Two-Week Texas Seduction

by Cat Schield

  “For a while I tried to stay away as much as possible, but sometimes I had to go home. When I did, I was careful to do so when my mom was home. He left me alone while she was around.”

  “I don’t suppose you had a teacher or adult that could help you out.”

  “That might have been smart. But I felt like all the adults I’d reached out to had failed me. Instead, I found the biggest, meanest football player in our school and made him the most devoted boyfriend ever.” She batted her eyelashes and simpered. “Oh, Cal, you’re just so big and strong.” Her voice dripped with honey. “Do you think you could get that terrible man who lives with my mother to stop trying to put his hands all over me?”

  “Did that work?”

  “Like a charm. Nazi boy was all talk and glass jaw. He knew it and I knew it. At five-ten and 170, he might have scared me, but he was no match for a six-five, 280-pound linebacker.”

  Shane regarded her with admiration and respect. “So your linebacker kept you safe until you finished high school?”

  Brandee shifted her gaze out toward the darkness beyond the patio and debated lying to him. “I didn’t actually finish high school.”

  “How come?”

  “Because two months before graduation my mom finally figured out that her boyfriend was coming on to me and rather than kicking him to the curb, she blamed me. That’s when I ran away for good.”

  * * *

  Shane’s first instinct was to curse out her mother, but the way Brandee was braced for his reaction, he knew he had to take a gentler approach or risk her fleeing back behind her defenses.

  “Wow, that sucks.”

  This part of her story was different than the last. As she’d spoken of her difficulties with Nazi boy, she’d sounded strong and resilient. Now, however, she was once again that abandoned child, learning that she was the biggest mistake her mother had ever made. Her loneliness was palpable and Shane simply couldn’t stand to be physically separated from her. He reached for her hand and laced their fingers together, offering her this little comfort.

  “What did you do?” he asked.

  “I should’ve gone to live with my grandmother in Montana.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  Her fingers flexed against his as she tightened her grip on him. A second later she relaxed. “Because I was angry with her for not taking me in after my dad died.”

  “So what did you do instead?”

  “I stayed with my best friend for a couple days until I found a room and a waitressing job that paid better.”

  “When did you start your business?”

  “I’d learned how to crochet and knit from one of my friends’ moms and had been making headbands and adding lace embellishments to stuff I found at the thrift store. I bought a used sewing machine and started doing even more stuff. It was amazing how well things sold online. All I did was waitress, sew and market my stuff.”

  “The rest is history?”

  “Not quite. Nazi boy and his friends tracked me down. Fortunately I wasn’t home. But the homeowner was. They shoved her around and scared her pretty good. After that they went into my room and took everything, including the five hundred dollars I’d saved.”

  “What happened then?”

  “The homeowner pressed charges and they all got picked up by the cops. But she kicked me out. Once again I had nowhere to go and nothing to show for all my hard work.”

  “Did you stay in Houston?”

  “Nope. I moved to Waco and lived out of my car for two weeks.”

  “At seventeen?”

  “Haven’t you figured out I’m tougher than I look?” She gave a rueful laugh. “And I’d turned eighteen by then. In fact, I’d been out celebrating my birthday with friends when Nazi boy robbed me.”

  “What happened after that?”

  “That’s when things get boring. I found another waitressing job and another place to live. Took a second job at a tailoring shop. The owner let me use the machines after hours so I could create my designs. In four months I was making enough by selling my clothes and accessories online to quit my waitressing job. In a year I moved into a studio apartment and was bringing in nearly ten thousand a month.”

  Shane had a hard time believing her numbers could be real. “That’s a lot for a solo operation.”

  “I didn’t sleep, was barely eating and the only time I left my apartment was to get supplies or ship product.”

  “How long before it got too big for you to handle?”

  “By the time I turned twenty, I had four seamstresses working for me and I was in over my head. I was paying everyone in cash and eventually that was going to catch up to me. So I talked to a woman at the bank I really liked and Pamela hooked me up with a website designer, lawyer and an accountant. But between the designing and running things, there was still too much for me to do, so I hired Pamela to manage the business side. And then things really took off.”

