“Oh, God …” she’d moaned, flopping back on the bed and clicking the icon that took her to her voice mail.
Men like Clayton, rich, handsome, sophisticated, could have their choice of women. Although she had no interest in him outside of business, she would be lying if she said his interest hadn’t been flattering.
Not that she didn’t think she was worthy of a man like Clayton having a personal interest in her. She had a mirror and was as aware of her attributes, physical and intellectual, as well as her flaws. She could, and had, attracted men of all types.
But with everything combined, winning the competition, the offer of her own show on the food channel as well Clayton’s offer … although it had all seemed surreal, at the same time it had been overwhelming. Which was why the call from her aunt had been a mixed bag of blessings for her.
She knew she needed the time to sort everything out, her life, both professional and personal.
When she’d listened to his deep voice on her voice mail—and when did he develop that slightly nasal tone in his voice? Yasmine thought, expecting the slightly giddy feeling she’d gotten the previous times she’d heard his voice—she was chagrined to feel absolutely nothing. Nada. Zip.
After listening to the call, she’d sat on the edge of the bed, completely befuddled … and irritated.
Damn him.
It was all Holt’s fault, she’d thought in irritation. Everything had been running smoothly, her life couldn’t have been going any better, and he had to come back into her life. He had to kiss her and renew that silly girlhood crush, one she had been determined to put behind her once and for all.
He had to look at her with those smoldering blue eyes of his … Stetson low, deep baritone washing over her body, giving her goose bumps in places that made her blush to the bone.
She could still feel the imprint of his callused palms as they brushed across her nipples.
Yasmine inhaled a deep breath, catching the bottom rim of her lip between her teeth.
One hand hesitantly moved up the nightshirt she wore, past her stomach, to lightly cup one of her breasts.
Just as hesitantly a finger brushed over her nipple. Pinching it, she rolled the tightening nub between two fingers. The other hand ran down her thigh and touched her mound.
She felt her breath coming faster.
When her cell rang again, startling her, her eyes sprang open. She glanced around as though someone had caught her, feeling the heat across her cheeks.
Fumbling, she’d reached for her cell, punching the button and rasping out a hello.
When she heard Clayton’s voice on the other end, she forced aside the disappointment that his voice wasn’t the one she wanted to hear and tried to inject as much enthusiasm into her voice as she could.
She broke into his monologue, telling him as gently as she could that she was tired and really just wanted to go to bed; that she’d speak to him as soon as she’d gotten some rest and would call the next day.
He must have noticed something was wrong. There had been a distinct chill in his voice when he’d said goodbye, telling her that if she didn’t reach him to just leave a message with his assistant and he’d get back to her as soon as possible.
So much for having more than a professional interest in her, she thought, raising a brow at the phone when the silence on the other end told her that he’d hung up.
If his offer was solid, then it would be there when she was ready to make the decision, she’d thought. No one was going to push or press her into doing anything she wasn’t sure of.
After that she’d pulled back the sheets, and the minute her head had hit the pillow, she slept like the dead, the clichéd rooster call waking her up the next morning.
Now Yasmine glanced at her aunt, frowning deeply when she noticed the way she was favoring her right leg as she made her way to the sink, a large pot held in her hand.
Immediately Yasmine felt horrible. Here she was selfishly thinking of her own issues, and her aunt was in pain.
She jumped up, nearly upsetting her chair. Righting it, she swiftly made her way over to her aunt, taking the large pot away from her.
“Now, baby, I can do that! Yas …”
“Go sit down, Aunt Lilly! I’ve got this … Just point and direct. That’s what I’m here for. To help you. That’s the only reason I’m here,” she said, reminding herself as much as she was her aunt. With a shooing motion, she forced her aunt to move away.
