One Night with the Wealthy Rancher

by Brenda Jackson

  Darius drew in a deep breath and fought the urge to pull her back into his arms again, ask if he could follow her home and make love to her with the same intensity that he had made love to her that night. But this time, his heart wouldn’t come into play, only his lust.

  He wished the kiss could have wiped away all the wrongs of the past and he could move on without feeling animosity in his heart. Unfortunately, it hadn’t. What it had done was make him fully aware of how vulnerable his heart still was when it came to Summer, and just how hot and strong his desire for her still burned within every part of his body.

  “Finish up in here so I can walk you to your car,” he heard himself say in a deep, throaty voice. A yearning for her was stirring his insides, thundering all the way through his veins, making him want to say the hell with it and take her on that very table.

  But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

  “I’ll be fine, Darius. I don’t need you to walk me to my car.”

  As he studied her, he saw the way her eyes glowed in a seductive lure. He doubted she even realized it. He needed to act accordingly and not give in to what she was asking for without even knowing she was doing so.

  “I’m walking you out anyway, Summer.”

  He saw the lure in her eyes quicken to a sharp edge and he wouldn’t be surprised if she stood her ground. Then it would become a standoff, since he had every intention of walking her out. In fact, he intended to follow her home to make sure she got inside her house safely.

  “Fine. Suit yourself, Darius.”

  Her words ripped through the air. He could tell by her tone that she wasn’t happy, but that didn’t bother him. When it came to her safety there was no compromising. He moved from the table to stand in front of her desk, convincing himself that it was his protective instincts kicking in where she was concerned, and nothing more.

  Darius watched as Summer grabbed her purse and then he followed her out the door, pausing in the hall while she locked up her office. The shelter was quiet since most of the people in residence were probably in bed, asleep. “What did you have for dinner?” he asked when they began walking down the corridor toward the lobby.

  “I worked through dinner.”

  Darius pressed his lips together to keep from saying a word that might have burned her ears. Knowing she had missed a meal bothered him a lot more than he cared to admit.

  “And please, Darius, no sermons. I’m too beat to listen.”

  He glanced over at her. “I don’t do sermons.”

  “Could have fooled me.”

  He halted his steps and brought her to a stop before rounding the corner that led to the lobby. She might be too beat to listen to what he had to say, but there was no doubt in his mind that she had plenty of energy for an argument and was gearing up for one. However, he had no intention of obliging her.

  He leaned forward and placed a light kiss on her lips. “You’re much prettier when you’re not trying to be difficult.”

  She frowned up at him, clearly caught off guard. “I’m not trying to be difficult.”

  He couldn’t help but smile. “Could have fooled me.”

  He didn’t even try to hold back a chuckle when she narrowed her gaze at him. Ignoring the look, his hand took hold of her elbow. “Come on, Summer, let me grab that file off my desk and then get you home before you fall flat on your face from exhaustion.”

  Summer glanced over her shoulder before opening the door to her house. She had been fully aware that Darius had followed her home. She could have been nice and invited him in, but she’d decided not to. There was only so much Darius Franklin she could take, and after the kisses they’d shared in her office tonight, she had reached her limit for today.

  She didn’t have to wonder what there was about him that made her feel so raw and exposed yet at the same time so well protected. Whenever they kissed, she couldn’t help but recall the passion. And then there were the memories of the hopes and dreams that had blossomed in her heart of what she’d assumed was a promising future between them. She had even allowed her dreams to include marriage and babies.

  She headed for the bathroom to take her shower, wondering if at any time during the past seven years Darius had regretted bragging about their night together in such a degrading manner to his partner, Walt Stewart. She appreciated the fact that Walt felt she needed to know just what Darius had said.

  Pain tore into her heart every time she realized just how wrong she had been about him, and that made her determined not to make another mistake by giving him her heart a second time. But she had enjoyed their kiss. In her mind, one didn’t have to do with the other, just as long as she knew where she stood with him and where he stood with her.

  He was now a dedicated businessman who seemed to enjoy what he did for a living and she had a new life, a new career and was no longer looking over her shoulder, fearful of seeing Tyrone. The past seven years had been good for her, although lonely. When it came to men she had learned the hard way to play it safe, and she would continue to do so.

  And one sure way to do that was to make sure she didn’t assume anything where Darius was concerned.

  Darius needed a shower to relax. After making sure Summer had gotten home okay, he had driven straight home with memories of their kisses running all through his mind. Having her in his arms had felt natural, like that was where she belonged. Considering what she’d done to him seven years ago, was that weird or what?

