Texan for the Taking

by Charlene Sands

  Her body still hummed from his kisses. He wanted more. So did she. But it was impossible.

  “Why can’t you?” he asked. “And I’d like the truth.”

  She drew breath into her lungs. “Aside from the obvious reasons—”

  “Like you hate me for hurting you, for taking away your family land? You blame me for all the woes of the world?”

  “Mason.”

  He pressed closer to her. Wrapping his hand around her neck, he pulled her in and kissed her thoroughly, without pause, softening up all her hard, unsettled edges.

  “Now tell me the truth,” he whispered over her lips.

  “Where would we meet? I mean, you live here, and it’s not exactly private. And my dad’s place is off-limits.”

  Perhaps she’d revealed too much of her thoughts. She should be denying him this, outright refusing his suggestion. But she couldn’t. Maybe she wanted to see what he had in mind. Maybe she was more than a little bit intrigued by a secret rendezvous.

  Mason stroked a finger across her cheek, his tender touch creating tingles down to her toes. “At The Baron. I keep a room there, for when I work in town.”

  “Your hotel?”

  He nodded. “I’ll be there at eleven. Waiting for you.”

  A dozen questions filled her head. She wasn’t a teenager, sneaking out for a date. She wasn’t a woman who liked lying. But she’d have to do one or the other in order to meet Mason.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Think about it, sweetheart. And you do know. You just can’t face it yet.”

  Face what? That she wanted him? That after their time in LA she’d been thinking about Mason in a purely unbusinesslike way.

  So much for Business with Mason. That had lasted as long as a snowball in hell.

  He kissed her again, then took her hand and led her out of the stable.

  Already she felt like a fraud, entering the Boone home pretending that nothing monumental was happening between them. Pretending that they weren’t crazily attracted to each other.

  Back at the house, Katie pulled her into the kitchen as the others were drinking coffee. Her friend whispered, “What happened to you two out there?”

  “You mean, when we didn’t show in the stable?”

  “Yes, that’s what I mean. You were supposed to be my cover. I didn’t want to be alone with Lucas.”

  “I know. Sorry. I let you down. Was it horrible?”

  “What? No, not really. We’re just distant friends now, is all.”

  “Okay, good. That’s what I was hoping. But he was sort of ogling you at dinner tonight.”

  Katie giggled. “I was just going to say the same thing about Mason. He wasn’t letting up. His eyes were all for you. So, what happened out behind the stable tonight?”

  Drea gasped, partly in shock. Not about Katie knowing something was going on, but the idea that maybe the others were piecing things together, as well. “You know?”

  “I don’t think Luke gave it a thought, but I figured something was up.”

  “It’s complicated,” Drea said, keeping her voice down. “I can’t go into detail, but something happened between me and Mason when we were in LA and now he wants to see me again. Like, later tonight.”

  “Go.”

  Drea blinked. “What do you mean, go?”

  “Drea, you haven’t been with a man in a long while. And maybe...well, maybe you just need to get Mason out of your system. Geesh, I sound like a guy, don’t I? But it’s true. How can you move on with your life until this part of it is satisfied? See what happens with Mason. I mean, if you didn’t want to meet him, if you thought it ridiculous, you wouldn’t have told me. You would’ve shot him down immediately. But you didn’t do that. You want to go.”

  “I don’t like sneaking around.”

  “Sounds kind of exciting, if you ask me.” Katie’s voice got animated, making Drea smile and shake her head.

  Her decision now made, she gave Katie her best stern look. “If this goes south, I’ll come after you, Katie girl.”

  Her friend kissed her cheek. “Go, and have a good time on my behalf. Heaven knows, I’ve been a safe little mouse all my life, so at least let me enjoy a bit of intrigue through my bestie.”

  “So glad I’m a source of your entertainment.”

  Katie shoved a bunch of extra napkins into Drea’s hands while she grabbed the plate of cupcakes, “Come on, let’s get back out there before someone comes looking for us.”

  “Yeah, Luke might come searching for you.”

  “That would be a no-can-ever-do,” Katie said.

  “Yeah, and that’s what I thought about Mason Boone for all of my grown-up life. Just goes to show, never say never.”

  * * *

  Drea stood outside the door of The Baron Hotel’s top floor suite, ready to knock. That she was here at all still shocked the stuffing out of her. But Katie had been right. Drea had unfinished business to settle with Mason and so his proposed midnight interlude might not go exactly as he’d planned.

  Getting away hadn’t been hard at all. She’d waited until her father was sawing logs, before quietly stepping out of the house. She’d left him a note saying that she had trouble sleeping and had gone for a drive, just in case he woke and didn’t find her home. All that was true, so she hadn’t really lied. At least that was what she told herself.

  She knocked on the door softly and heard footsteps approach.

  Swallowing hard, she braced herself. When Mason opened the door, his shoulders relaxed, a small smile surfaced and she read great relief in his expression. This wasn’t the confident man she’d expected to find. Instead, Mason’s vulnerability had shone through, touching something deep and precious in her heart. He hadn’t been sure she’d show up. And he’d been worried, perhaps even saddened, to think she’d let him down.

