by Sara Orwig
“I hope you are,” Jake said.
“If I am, you won’t want her owning any part of the ranch. We’ll want to drill where we can get oil. We have to have trucks able to get in and out. I’m puzzled, but okay. I know you’re not going all soft over a Santerre. No way is that happening.”
“I’m just thinking about it and waiting to hear something decisive from you,” Jake said and Gabe smiled.
“I hope I have news for you soon,” Gabe remarked. He stood. “I’ve got to run. I’m flying back to Fort Worth to meet some guys for dinner.”
Jake walked to the porch with Gabe. “See you in Dallas.”
When his brother was gone, Jake returned to the study to look at the papers Gabe had delivered to him. He hated Will with a passion, disliked Will’s father. Why bother selling to Caitlin? He wasn’t ready to get her out of his life yet. Erotic images of Caitlin in his bed set his heart drumming.
He had asked to see the house and property because he was stalling to hear from Gabe about oil before he was forced to give her an answer, yet she had wanted to show him the house and everything else, playing on his sympathy.
She had tried to familiarize him with the house and property so it would not seem impersonal and easy to dispose of. He had allowed her to because the more he was with her, the more he wanted to be with her and to seduce her.
As she had led the way from room to room, he had watched the gentle sway of her hips. He wanted her in his arms in his bed. His blood heated at the thought of tonight. Seduce her, spend time with her and then tell her no.
Would she trade sleeping with him for an agreement from him to sell the house back to her? Or become his mistress for a limited time? The possibility was erotic, tempting. She wanted the house and part of the property in the worst way. It was leverage to get something in return from her and money meant nothing. If it had been Will who wanted the property back, he would have delighted in saying no, but it wasn’t Will. This was an entirely different matter. It hinged on Gabe finding oil.
Caitlin had not won him over beyond it being exciting to be with her.
It was a small matter to sell a little piece of the ranch back to her, but he wasn’t ready to do so yet. He was certain when he did, he would see no more of Caitlin.
What kind of evening would he have with her? He glanced at his watch. Only a few hours and he would find out.
Caitlin studied herself in the mirror while her thoughts remained only half on her appearance. The prospect of an evening with Jake both excited and disturbed her. Reactions poles apart like all of her responses since she had first faced him. She wanted to get her property back and be done with him because he was an unwanted temptation in her life.
Focusing on her reflection, she smoothed the deep blue long-sleeved dress over her hips. The dress had a draped neckline with a low-cut back. She stepped into silver high-heeled sandals. Her hair was piled on her head, held with a silver clip with a few strands escaping to frame her face. Blue-and-silver earrings dangled from her ears.
A flight to Dallas to eat and then back, but it would be no surprise if he wanted her to stay the night in Dallas. At the thought, her already bubbling insides gave another jump.
The front door knocker made a clang that she could hear upstairs in her bedroom. Grabbing up her clutch purse, she hurried downstairs. Cecilia had already greeted Jake and was in the front room talking to him.
Caitlin heard their voices before she entered the room. Jake stood the minute she walked through the door. Her breathing altered as she looked at Jake in a charcoal suit with a red tie. Even when she was in high heels, he was still the taller. Wickedly handsome, he presented an enormous challenge: win him over about selling—resist seduction.
Then she saw the perusal he was giving her with approval definitely in his warm gaze. “You’re beautiful, Caitlin. I can’t believe you’re the same little kid I remember.”
“Thank you. The same little kid you ignored, is what you mean.”
“Cecilia, it was nice to see you again, if only briefly.”
“Take care tonight,” Cecilia said, following them to the door and telling them goodbye. The minute the door closed behind them, Jake took her arm.
“Cecilia looks sweet, but I wouldn’t want to meet her in a dark alley. I think she would gladly do me in.”
Caitlin laughed. “I have never heard such a description of her in my life. Next to my grandmother, she’s the sweetest person on earth.”
“You can’t tell me I got approval after my visit this afternoon. That was a frosty few minutes before you arrived.”
“Cecilia? I can’t believe it. She is always sweet to people. Even Will—she never trusted Will, but she was always kind about him because she knew Grandmother loved him.”
“I’m not going to pin you down on Cecilia’s opinion of me, but I’d bet the ranch I’m on target.”
“You might be,” she said, amused by his reaction to Cecilia. “Now if you sell the land back to us, she’ll change her opinion completely.”
“Ah, that’s what her coldness is about. I was afraid it was about taking you out.”
“Why would she worry about that?” Caitlin asked.
Jake shot her a look before returning his attention to the ranch road. “Don’t make me sound like someone so run-of-the-mill.”
She laughed. “You will never be ‘run-of-the-mill.’ Stop fishing for reassurance or compliments. If our relatives could see us now, they wouldn’t believe their eyes. A Benton and a Santerre together for an evening.”
“All I can see is a man and a gorgeous woman. That feud melted away when you appeared on my porch.”
She smiled as she watched him drive. She had caught a whiff of his woodsy aftershave. All she could remember when she was a kid was an unfriendly older boy who was a Benton and someone to avoid. Not the breathtaking dream sitting only feet away from her and spending the evening with her.