  When he had reluctantly ended their kiss, she had taken her tongue and swept it across his lips. He still felt a stirring deep in his gut just thinking about it. It had been unexpected. It had felt good.

  And now he knew where she lived and would make it his business to get her to invite him over to her place one night. It might take a while to work up to that, but he would get there. He wouldn’t see her again until Monday, which was just as well since he of all people knew Summer was the type of woman who could grow on a man.

  She was the type of woman who could easily get under a man’s skin. And he had to admit that she had gotten under his tonight. She had made sensations he hadn’t felt in years rush through him, reminding him what it was like to lose control with a woman.

  Darius headed toward the shower with a deep frown on his face. No matter what Summer evoked within him, he was determined to remain immune to her charms. He had no intentions of making the same mistake twice.

  Six

  “How did your meeting go on Friday?”

  Summer glanced up and met Darius’s gaze. She had wondered if he would be dropping by the shelter today. She hadn’t expected to see him Friday, but she hadn’t known for sure when he would be back to complete the project he’d been hired by the TCC to do.

  “I think the meeting went great. Mr. Novak appreciated the handouts and was very attentive to what I had to say. He agreed that based on our occupancy log, it would be a good idea to consider expanding the facilities sooner than later. He said he’d take his recommendations back to the other members of the TCC.”

  Darius nodded. “And how was your weekend?”

  “Busy as usual. And yours?” she asked, watching him carefully. She used to have the ability to read his thoughts, but now his expressions were unrevealing and she didn’t have a clue as to what he was thinking.

  “It was okay. After spending Friday at the refinery, I had to follow up several leads,” he said, stepping into the room.

  She immediately felt his heat, breathed in his scent and admitted to herself that she had missed seeing hi
m around. “And you’re still certain the fire was intentionally set?”

  She tried not to notice how good he looked standing in front of her desk with a cup of coffee in his hand. All it took was a glance at his mouth to remember their kisses right here in this office last week.

  She refused to admit she had purposely left her office door open on the off chance he dropped by Helping Hands today. On a number of occasions he had caught her unaware and she didn’t want that to happen this time. She also refused to admit that she had thought about him a lot over the weekend, wondering how he was spending his time—and with whom. The latter was something she had no right to concern herself with, but she couldn’t help it.

  “I’ll pick up the official report from the fire marshal this week, but so far, all evidence still points to arson,” he said.

  “Then I’m sure you’ll be the one to solve this case.”

  Darius didn’t want to think about what effect her confidence had on him at that very moment. She’d always had a way of making him feel that he could leap tall buildings with a single bound if he had to. He used to tell himself the reason she felt that way was because he had been the one to save her from a dangerous situation, and he shouldn’t put much stock into it. But he had anyway.

  “So, what’s next?”

  That was another thing that had drawn him to Summer, her interest in his job. She would ask questions and seemed to understand his excitement about it as well as his frustrations. He would enjoy getting off work at the end of his shift and dropping by her place to tell her how his day had gone.

  “I’ll continue to conduct an investigation over at the refinery while working on the security and the accounting systems here. Since the TCC wants me to personally handle both, I’ve delegated my other projects.”

  There, he’d just told her his plans which meant, whether she liked it or not, he would be hanging around for a while. He wondered if she had assumed he would be moving on and assigning the shelter job to someone else, but he couldn’t read her expression.

  “Well, I’ll let you get back to work. I’ll see you at noon.”

  He watched as her brow lifted. “Noon?”

  He smiled. “Yes. We’re doing lunch.”

  She stared at him. “Are we?”

  “Sure we are, and I’ll even let you twist my arm into getting one of those salads you seem to like so much.”

  There was a pause, and Darius sensed she was trying to determine whether it was worth the effort to start an argument with him. When she began speaking, she spoke her words slowly as if to make sure they were understood. “I don’t want you to assume we’re going to lunch together every day, Darius.”

  “Don’t you like my company?”

  She hesitated, and he watched her nervously lick her top lip with her tongue before she answered. “Whether I like your company or not has nothing to do with it. We have issues we haven’t yet resolved.”

  They had issues yet to be resolved? She made it sound like she had been the injured party and not the other way around. He hadn’t been the one to skip town with a man old enough to be her father who could buy her all the things Darius couldn’t afford on his detective salary. They would resolve things all right, but his way. Pretty soon she would see how it felt to have someone you assumed loved you turn around and leave you high and dry with a broken heart.

  “Some things can’t be resolved and are better left alone,” he said. “And in our case, maybe that’s the way things should be, Summer. What happened between us was seven years ago. People change and they grow to regret things they did when they were young and foolish.”

