“I hope it works out for you.”
“I’m beginning to have my doubts,” she mumbled. “My buyer was supposed to get back to me last week. And I haven’t heard a word.”
“Why not call and give him a nudge?”
“You won’t believe who it is.”
Jenna Mae grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the crowd. “Tell me.” Jenna was on her third drink, which might just be her limit. She wobbled a little when she walked.
April spoke in Jenna’s ear. “It’s Risk Boone. If you can believe that.”
Jenna knew all about her high school crush and fantasy night with Risk, and so it wasn’t surprising that her mouth dropped open. “No.”
“Yes. He was at the office last week. It was...awkward.”
“I can imagine. Man, you crushed on him heavily in high school. You’ve always had a soft spot for that guy.”
“Not anymore. Not after...Houston.”
“Really? Because I didn’t want to say anything, but he’s sitting at the bar right now.”
April couldn’t believe it; now her mouth dropped open. And her heart sped up. She had her back to the bar, and she casually turned to look over her shoulder. Yep, there was Risk, sitting on a stool, flanked by two women, one on each side of him. They were leaning against the bar top, engaging him in conversation. Typical. Women swarmed around Risk like bees to honey. He’d been a big celebrity at one time. It was crazy to think she’d been one of his hangers-on a couple of years ago.
“Oh wow, I’ve never seen him in here before,” Jenna said.
“No, neither have I,” she muttered. “When we spoke, he made it seem like he hasn’t been in Boone Springs much lately.” And April wasn’t a regular customer at the Farmhouse. She’d been too busy to go out during the week, and there was a diner closer to her office that delivered.
April was about to look away, a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, only to discover that Risk didn’t seem to be listening to the women speaking in his ear. His eyes were on her through the reflection in the wide rectangular mirror behind the bar. She was caught in his gaze, her heart pumping hard. There was a moment of awareness, pure and instinctual, that sparked in her veins.
His lips twitched upward. Was he smiling at her?
Oh boy. She stared another half a second then grabbed Jenna’s arm. “Let’s get back to the table.”
A few minutes later, April polished off the rest of her drink as she chatted with her friends who were still seated and not cutting loose on the dance floor. Her head was a little fuzzy, she had a definite buzz going on, and the more she thought about Risk Boone not giving her the courtesy of a return call this week, the more it bugged her.
“I left him two voice mails about the lodge, and he never got back to me,” she told Clovie and Jenna. And now he was sitting at the bar smugly, watching her every move. How was she supposed to take that? “I’m gonna talk to him now, whether he likes it or not,” she said. As she began to rise, two hands came down on her shoulders, pushing her back down, Clovie from the right and Jenna from the left.
“Wait,” Clovie said. “I know that look in your eyes, April. You need to calm down. There’s still hope for the deal. You can simply, tactfully ask him what the delay is.”
“Clovie’s right,” Jenna said. “You’re a professional. Don’t blow it because you’re ticked off.”
April sighed and nodded, thinking it through. Risk was a rich, handsome hunk, but he’d also been a jerk to her. Still she couldn’t let her personal feelings about Risk deter her from her job. “Okay, you guys are right. I’ll do that.”
“And another thing you’re going to do is put this on.” Jenna slid a diamond cluster ring off her right hand. “From now on, you’re engaged.”
“I’m what?”
“You heard me, you’re engaged to be married. It’s just a form of insurance when dealing with Risk.”
“I can’t do that. That’s your grandmother’s ring.”
“It’s for a good cause. I know you’ll take care with it.”
“For heaven’s sake, Jenna. I can certainly speak with the man—”
“Whoops, looks like he’s heading this way.” Jenna pushed the ring onto April’s left ring finger. “Remember, you’re a professional. And you’re engaged,” she mouthed softly.
April’s head swam, and the next thing she knew, she was standing up facing Risk wearing a ring on her left hand and all the other girls had vanished onto the dance floor.
