quiet,” he said.

  She glanced over at Darius and couldn’t help but feel a rush of gratitude. He had stood back and let her handle things until the situation had gotten out of control. She appreciated his intervening when he did, playing the role of knight in shining armor once again.

  She continued looking at him. His eyes were on the road and her mind couldn’t help but shift to another time when he’d been driving her someplace. It had been their first official date. They had gone out for pizza and afterward he had taken her home. She had invited him inside and later, sitting beside him on the sofa, the kissing had begun. A short while later she had been lying beneath him in her bed as he made love to her in a way she hadn’t known was possible. The intensity of the memories of that night was almost enough to push everything that had happened over the past seven years into the background.

  Almost, but not quite.

  “Summer?”

  She blinked when she realized they had come to a traffic light and he had glanced over at her, catching her staring. “Yes?”

  “Are you sure you’re okay? I guess incidents such as what happened earlier are expected to some degree, which is the reason I’m installing state-of-the-art security software on all the computers—to reduce the risk that the location of the women seeking refuge is discovered. But still, it has to be unnerving when one of the husbands or boyfriends shows up.”

  If you only knew. “Yes, and what’s really sad is the fact that the women have to go into hiding at all. The Greens have two beautiful little boys and today their father showed up demanding them back with, of all things, one of their baseball bats. The person we saw today was not a loving father or husband but a violent and dangerous man.”

  Summer frowned and then she sighed deeply. Tonight she would get a good night’s sleep and try to forget the incident ever happened. Fat chance. She would remember it and she would imagine what could have happened had Darius not been there.

  “Here we are.”

  She looked around. Darius had pulled into the café’s parking lot and brought the car to a stop. She glanced over at him. He was staring at her with an intensity that sent shivers of awareness through her body.

  Sexual chemistry was brewing between them again. She could feel his body heat emanating from across the car. Summer forced the thought to the back of her mind.

  “Umm, I guess we should go on inside,” she forced her mouth to say. The way he was looking at her made her want to suggest that they go somewhere else, but she fought the temptation and held tight to her common sense.

  She decided now was as good a time as any to thank him. “I really do appreciate what you did today, Darius, and I want to—”

  “No, don’t thank me.”

  His words stopped her short. “Why?”

  “Because I didn’t do any more than what was needed. No more than any other man would have done.”

  She contemplated his words. He was a man of action. Twice she had seen him in full swing and neither time had he accepted her words of gratitude. “I will thank you, Darius Franklin, because you deserve to be thanked.”

  And before he could respond, she got out of the car.

  “Hey, Ms. Martindale, do you want your usual spot?” Tina asked when Summer walked in.

  “Whatever is available,” Summer answered, feeling the heat of Darius’s chest close to her back. His nearness was almost unsettling.

  “You must come here often,” he said, moving to stand at her side.

  She glanced over at him and smiled. “Practically every day. It’s not far from the shelter and I enjoy the walk. And I like their grilled chicken salads.”

  Moments later they were being escorted to a table in the rear. Darius shifted his full attention to the people whose tables they passed. They either greeted her by name or smiled a hello. “You’re pretty popular, I see,” he said when they had taken their seats.

  She shrugged. “Most are regulars who know that I work at the shelter. They believe it benefits the community and appreciate our presence.”

  They halted conversation for a while to scan the menu. Darius was the one deciding what he wanted since Summer was getting her usual. However, she was inclined to check out the soup of the day, or at least pretend that she was doing so. It was hard concentrating on anything, even food, w
hile sitting across from Darius. As he studied his menu, she studied him over the top of hers.

  She almost laughed out loud at the intense expression on his face. Deciding what hamburger he wanted couldn’t be all that serious. But then Darius had always been a very serious man. Especially when it came to making love.

  For a heart-flipping moment she wondered why a memory like that had crossed her mind, but she knew. Darius was the kind of man that oozed sexuality as potent as it could get, making those incredible urges consume the lower part of her body. They’d only had one night together, but it had been incredible. No matter what had happened after that, she could not discount how he’d made her feel.

  He was the most gifted of lovers. Pleasing her had seemed to be the most natural thing in the world to Darius. She hadn’t realized just how selfish Tyrone had been in the bedroom until after she’d made love to Darius. How could she have realized when Tyrone had been her first? No matter what her sexual experience had been with Tyrone, one time with Darius had made everything just fine.

  Darius glanced up and she took in a lungful of air. The intensity of his gaze—she wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. It was as if she were held captive by his deep, dark eyes.

  “Here are your waters.”

  Summer almost jumped when Tina appeared with two glasses of water. “Thanks.” Barely giving her a chance to set the glass down in front of her, Summer picked it up and took a long gulp, feeling the need for the ice-cold water to cool her down.

  Tina hung around long enough to take their food and drink order before moving on again.

  “So, what do you like about your job?”

  She glanced over at him to answer his question, making an attempt to keep her gaze trained on his nose instead of his eyes. “Everything, but mostly the satisfaction I get from helping women in distress, those who might feel broken up because of what has happened. I like letting them know they aren’t alone and somebody cares.”

  What she didn’t add was that she enjoyed giving them the same support he had given her during those first crucial days, when she had begun doubting herself, second-guessing the situation and believing that maybe she had been the cause of Tyrone’s problems instead of the other way around.

  “I notice there’s not a director at the shelter,” he said.

  Her gaze drifted down from his nose to his lips. Focusing on his mouth was just as bad as looking into his eyes. He had a sexy mouth. It was a mouth that could move with agonizing slowness when talking…or when being used for other things. She swallowed before responding.

  “When I was hired by the TCC it was decided that I could handle it all for now. When they complete the proposed expansions and decide to fill the position, I’m hoping I’ll be considered for the job.”