  Darius maintained eye contact with her, assuming she was thinking about what he’d said. He made it sound as if he was giving her a chance to redeem herself, and that he was willing to forgive her for what she had done. Little did she know how far from the truth that was.

  “Maybe you have the right idea,” she finally said. “It was seven years ago and we’ve grown a lot since then.”

  “I’d like to believe we have.” Deciding he didn’t want to discuss it any further, he asked, “So, do we have another date for lunch?”

  She hesitated and then said, “Yes, we do.”

  After Darius walked out of her office, Summer couldn’t help wondering if she was making a mistake by agreeing to put the past behind them. He evidently found it easy to do so, but he hadn’t been the one to get his heart broken. But then, on the other hand, she couldn’t discount the fact that Darius had saved her life. And then another part of her wondered if perhaps she had put more stock in their affair, and had expected more from the relationship than he had.

  She had gone a long time without getting involved with a man and she wasn’t so sure if she could handle Darius—she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to. She had gotten used to being by herself. Why was he determined to invade her space?

  The only thing she was certain about was the way he made her feel whenever he touched her. To be honest, he didn’t even have to touch her to make her hormones react. He could stand five feet away and she had the ability to feel how the tension in the air surrounding them seemed to vibrate, emitting all sorts of sensuous stirrings and longings. He had been in her office less than fifteen minutes and already her vital signs were at their highest peak.

  But she was no longer concerned by the staggering degree of physical chemistry flowing between them. It had always been there, from the first. What she was concerned about was how easily she wanted to forgive him and believe that what Darius had said was true. Seven years ago, they had been different people with different values, at a different place in their lives. People change. And they come to regret decisions and actions of their past. Decisions and actions that they can’t change.

  She knew some men didn’t like confrontation and Darius was probably of the mind that even if they hashed the issues out, it would not change anything. But still, was it too much to expect an apology for sharing something private and personal with his partner? Couldn’t he see that doing so had degraded what they’d shared?

  Even now she could vividly recall that day, after she and Darius had spent the night together. He had left her bed that morning seemingly in a good mood, making plans for them to spend the day together. But first he had to go home to get a change of clothes and stop by police headquarters to complete some paperwork, and she had to work a few hours at the restaurant where she was a part-time waitress.

  When she’d returned home, she had waited for Darius. When hours passed, she had gotten worried. That evening, Walt had appeared on her doorstep with a message from Darius saying he’d had to leave town unexpectedly on police business. After delivering that message, Walt had asked if he could talk to her privately. That is when he’d told her how Darius had come to the station that day and bragged about finally sleeping with her. He had made a bet with Walt that it would take less than a month to share her bed. Discovering their one night together hadn’t been anything more than a chance for him to win a bet had hurt her deeply. And then to know he’d gone back and told his friend had been another crushing blow.

  While listening to Walt level with her about what Darius had done, she had barely been able to maintain her composure. Only after Walt had left did she break down and let it all out. She knew she had to leave Houston immediately and did not want to see Darius again, ever. It had been bad enough with Tyrone, but the hurt Darius had inflicted was even worse because in just a short time, she had fallen in love with him.

  She had been too ashamed to call her aunt to tell her what had happened, so in the days that followed, she’d made some quick decision
s. One of her regular customers at the restaurant, an author of academic books named Jack Lindsey, would be spending a year in Florida with his wife while he penned his next book. Jack had offered her the chance to accompany them as his assistant, to organize and edit all of his notes. He had made the offer before, but she had turned him down because of Tyrone’s threats regarding what he would do if she ever left town. But with no future for her in Houston, she had quickly packed up and left town with the Lindseys.

  The Lindseys had been wonderful and she had enjoyed the year she had spent with them on their beach property in Miami. She had buried herself in her work, determined to put Darius out of her mind and go about healing her heart. When she hadn’t heard from him in over two weeks, that had only verified everything Walt had said. Their night together had been a conquest for him and nothing more.

  Since both Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey were former teachers, they had encouraged Summer to pursue a college degree, and Mrs. Lindsey had even tutored her on those subjects Summer had felt would hold her back from getting accepted to any college. Using the money she’d made working for the Lindseys, along with a very nice bonus they had given her at the end of the year, she had remained in Miami to attend college there. She had poured all her time and energy into her classes, determined to reach every goal she had established for herself and refusing to wallow in the hurt and pain Darius had caused her.

  Summer got up from her desk and looked out the window, not sure how she would handle the one man she thought she would never see again.

  What she was up against now was how he could make her feel. Whenever she was around him, he was capable of bringing out feelings and desires that she wished would stay buried. In seven years, no man had made her remember how it felt to be a woman. A desired woman. It was something Darius could do so effortlessly.