“Evenin’,” he said, the one word pronounced with enough charm to swallow her up. Suddenly, the ring on her finger didn’t seem too over-the-top. There was something about Risk that was too darn attractive. Wearing this ring just might be a blessing in disguise. “Do you have a minute to talk?” he asked.
“I, uh, sure. Here?”
Music blasted from the live band, the drummer’s rolling solo doing a number on her ears.
He shook his head. “It’s too loud in here. Take a walk with me outside?”
She needed to hear what he had to say, and actually having some privacy would be better to discuss business. “I, uh, sure.”
Risk led the way through the packed crowd and she followed behind him, bumping shoulders and ping-ponging through the patrons. A strong hand came out to take hers, and suddenly the bumping stopped, Risk forming a human barrier for her as he led her toward the door. As soon as she stepped foot outside, she shivered.
“Damn, it’s cold out here,” he said.
She couldn’t disagree. She’d left her coat inside the Farmhouse, and not even the dizzying buzz from her second margarita warded off the winter chill.
“Let’s go sit in my car—it’ll be a lot warmer for you.”
“Is it too cold to talk out here?” Her teeth clattered as she said the words.
“In the parking lot?” He smiled. “You tell me.”
A blast of wind ruffled her curls, lifting them high in the air and chilling her to the bone. Goodness, she was being silly not wanting to be alone with Risk. She needed to make this deal, and not even having an unorthodox meeting in a client’s car should deter her.
“C’mon, my car’s over here.” Risk took her arm, drawing her close to his body, and the heat radiating off him kept her a bit warmer as they walked to his SUV. He opened the door for her, and she climbed into the passenger seat. “Put this over you,” he said, giving her the sheepskin jacket lying on his seat.
It did the trick immediately. The jacket was snug and warm around her shoulders and arms and was so long it partly covered her legs, too. “Thanks.”
He closed the door and wound around to climb into the driver’s seat.
And April found herself bundled up, sitting very close to Risk Boone, his male scent drifting her way, his presence filling the space inside the SUV.
* * *
“You look real pretty tonight, April.” Risk blurted out the first thing he’d noticed about her tonight as he turned to face her.
Her chin went up. “Thank you.”
“I didn’t expect to see you tonight.”
“No, I didn’t expect to see you, either. But you promised me a call that I never received. What happened? I guess I wasn’t on your radar?”
Quite the contrary. After seeing April last week, he’d thought about her plenty.
He hadn’t known her all that well in high school, but when he’d seen her that day in the rodeo stands in Houston, after his life had hit an all-time low, she’d been one friendly face, one person from home he could relate to, and finding her at the hotel bar later that night had been pure luck on his part. They’d sat and talked for hours, and then things had heated up really fast in his hotel room.
“Believe me, you’ve been on my radar.”
Her head snapped up at that. Questions filled her eyes, and he wasn’t going to a
nswer any of them. “I’m sorry about not returning your voice mails, but I haven’t had time to look at the articles about the lodge. The truth is, I was called out of town. A friend’s mother was gravely ill, and she wanted to see me. I felt compelled to go. She was a wonderful, gentle woman that I really cared about.”
“Cared? Did she pass on?”
He nodded. “Yes, I stayed in Atlanta for the funeral.”
Sympathy touched April’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”
He kept it to himself that it had been Shannon Wilkes’s mother who’d passed on. Shannon had been texting him for months, about her personal life being a hot mess, her career taking a bit of a hit and then her mother’s illness. Risk had resolved things with Shannon a while back. Though the scars were still there, he’d realized she wasn’t the right woman for him, yet he’d sympathized with Shannon over losing her mother. For the two years he’d dated Shannon, Mary had been like a mother to him, and they’d always gotten along. “Yeah, it was rough.”
April gave him a sympathetic nod.