  It wasn’t fair. She had Mason pegged as an arrogant pain in her side, and he was proving her wrong.

  “Drea.” There was a wistful tone in his voice. So different than the man who ran an empire, the man who commanded respect at all times. Mason Boone was full of surprises.

  “I’m...here.” She lifted her shoulders, then let them fall.

  He took her hand and gently pulled her into the room. “I’m happy to see that.”

  He let her hand go and she walked into the suite taking in the living area, with its fireplace and twin sofas facing each other, the dining area and the hallway that led to the other rooms. It was luxurious and grand, something she’d expect from a Boone. But it was also homey in a way that said Mason spent a lot of time here, from the scattering of square, embroidered pillows on the floor, to the sports magazines on the coffee table to a giant screen TV on the wall. She recognized the pillows as being Lottie’s handiwork. Peaches, oranges and apples filled a bowl on the kitchen counter and photos of Rising Springs Ranch graced the hallway walls. Soft classical music played in the background, perhaps the biggest surprise of all.

  “Is this your Zen place?” she asked turning to find him watching her from the middle of the living room.

  “Or my man cave.”

  His gaze was forever on her, as if to say he couldn’t believe she was really here.

  “No, it’s definitely Zen.” She walked to the window and stared out at the town Mason’s ancestors had established. How must that feel? To know your family had built this town from the ground up. To have streets, a hospital, an entire town named after the Boones. To have that entitlement.

  She looked at Mason, standing there, curiosity on his beautiful face. “You didn’t think I’d come, did you?”

  He sighed and walked over to her. “I’m...a little surprised.”

  “No one is more surprised than me, Mason.”

  He stood at arm’s length from her and his presence consumed her. He was that type of man, o
ne who could overpower with just one glance. Usually he loomed large, but tonight she was seeing a different side of him. “Do you still resent me and all the Boones?”

  “My feelings about you are...complicated.”

  He stepped closer and entwined his fingers with hers. “Can we try to uncomplicate things? Can we just talk about it, Drea? About that night so long ago?”

  His question made her jittery. She wanted to yank her hand away, to turn her back on him, to walk out the door if necessary. She’d lost her baby and a big part of herself, after all. How could she possibly explain the damage that was done after that night? She’d struggled for years with all of it.

  But as Katie had said, she needed to be able to get on with her life. To move past this. And maybe there was no better way than to talk it through. “At one point in my life, you were my everything, Mason.” God, it was hard to admit that.

  “Come here,” he said, leading her to the sofa. She sank down and he sat beside her. They faced each other, still holding hands. “You were saying?”

  “You heard what I said. I was halfway in love with you, Mason.”

  “And I shouldn’t have let it go that far. I was attracted to you. I’d always liked you. We used to play together, if you remember.”

  “Of course I remember. We were friends once.”

  “And then, when you were bucked from your horse and took a hard fall, I found you in the meadow. Your ankle was bruised and you couldn’t put any pressure on it.”

  “You were wonderful that day,” she said, remembering how gallant he’d been. He’d stayed with her, helping remove her shoe and using a cold can of soda pop he’d been drinking to keep the swelling down on her ankle. He’d missed a baseball game with his friends to stay with her. And then, when she was able to stand up, he’d lifted her and carried her to an old carriage house on their property. The chemistry between them had been off the charts. She’d never looked at Mason that way before, but having him tend her, having his dark concerned eyes on her, having him touch and care for her, had made her dizzy. From that moment on, she’d set her sights on him.

  “And you were seventeen.”

  “A month away from my eighteenth birthday, Mason. I wasn’t a kid.”

  “I didn’t think so, either. But you were a virgin and I was going for my final semester at Texas A&M.”

  “I was willing, Mason. That night, up in your bedroom. We were all alone.”

  He heaved a big sigh. “I know. It was so hard to say no to you. But I had to. You were Drew’s daughter, for one. And he was a family friend, even if you didn’t want to think so at the time.”

  “But we’d been seeing each other every day for a full month and I knew my heart. I told you I was ready.”

  “Look at me, Drea,” he commanded, and she lifted her chin to meet his gaze. “You also said one other thing to me. Do you remember what that was?”

  She thought back and couldn’t really recall what else she’d said. For all these years, she’d blocked out the hurtful memory of that night, the exact words spoken, but the humiliation had lingered on. She shook her head. “No.”

  He squeezed her hand gently. “You said...you needed me. Not wanted, not loved, but needed me.”

  She pulled back, wrenching her hand from his in utter shock. “Oh, so you thought I was this needy kid, starving for affection. You thought you’d get stuck with me, the pathetic daughter of a widower drunk, a girl so confused about her feelings that she’d give up her virginity to you. What you did to me that night was cruel.”

  Tears stung her eyes. This was horrific. She didn’t think she could ever be more humiliated than when she’d bared her body to Mason and he’d rejected her. But this was just as bad, if not worse.

  “No, that’s not what I’m saying.” Mason’s voice sharpened immediately. “I wanted you, Drea. But there were too many obstacles blocking us and I had to be the grown-up. I had to deny you and myself. It was for the best. And I’m sorry that I hurt you, but I had to be firm. I had to make sure not to leave any doubt in your mind, because...because there was doubt in mine. So yes, I spoke harshly to you and I’ve regretted it every day since. But we did the right thing, Drea. We did.”