  Darius nodded. He had not been a part of the TCC committee that had done the hiring for Helping Hands, which was one of the reasons he’d been surprised to discover her working there. He would have recognized her name the second it came across his desk.

  “The shelter is pretty full now. How do you manage it all?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “It’s not so bad. I think the most challenging times are when I’m called in the middle of the night to a police station or hospital to comfort a woman who’s been beaten or raped.”

  Darius’s jaw twitched at the thought of anyone treating a woman so cruelly. Mistreatment of a woman was one thing he could not tolerate.

  “It’s also difficult at times when manning the abuse hotline. Someone is there to take calls twenty-four hours a day—usually a volunteer trained to do so. Every once in a while, a call will come through that I need to handle. Those are the ones that can get pretty emotional, depending on the circumstances.”

  Darius could tell from her voice that she was dedicated to what she did every day. To stay on safe ground and not stray on to a topic neither of them wanted to deal with, he decided to keep her talking about her work at the shelter.

  For the first time since seeing her again, he was lowering his guard a little.

  When the waitress finally delivered their order, he had to admit the food looked good. And after a bite into his hamburger, he had to own up that it tasted good, too. One of his uncles in Charleston once owned a sandwich shop that used to make the best burgers around. As a kid, he enjoyed the summers he spent there and the older he got, he found himself comparing every hamburger he ate to his uncle Donald’s. None could compare, but he had to admit this one came pretty close.

  “How does it taste?”

  He glanced over at Summer and could only smile and nod, since he couldn’t talk with a mouth full of hamburger.

  A half hour later, on the drive back to the shelter, he reflected on a number of things he hadn’t expected. Mainly, he hadn’t figured on sitting across from her for almost an hour and enjoying her company without animosity or anger seeping in. However, what couldn’t be helped was the sexual tension. Although they had tried to downplay it with a lot of conversation, it was there nonetheless.

  There was a lot about her he could barely resist. Her scent topped the list. Whatever perfume she was wearing filled his nostrils with a luscious fragrance that seemed to get absorbed right into his skin. And then there were her eyes. He was fully aware that she’d tried to avoid looking at him, which had been hard to do since they were sitting directly across from each other. Each time he would catch her staring at him, he would feel a pull in his stomach.

  Thankfully, his hands were gripping the steering wheel because at that moment, it wouldn’t take much for him to reach over and touch her, stroke that part of her thigh exposed beneath her skirt. Seeing her flesh peeking at him was making his mind spin, so he tried focusing on the road and decided to get her talking again. Anything to keep his mind off taking her.

  “So, where do you live?” he asked.

  He kept his gaze glued to the road. She didn’t need to see the heat in his eyes, a telltale sign that although he wished otherwise, she was getting to him.

  “I bought a house a block from the post office,” she said.

  He noted she didn’t provide him with the name of her street. There were a couple of new communities sprouting up near the post office, as well as a number of newly renovated older homes that had been for sale. “Nice area,” he heard himself say.

  “I like it. My neighborhood’s pretty quiet. Most of the people on my street are a lot older and are in bed before eight at night.”

  He nodded. From the information she had just shared he could safely assume that she had purchased one of the renovated homes in the older, established communities. Doing so had been a smart move on her part; they were a good investment.

  She then opened up and began telling him about it, saying she was having a lot of fun decorating the house. He didn’t find that hard to believe. When she’d lived in Houston, her apartment had been small but nice and he’d been surprised to learn she had done most of the decorating herself.

  All too soon he was pulling into the parking lot of the shelter. “Thanks for taking me to lunch,” she said, reaching to unsnap her seat belt even before he could bring the car to a complete stop. “Although I have to admit, riding in the car instead of walking only means I have to get my daily physical activity some other way,” she added.

  He came close to saying that he knew another way she could get her physical activity, and it would be something she would enjoy—he would make sure of it. Instead, he decided it would be best to keep his mouth shut.

  “But since it will probably be dark when I leave today, I’ll take the day off from exercise,” she tac
ked on, getting out of the car.

  He glanced over at her. “Why are you staying late?”

  “Because I have a lot of work and can’t leave until I’m finished. I’m meeting with Mr. Novak on Friday and there are a number of reports I have to run. More than likely, the TCC will have heard about the incident today and will want a full report on what happened.”

  He tightened his mouth after almost telling her that he’d already given them one. While at police headquarters, he had gotten a call from Mitch, Justin and Kevin. Lance had told them what had happened. Minor details had been given on television—since it was a women’s shelter, no television crews or reporters were allowed to show up in order to protect the women staying there.

  He knew if Summer stayed beyond five o’clock, she’d be pulling a long day. But for some reason, he had a feeling that was probably the norm for her. “Isn’t there someone who can help you with those reports?”

  “Afraid not. Besides, I’d rather run them myself, especially since I plan on pleading my case to Mr. Novak for an expansion of the shelter sooner rather than later.”

  Darius didn’t say anything, but considering what had happened earlier that day, he wasn’t crazy about her walking out to her car alone. Although the parking lot was well lit, he still didn’t like it. Two security guards had shown up after the incident. He decided that before he left for the day, he would talk to the guards and make sure one of them walked Summer to her car.

  When they reached the door he decided that unlike her, he intended to leave at a decent time. He had a meeting with the fire chief later, and it was a meeting he didn’t want to miss. And besides, the last thing he needed was to end up in the office late at night with Summer—alone.

  Four

  Darius grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and popped the top before tilting the can to his mouth, appreciating the cool brew that flowed down his throat. When the can was empty, he scowled before crushing the aluminum and tossing it into the recycling bin.