“Fine, I know when I’m not needed,” Lilly harrumphed, but Yasmine saw the relieved look in her dark eyes before she limped over to the table in the kitchen and sat down. “Oh, shoot, forgot my tea,” she said, pushing her hands on the table, preparing to rise, when Yasmine shot her a look. “I swear, Aunt Lilly, if you get back up again …” She allowed the threat to dangle, and laughed at the look that crossed her aunt’s face.
Her aunt placed her hands up, palms out, in silent surrender. “Fine. But I don’t want to get used to all of this catering. What am I going to do when you leave me all alone and I have to go back to flying solo?”
“Flying solo?” she asked, frowning at her aunt as she filled the large pot with water.
After her aunt nodded toward the vegetables on one of the side tables, Yasmine absently grabbed a cutting knife from the large butcher block and made short work of chopping the veggies before adding them to the pot.
She heard her aunt sigh. “No, now don’t get me wrong, the boys always make sure I have plenty of help. I guess I just sometimes really miss you, Yas. Nothing like having another woman in the house. Sometimes there’s too much darn testosterone flying around here for my peace of mind. Works my third nerve sometimes, when all I have is two to spare,” she said, and both women laughed.
After the laughter died down, Yasmine asked, “What about Althea? She seems pretty nice. Does she help you out at all?” She frowned, realizing she didn’t know much about Althea. “Or does she have her own career?”
“Oh, she is, baby. She’s a really sweet girl. Been through a lot, too. Yes, she helps me a lot. Right now she’s so busy with planning the wedding that I hate to bother her. Besides, I guess I just miss you a whole lot, Yas, that’s all.”
Yasmine added the meat her aunt had already cut into medallions into the pot. She shifted through the spices on the rack, mentally taking note of the missing spices she would buy when she went to town, as she contemplated her aunt’s last words.
“I miss you, too, Aunt Lilly … it’s just—” She started before her aunt stopped her.
“I know. You have your life. And I’m proud of you, I really am. I just wish …” She paused and continued, “I wish you would come out to visit more, Yas. That’s all.”
Yasmine sighed. She knew her aunt was proud of her, knew she wanted the best for her. She also knew that her aunt missed her and would love nothing more than for Yasmine to come home more often—she’d never made any secret of that fact. However, left unsaid between the two of them was the reason that would never happen.
Her aunt was well aware of what made her visits to the ranch few and far between: Holt Wilde.
Although they’d never openly discussed it, Yasmine being too embarrassed to open up to her aunt about her adolescent fascination with him, her aunt still knew.
“But maybe … maybe I can come out here to visit more often, Aunt Lilly,” she said, and knew she’d said the right thing when her aunt smiled, nodding her head.
“That would be a start,” she quipped, and Yasmine raised a brow.
“A start?”
“For now,” she said mysteriously, and Yasmine shook her head. She didn’t think she wanted to know what was behind the little smile on her aunt’s face.
As Lilly played with the spoon in her cup, stirring the contents of the herbal tea she favored with absentminded attention, Yasmine busied herself with the preparations for the noontime meal.
“Yasmine, about last night …”
“Good morning, Miss Lilly
,” a cheery voice interrupted before her aunt could finish her thought.
“Good morning, Althea,” she said, smiling over at the woman.
“Oh, hi, Yasmine, I didn’t see you there!” Althea Hudson, Nate’s fiancée, said as she walked over to where Lilly sat. She planted a loud, smacking kiss on her aunt’s cheek.
Although Lilly made a shooing motion with her hand, Yasmine saw that she enjoyed the affectionate kiss.
It was good to know that her aunt had another female at the ranch; since Yasmine left, Lilly had been the only one. And after meeting Althea yesterday, she was already beginning to like her and was glad to know she’d be around for her aunt when she left again.
When Althea glanced her way, she smiled. “I came in to see if you needed any help, Miss Lilly, before Nate and I have to visit the pastor this afternoon for our premarital counseling.” She paused, looking at Yasmine, a hesitant look on her face. “Looks like Yas beat me to it.”
Yasmine pushed away the momentary sting of jealousy and motioned Althea over. “Girl, come on over here, there is more than enough for you to do!”