After he ran scared that night in Houston, he wouldn’t have blamed April if she refused to work with him. The sale of the lodge was important to her, and he owed her a fair shake, at the very least. “Do you have plans day after tomorrow?” he asked her.
She looked at him skeptically. “Why?”
“Maybe we can drive out to the lodge and take a look at it. I’ll read the articles about the place tomorrow. Then I can see for myself if it’s doable.”
April’s eyes brightened. “Yes, I’d love for you to see the lodge. I’ll plan on it.”
“Okay, good. I’ve kept you from your friends long enough. Let me walk you back inside.”
“No, that’s not necessary.” She handed him back his coat. “Thanks anyway, but it’s a short walk. See you Saturday.”
She got out of his car, and he got out, too, and watched, his instincts telling him not to let her walk through the darkened parking lot by herself. And sure enough, when April was less than twenty feet away, a drunken cowboy approached her, blocking her passage, giving her grief and making crude suggestions. Her voice rose as she told the guy to back off, and then the cowboy began grabbing at her. Risk moved fast and was there in seconds, shoving the man’s shoulders, pushing him out of the way before he could lay a hand on April. “Buddy, get the hell outta here or you’re gonna be real sorry. Go sober up somewhere. Now.”
The man eyed Risk with contempt. Risk would be all too happy to nail the guy to the wall, but after a three-second staring contest, the cowboy stalked off.
Risk turned to April. She was shivering, this time in fear. He saw it in her eyes, too. “Are you okay?”
“I...will...be.”
He wrapped his arms loosely around her shoulders, bringing her into his warmth. “Come here a sec and calm down.”
“Thank...you.” She leaned against him, setting her head on his chest as if that’s exactly what she’d needed. “That was scary.”
“You handled yourself well.” He’d heard the tone of her voice, the gruff way she tried to warn the guy off. “You know, the Southern in me would never let a woman walk through a parking lot without seeing her safely inside, but then again, the female revolution has changed all that. I never know what to do.”
April pulled away from his chest to gaze up at him, the pretty blue of her eyes damn near mesmerizing. “You did good.”
He smiled, and she smiled, too, and something clicked in that moment, a spark that he hadn’t felt in a long time. He hadn’t met a woman who interested him in months, and now, suddenly, he was thinking about April that way. “I did?”
She gazed at his mouth and nodded. Was it an invitation? In that one second, Risk’s body twitched, and he tightened his hold on April. “You did,” she whispered.
He laid his palm on her cheek and felt her softness, witnessed the sweet look she was giving him. “April,” he said, right before leaning in to brush a soft kiss to her lips.
She moaned a little bit and gave in to the pleasure of his mouth. She tasted sweet and tangy, like a fruity drink, and he started remembering things about her that quickened his pulse.
Then out of the blue, April pulled away quickly, giving him a slight push on the chest. He backed off instantly. What in the world?
“Don’t.”
“Don’t? April, did I read you wrong?”
“I’ve had too much to drink tonight and I do appreciate you protecting me from that drunk, but yes, you read me wrong.”
She lifted up her left hand and wiggled her fingers right in front of his nose. “I’m engaged to be married, Risk.”
Two
Normally Risk was good at reading women’s signals but the other night at the Farmhouse, April had had him fooled. He could’ve sworn she wanted his attention. She’d looked at him, then at his mouth, as if she’d wanted to be kissed. Had it just been fear? Had she been grateful he’d come on the scene in the parking lot when he had?
April was a beautiful woman with sass and spunk.
And she was engaged to be married.
He’d remembered the chubby little girl she’d been, and when he’d met her again in Houston after he’d guest hosted the rodeo, her curvy body and pretty blue eyes had drawn him in.
“Risk, you’re deep in thought this morning.” Aunt Lottie poured him a cup of coffee and set the mug down on the kitchen table in front of him. Ever since his aunt had returned to Rising Springs Ranch, she’d doted on him and his two brothers, Mason and Lucas. Having an adventurous spirit, Aunt Lottie had been a world traveler always ping-ponging in and out of their lives, but after the death of their parents, she’d taken a more vital role with the family. And now was like a mother to him and his brothers.