“A penny for your thoughts,” he said.
“No amount of money would wring my thoughts out of me right now,” she replied, smiling and received another swift glance.
“Now I have to know. Your thoughts must be personal, must involve me and must include tonight.”
“You’re enough on target that I think we will change the subject. Do you work all the time in Dallas?”
“A large part, but I travel, too. And you’re not getting off the hook that easily. Thoughts that concern us and you won’t tell me. That’s intriguing. Something you don’t want to admit.”
“Stop it, Jake,” she said with a laugh.
“Not when a beautiful woman admits to thoughts about us that she can’t confess. That conjures up all sorts of images—”
“You can stop now. You win—I was merely thinking how handsome you are and that we’re headed for an exciting evening. There—very ordinary thoughts that could be expected.”
“You’re not fooling me. You don’t want to admit what you’re really thinking—more along the lines of speculation about what it would be like to make passionate love,” he said, his voice lowering a notch.
She tingled all over. “You won’t believe me if I deny that and of course, now you have me thinking about it.”
His hand tightened on the steering wheel. Otherwise, she saw no visible sign of reaction to what she’d just said. “Now I wish I had started this conversation when I wasn’t driving.”
“You brought this on yourself. Perhaps you should take my suggestion and we change the subject.”
“Flirting is infinitely more fun with you than an ordinary conversation,” he said.
“More dangerous, Jake. You and I were never destined for any kind of future together. We can ignore the feud for a time, but never completely, and it means some things will never take place between us.”
“Not necessarily. A kiss can diminish family histories like lightning striking a tree. I’ll show you when we return to this conversation when I’m no longer driving.”
His words wr
apped around her, making her warm. He wouldn’t forget what he just said. Kisses awaited, heightening her bubbling excitement.
“I hope you’ve thought about Grandmother’s house. It is so wonderful, Jake. It’s filled with memories. I just can’t bear to lose it.”
“It is a fine old home, Caitlin. There’s no argument about that.”
They reached his ranch and drove to park in front of an open hangar. Nearby a dazzling white jet waited, a larger craft than she had expected. The moment she stepped inside, she saw it was a luxury jet that held plush seats, tables, a bar, a screen for films, electronic equipment and phones. “This is an elegant plane, Jake.”
“It’s comfortable and equipped for me to work while I fly. Or be entertained, whichever I want.”
“You get what you want most of the time, don’t you?”
“Yes. I suspect you do, too, so it’s annoying when we don’t.”
“We each intend to get what we want involving the ranch. Let’s just hope we can move to a point where the outcome is mutually satisfying and fulfilling.”
“I intend to do that, Caitlin,” he said softly, and she had a feeling he wasn’t talking about the ranch at all, but about making love.
In a short time they were airborne. She looked at his ranch below as they circled and headed southeast. “Tell me when we are no longer over your ranch.”
He gazed outside and she studied his profile, looking at the firm jaw, his prominent cheekbones and symmetrical features. His thick brown hair was combed from his face. She was frustrated by her helplessness to sway Jake.
With his recent acquisitions of neighboring property, Jake’s sprawling ranch was enormous. He couldn’t possibly need all the land she saw below.
“There,” he said, leaning close to her and pointing below. “Since I bought the Patterson place, that’s the southeast boundary now. We’re negotiating for wind turbines all along the land you see below.”
She lost track of what he was saying. Jake was only inches from her as he moved closer to point out his holdings. His mouth was mere inches away, his thickly lashed eyes adding to his handsome appeal.
As if he realized her thoughts, he turned to look into her eyes and her heart thudded. Her breathing altered and she tilted her face up to his. When his gaze lowered to her mouth, her heartbeat pounded.
He leaned the last few inches to kiss her. His lips were warm, sensual, moving slowly on hers while his tongue slipped into her mouth.
She kissed him in return, steadily thinking no, no, no, yet unable to resist him. Desire heightened, her breathing altered. Jake was the most exciting man she had known.
His arm slipped around her waist and she placed a hand against his warm, solid chest, feeling his heart racing beneath her touch.
She kissed him until his arm tightened around her waist and she realized he might be moving her to his lap. He raised his head. “Unbuckle. I want to hold you.”
His voice was deep, gravelly and desire filled his blue eyes that had darkened with passion. Her heart raced while she fought her own desire. She placed her hands on his arms.
“Jake, I won’t look fit to go out for dinner if I move to your lap. We should stop this craziness anyway.”
“It’s not craziness,” he answered quietly. “I want you, Caitlin.” He looked her straight in the eye and barriers around her heart crumbled.
“Don’t,” she whispered, placing her fingertips lightly on his mouth, aware of his lips beneath her touch. “You can’t become important to me, Jake.”
“Just kisses—that’s not earth-shattering.”
She inhaled and bit back her answer. While his kisses had too strong an effect, she had no intention of admitting it to him.
“I’m going to go straighten my clothes. We’re cruising now and I can move around according to the pilot.”
As she walked away from him, she tingled, feeling certain he watched her. When she returned, she met his watchful gaze and this time had to get to her seat beneath his scrutiny.