Yasmine grinned back at her when Althea’s smile returned as she donned an apron, joining her at the counter.
“Now, as your aunt will tell you, although I’m not exactly the world’s greatest cook, I know my way around the kitchen a bit,” she said, a smug look on her face. “I think I can hold my own.”
“Oh, Lord,” Yasmine heard her aunt mutter, hearing the underlying humor in her voice.
Yasmine raised a brow and turned to look up at Althea, as she was several inches taller than she. “Oh, can you now? Oh, okay … cool! How about you help me make a special dish for the men. Nothing too fancy, just something to thank them for helping with my party. Let’s see here,” she said, pretending she was really thinking hard about what she wanted to place on the menu. She snapped her fingers. “Got it! I was thinking about starting with a crêpe au fromage de chèvre, as an appetizer. I think Aunt Lilly has some fresh spinach, I can go into town for the rest.” She frowned again, “Maybe top it off with a poulet aux porto … I know for sure I saw some chicken breasts in the freezer … and for desert something simple like crêpes suzettes. What do you think?” she asked, biting the inside of her cheek to stop the grin from breaking free when she saw the way Althea’s eyes widened in alarm.
“Uhhh … I was thinking more along the lines of peeling potatoes?” she said, ending the statement as a question, and both women laughed.
“Girl, if I presented the guys with that menu, they’d look at me like I was crazy,” she said. “So, yes, I can definitely use help peeling the veggies … These are ‘steak and potatoes’ type of guys, all the way!”
“I think you two might need me after all,” Lilly said, laughing along with them. “I can’t let the two of you have all the fun without me!” When she tried to get up, both women turned toward her, simultaneously issuing the order for her to “sit!”
With a resigned look Lilly sat back down, but before she turned away, Yasmine saw the pleased look cross her face and felt an answering happiness bubble up inside her. It had been a long time since she’d felt any type of female camaraderie. Too long.
In fact, the only times in her life when she had had been when she was with her aunt, the two of them usually in the kitchen, discussing everything from life to arguing about which was the best way to cook a roast. Maybe, despite the oddness and all-around craziness that her life had suddenly become, her visit might be the best thing that had happened to her in a long time.
She hoped it would be. It was time to lay to rest old ghosts and decide which direction to take in her career as well as her private life.
Chapter 9
“Have you given it any more thought?”
“What about? Catering the wedding? Yes, I told you I would love to!”
“No. I mean, yes, about the wedding, but also about you opening a business. I was talking about it with Nate. He agreed it would be a fantastic idea. There isn’t anyone nearby who is doing anything like that, you’d have an open field, could provide something that is sorely lacking.”
Holt paused, stopping dead in his tracks as he had been headed toward the kitchen.
He frowned. He hadn’t known Yasmine had been thinking of starting a catering business. But why that should surprise him he had no idea. She was definitely a woman of purpose.
It had been nearly a week since his encounter with Yasmine in the horse stable. A week of her avoiding him. A week of remembering their explosive kiss in the barn. A week of thinking of her, nonstop.
With both of them living in the house, it had made it difficult for her to avoid him completely, but she’d managed to not be in the same room with him alone at any given time.
Not that he’d made it easy for her. He felt like a damn fool with the amount of times he’d made excuses to head back to the house, particularly with it being one of their busiest seasons, moving herd and getting ready for calving season as well as marketing the cattle.
After he’d gotten rid of Sheila after her ill-timed interruption of his and Yasmine’s scalding encounter, Holt had rushed inside the house in search of her, only to find she was no longer at her own welcome-home party.
Frustrated, he’d found one of his brothers and asked if he knew where Yasmine had gone, trying to be as casual as possible. It was then that Lilly had walked up behind him and informed him in a voice gone ice-cold that Yasmine had decided to call it a night. Although she’d been succinct, not giving more details besides the bare essential, her stony expression spoke volumes. She might not have known what happened, but he’d bet his prize steer on the fact that she thought he had something to do with it.