  She got up and walked to the window, staring at the lights of the town. “You wanted me to hate you. Well, you succeeded. You have no idea what your rejection did to me.”

  Mason came up behind her. “I did what I thought best for you at the time. I cared about you too much to use you, to have you for one night and then take off. My conscience wouldn’t allow it, but no, I didn’t want you to hate me.”

  “But I did. Especially after what your family had already done to mine. I thought you heartless and mean, and wondered if I’d ever meant anything to you.”

  “Drea, listen to me. The Boones aren’t as bad as you seem to think. We’re not greedy robber barons after people’s land. My family tried to help yours.”

  He wasn’t convincing her.

  Mason clasped her shoulders, his hands gentle, as if testing to see if she’d flinch. But his touch, like always, comforted her instead, giving her solace and peace. She’d spent so much time hating him that now there wasn’t much hatred left. Only regret. She had so many regrets.

  “If it’s any consolation to you, I didn’t date for nearly a year after that. Every time I looked at a woman, I thought of you. I swear it, Drea. It’s hard to admit, but I have second-guessed that night in my head many times.”

  If she could believe him, it helped knowing that he’d suffered a little bit, too. That he’d had doubts about letting her go. It helped her ego and her pride and also helped put things in perspective. She’d never heard his side of the story before. She’d never known his motivation for breaking things off and breaking her heart.

  Yet there was more to her story, but she couldn’t reveal it to him. It would only serve to prove he’d been right. She had been needy, a girl craving love and affection.

  She’d done a stupid thing and maybe now she could put the past behind her. Her hatred depleted, maybe now she could move on with her life, just like Katie had said. For the first time in a long time, she would be free of that burden. Her feelings about the Boones in general were a different story. Her resentment about Thundering Hills was still there, but no longer was she driven by contempt and anger. “It does help knowing that.”

  Mason kissed the back of her neck, then nibbled along her collarbone. She arched her head, giving him more access. The skin where he kissed her burned.

  “If you want to leave, I’d understand. But I don’t want you to, sweetheart. I want you to stay.”

  She turned around and he immediately wrapped her in his arms. His head came down and his lips brushed hers gently, sweetly. Mason pulled back and smiled at her, and there was that vulnerability in his eyes again. When he was like that, she was even more attracted to him. The look on his face as he waited for her answer had her melting inside.

  “I want to stay.”

  A wide grin spread across his face. He squeezed her tightly and kissed her again, but briefly. “Would you like something to drink? Eat?”

  “After eating Katie’s Molten Ganache cupcake, I don’t think I’ll ever eat again. But I would like a drink.”

  “A drink it is. What can I get you?”

  “White wine?”

  He nodded and headed toward the kitchen. “Have a seat. I’ll get it for you.”

  She settled on the sofa, and while she waited, made note of the fact that Mason didn’t have one photo of his wife in any of the rooms she’d been in. No wedding pictures, no pictures of the two of them lounging around, riding horses or sitting on a fence at Rising Springs Ranch.

  Were the memories too hard for him?

  She’d heard people say Larissa was the love of his life. He’d been crushed when she died.

  Yet Mason almost never broug
ht her up.

  And so now here Drea was, hardly a replacement for his dead wife. No, she was a brief interlude, and she had to remember that. After the fund-raiser, she’d head home to her pretty, cool apartment and life in New York, and Mason would move on, too.

  “Here you go,” he said, handing her a glass of wine. He sat down beside her with his own drink, something golden-brown, bourbon probably.

  “Thank you.” She sipped her drink and breathed in Mason. She should never mix alcohol and the scent of a gorgeous man. Or maybe she should. She smiled.

  “What’s going on in your head?”

  “Nothing.”

  She took another sip.

  “You smiled. What were you thinking?”

  “Okay,” she said. “I’m thinking that I’m here with you without...”

  “Without hating me?”

  She nodded.

  “So you like me now?”

  “Well,” she said, bringing the glass to her mouth. “Let’s not go that far.”

  There was a gleam in Mason’s eyes. He wasn’t vulnerable anymore, far from it. His expression meant danger and pleasure and promise.

  He took the glass out of her hand and set it down. “Actually, let’s go as far as we can tonight,” he whispered. He took a last gulp of alcohol and then kissed her hard on the lips.

  Her body reacted to the potent taste of whiskey, to the scent, the kiss, the man.

  “You look amazing. I wanted to tell you earlier. That dress is—”

  “Coming off?” She loved the look the surprise on his face.

  He chuckled deep in his throat. “That, too, but it’s gorgeous on you.”

  And five minutes later, after skillfully undressing each other, piece by piece, kiss after kiss, Mason lifted her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.

  * * *

  The bedroom was low-key but luxurious, with large dark furnishings. The windows looked out over the other side of town, toward the quiet suburbs of Boone Springs. The drapes were pulled back, and the light of the half-moon filtered in through nearly sheer curtains, splashing over Mason’s body as he lowered her onto the bed. She felt the cool, silky sheets on her back.