Risk brought the mug to his mouth and sipped. “No one would ever call me a deep thinker.”
Lottie took the chair adjacent to him, bringing her coffee to her lips and shaking her head. “You’re a fine thinker, boy.” Aunt Lottie was the first to come to a Boone’s defense, unless of course they deserved a tongue-lashing, and then she’d be the first one to give it. “But something’s bothering you. Your aunt knows you boys all too well.”
“Nothing’s bothering me, really. I’m just baffled about something.”
About April. He’d been drawn to her the other night, the same way he’d been drawn to her in Houston. And that was precisely why he hadn’t looked her up again. Why he hadn’t pursued her after that night. It had been selfish of him, but he hadn’t been in any shape to deal with a woman who wasn’t a one-night-stand kind of girl. She’d been smart and sincere and compassionate. Once he figured that out, he’d run like hell. Not his finest moment.
“Care to tell me her name?” Aunt Lottie asked.
“Ha, nice try, Aunt Lottie. But it’s all good.” He winked and gave her his best smile.
“How’s Drew doing these days?” he asked.
His aunt had an on-again, off-again relationship with Mason’s future father-in-law, Drew MacDonald. It seemed the two of them never could get on the same page.
“I wouldn’t know. He’s barely talking to me.”
“Oh yeah? Lovers’ spat?”
Drew lived in the cottage on the Boone property. He was a recovering alcoholic, a good man who’d lost his wife some years ago. Maria had been Lottie’s best friend, and now the two were playing a cat and mouse game of hearts.
“Hardly. We’re barely friends anymore, Risk.”
“Well, why don’t you take some of those warm cranberry muffins you just baked and bring them to him as a peace offering?”
Aunt Lottie’s blond brows lifted, and her eyes sparkled. She was a pretty sixtysomething woman who had a lot of love to give, and right now she was considering his suggestion. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. And while I’m at it, I’ll pack you a basket of muffins and some thing
s for your trip.”
“Thanks. It’s a long drive out to Canyon Lake Lodge.”
“Just give me a moment,” his aunt said.
Minutes later, after finishing up his breakfast, he heard the front doorbell chime and the housekeeper answer it. He rose, taking the basket Aunt Lottie had made up, and walked out of the kitchen to the parlor where April Adams was waiting for him holding a brown briefcase. Those curly blond locks of hers flowed past her shoulders, and even the tan winter coat she wore over a pair of pants and a sweater couldn’t hide her curvy body.
“Mornin’, April. You’re right on time,” he said, coming into the room.
“I always try to be.” She hoisted her chin up.
“I’ll be right with you,” he said.
He grabbed his sheepskin jacket, the one he’d lent April the other night, and showed her to the multicar garage attached to the house.
In the garage, he opened the passenger side door to his full-size SUV. He’d insisted he drive his car, and she was clearly not happy about it. April shot him a look and then climbed in. He waited while she buckled herself in and then handed her the basket.
“What’s this?”
“My aunt Lottie made us a care package for the road.”
“That’s...very sweet of her.”
“The Boones are nice people,” he said.
Her eyes started to roll, and then she seemed to catch herself. Risk almost laughed out loud when her expression changed to an innocent smile. The trouble was he liked April Adams. Too damn much.
Risk started the engine and pulled out of the garage. There were gray skies overhead, and a light drizzle cascaded down from the clouds.
With any luck, they’d drive right out of the rain to better weather up ahead.
* * *
The rain came down steadily now, giving the windshield wipers a good workout. Of course, the weather had to be gloomy; it would make it that much harder for April to show off the grounds in a good light to Risk. But she didn’t want to turn back. She couldn’t trust that she’d get Risk back out to Canyon Lake Lodge any time soon.
Stranded and Seduced Page 2