He looked faintly amused, as if knowing that his kisses set her ablaze. “So there’s no relationship with anyone right now,” he said.
“No. I’m not into casual relationships. You said you won’t marry. Well, I don’t want anything casual. It’s a fine thing we’re not in each other’s lives. It would not be a happy outcome.”
“Most relationships begin casually,” he said.
She shook her head. “Nothing I’m involved in because I have to have deep commitment. Which I’ve never had. Nothing has gone beyond the casual stage so far.”
Frowning slightly, Jake framed her face. “Nothing? I find that impossible to imagine. I intend to get beyond the casual stage, Caitlin. I want to know you. I want you in my life. We have a mutual attraction that is spectacular. You feel it,” he declared.
“Jake, I can’t get closely involved with you. I’m not going to, just know that right now.”
“We’ll see,” he said softly and she couldn’t catch her breath. They were on the verge of kissing, only it was more volatile than before. She couldn’t understand her escalating reaction to him, nor could she get rid of it.
She pulled away, gazing at him with what she hoped was a cool composed regard even while he sent her breathing and heartbeat into a scramble. “You keep your distance, Jake,” she whispered. Her faint voice took all the demand out of her words.
“No,” he replied. “I have no intention of keeping my distance because part of you doesn’t want me at arm’s length. Part of you wants to kiss and make love. You can’t stop from revealing it.”
With a sinking feeling, she looked away. He was right. He could easily demolish her resistance. How was she going to keep him under control and at arm’s length all evening? Did she want to keep him at a distance? She wanted the old house and the people who had worked for her to stay on more than anything she had ever wanted since she was a small child. The house was a tie to all she loved in her childhood. The people deserved to be able to stay, not uprooted when they were becoming older.
Letting Jake into her life, succumbing to the fiery attraction might bind him to her strongly enough he would sell the place to her. It was like selling herself to get what she wanted, yet there was another argument. Jake was the sexiest man she had ever met. What would happen if she followed her desire and let a relationship develop?
She thought about her own life and her mother. That’s what her mother had done and had an unwanted baby she had given up for adoption. Caitlin would never give up a baby, but she didn’t want to bring one into the world fathered by a man who had no interest in a family or a commitment.
All her life she had vowed any relationship would have to be lasting, filled with love, not lust. What she and Jake had found was lust, spectacular, sizzling, but with no substance.
All through the flight, she flirted, enjoyed him and stewed about the outcome of the evening.
When they landed, a limo took them to a private club on the top floor of a tower in downtown Dallas.
They sat at a table in a secluded corner with a glowing candle centered on the table. Soft piano music played near the dance floor, while she barely noticed her surroundings. Her focus was Jake.
Desire built, increasing from the moment she had opened her front door to greet him. His kisses, his touches, his flirting, his declarations of how much he wanted her, all of it already had her shivering with need, thinking about his fiery kisses and anticipating being in his arms.
As she looked across the candlelight into his blue eyes, he reached out to take her hand. His fingers were larger, tan against her skin. Calluses on his palm were rough, making her wonder what he had done to cause them because he spent most of time in offices and in cities. When he was on the ranch, she couldn’t imagine he did manual labor.
“I should look at the menu,” she said, taking her gaze from him and reaching for the black menu that had been given to her.
During the time wine was poured and they ordered, conv
ersation became impersonal, revolving around dinner choices and she relaxed.
“What’s your next project, Caitlin? Will it take you away from Texas or Santa Fe?”
“No. I have appointments in Houston toward the end of October. I took plenty of time off because I’ve been working a long, intensive schedule the past two months and I’ve been in Europe taking pictures for a book project.”
Steak and lobster dinners arrived. While they ate, she asked Jake about his life and childhood, discovering that he had lived on the ranch year-round the first six years of his life before the Bentons began to spend more time in Dallas.
After dinner Jake said, “Let’s dance, Caitlin.”
She nodded, standing when he took her hand, and they moved to the dance floor. She stepped into Jake’s arms to dance to an old ballad. Jake was warm, tall, agile. Everything about him was appealing except the most important things: his family, his ownership of her home and ranch, his avoidance of commitment.
The contact from dancing with him fanned her desire. She wanted him and she was vulnerable. There hadn’t been any man in her life in a long time and none she had ever been serious about. This fascination with Jake remained a constant danger to her well-being and her determination to avoid the wrong relationship.
When a fast number followed, their gazes locked while they danced. He was sexy, light on his feet and each touch sizzled, combating her efforts to cling to caution.
As he twirled her around, she turned to see blatant lust in his blue eyes. He wanted her and his desire made her heart drum. He pulled her tightly against him. “I want you, Caitlin,” he whispered, saying what she could read in his eyes. He spun her away and she danced, feeling desired, seductive, knowing she was flirting with temptation again. The whole evening was building toward seduction, in an unwanted escalation of their relationship.
Later, slow dancing in his embrace while they barely moved around the dance floor, he whispered in her ear, “I have a condo here. Let’s go there so we can have some privacy.”