Tempted to badger Lilly for more info, Holt had glanced toward his brother Nate, who stood near his bride-to-be, Althea, and caught the subtle shake of his head, telling him to leave it alone.
No one could ever accuse Holt of being the type to scare easily, but when it came to Miss Lilly … well, a man knew when to hold his cards and when to fold them and walk away. For now, he walked away.
He’d spent the rest of the evening evading his brothers, after realizing they suspected something was up, not wanting to deal with their questions. He’d had more than his fill trying to figure out what in hell he had to do to fix the mess he’d created, without dealing with his nosy brothers, as well.
The next morning he’d woken with a pounding headache … with his hand fisting his shaft, rock hard, from a night spent having the type of wet dreams that would make a prepubescent boy blush.
And the rest of the week hadn’t been any different.
Night after night his dreams got more and more erotic, the two of them doing things together that if Lilly even suspected he was thinking of doing to her beloved niece, she’d run him off his own ranch.
Yesterday he’d spent the majority of the day fighting the urge to find her, trying to get her out of his mind for all the good it had done him. After tending to the early-morning jobs on the south section of the ranch, he’d cut out early, leaving the rest of the work to his men, ready to find Yasmine. But he soon realized she was just as intent on keeping her distance from him as he was on trying to get to her Last night, after coming in late from helping the vet with two births, he’d come up the stairs and been surprised she was still up. Thinking he’d finally get some time with her alone, he’d began to walk toward her, only for her to take one look at him and spin around and slam the door to her room in his face, leaving him to wonder what in hell he’d done that time to anger her so.
When he’d learned that Jake was going to take Yasmine and Miss Lilly to Sheridan to the Memorial Hospital for her surgery, he’d informed his brothers he’d be the one to take them instead. She wouldn’t be able to avoid him then.
He wasn’t sure who it surprised more, him or his brothers, his volunteering. But there was no way in hell he was going to allow Jake to do it, after the way he all but rolled over and asked her to rub
his stomach as he catered to her at the party like a well-trained dog.
Although they hadn’t asked or protested his decision, he rushed in to explain that Jake was scheduled to accompany Nate to Cheyenne for an upcoming auction.
“Can you guys do without me for a few days?” he’d asked, as the plan was to stay for the three days it would take for the surgery and her recovery before driving back home.
“Holt, man, you don’t have to give us a reason. And, yeah, of course we can handle it—we have enough men to cover. You take care of Lilly and Yas, we’ll take care of the ranch,” Nate had broken in drily when Holt continued to rationalize his reasons. Holt caught the look he and Shilah shared. “I’m sure Yas will appreciate the gesture.”
Holt hadn’t been so sure of that with the way she’d avoided him like the plague the past week. But she wouldn’t be able to avoid him when he drove her and Lilly to the hospital. The four-hour drive was a guarantee that she wouldn’t.
When the others broke for lunch, Holt had forgone eating and instead gone to the house, on the pretense of finding Lilly to discuss her upcoming operation. Now, he continued to listen to Althea and Yasmine.
“I know Miss Lilly would love to have you come back home,” Althea said, quietly.
“Please don’t tell me you talked about that with Aunt Lilly?” was Yasmine’s response “Oh, goodness, no,” Althea laughed. “I wouldn’t do that to you,” she finished, and he heard Yasmine’s relieved laughter.
“If she even thought for a minute …”
“I know.” There was a pause. “No, I wouldn’t dare say anything.”
“Good.” There was another pause and Holt leaned closer, straining to hear.
It was long moments before Yasmine continued, her tone nonchalant. “Besides, we’re only talking about me catering your wedding. As far as me opening a business … before I could even give that any serious thought … which I haven’t—” he heard her say, her tone cautious “—but before I even gave it any serious consideration, if I were to do that, I’d have to talk to the brothers about it.”
To Love a Wilde Page 6