  “And now here you are running a ranch.” He smiled ruefully. “It’s not an ordinary sort of career move.”

  “Probably not, but it’s a lot better for me. While I loved designing and promoting my fashion lines, I’m not cut out to sit in an office all day looking at reports and handling the myriad of practical decisions a multimillion-dollar business requires.”

  “You’d rather ride around in a pasture all night, keeping an eye on your pregnant cows.”

  She nodded. “Exactly.”

  “So, you sold the business.”

  “A woman in California bought it and has plans to take it global.” Brandee shook her head. “It’s still a little surreal how much the company has grown from those first few crocheted headbands.”

  “I can’t help but think it was a lot to give up.”

  “It wasn’t my dream. Hope Springs Ranch is. And I still design a few pieces each year. So, I get to be creative. It’s enough. And now I expect to be busier than ever with Hope Springs Camp starting to ramp up.”

  His gaze fastened on her softly parted lips and a moment later, he’d slid his hand beneath the weight of her long hair and pulled her toward him. After the first glancing slide of his mouth over hers, they came together in a hungry crush.

  Tongues danced and breath mingled. Shane lifted her onto his lap, the better to feel her soft breasts press against him through her cotton shirt. With her fingers raking through his hair, Shane groaned her name against the silky skin of her long neck. Despite the longing clawing at him these past few days, he’d underestimated his need for her.

  “I can’t wait to be inside you again,” he muttered, sliding his tongue into the hollow of her throat while his fingers worked her shirt buttons free. “You are like no woman I’ve known.”

  Brandee stripped off her shirt and cast it aside. “You’re pretty awesome yourself, Delgado.” Her fingers framed his face, holding him still while she captured his gaze. “You’ve made me feel things I’ve never known before.”

  Her mouth found his in a sweet, sexy kiss that stole his breath. He fanned his fingers over her back, reveling in her satiny warmth, the delicate bumps of her spine and the sexy dimples just above her perfect ass. This time around, Shane was determined to take his time learning everything about what turned her on.

  He shifted so that her back was against his chest and his erection nestled between her firm butt cheeks. This gave him full access to her breasts, stomach and thighs, while she could rock her hips and drive him to new levels of arousal. As trade-offs went, it wasn’t a bad one.

  Shane unfastened her bra and set it aside. As the cool night air hit her nipples, they hardened. He teased his fingertips across their sensitive surface and Brandee jerked in reaction. Her head fell back against his shoulder as a soft yes hissed past her teeth.

  “Do that again,” she murmured, her ey
elids half-lowered, a lazy smile on her lips. “I love the feel of your hands on me.”

  “My pleasure.”

  He cupped her breasts and kneaded gently, discovering exactly what she liked. Each breathy moan urged his passion higher. His fingers trembled as they trailed over her soft, fragrant skin. Her flat stomach bucked beneath his palm as he slipped his fingers beneath the waistband of her leggings and grazed the edge of her panties.

  “Let’s get these off.” His voice was whisky-rough and unsteady.

  “Sure.”

  She helped him shimmy the clingy black cotton material over her hips and down her legs. He enjoyed sliding his hands back up over her calves and knees, thumbs trailing along the sensitive inner thigh. Catching sight of her lacy white bikini panties, Shane forgot his early determination to make her wait.

  He dipped his fingertips beneath the elastic and over her sex. She spread her legs wider. Her breath was coming in jagged gasps and her body was frozen with anticipation as he delved into her welcoming warmth.

  They sighed together as he circled her clit twice before gliding lower. He found a rhythm she liked, taking his cues from the way her hips rocked and the trembling increased in her thighs. She gave herself over to him. She was half-naked on his lap, thighs splayed, her head resting on his shoulder, eyes half-closed. She sighed in approval as he slid first one, then two fingers inside her.

  The tension in her muscles increased as he slowly thrust in and out of her. He noted how her eyebrows came together in increased concentration, saw the slow build of heat flush her skin until all too soon, her lips parted on a wordless cry. And then her back arched. She clamped her hand over his and aided his movements as her climax washed over her in a slow, unrelenting wave. He cupped her, keeping up a firm, steady pressure, and watched the last of her release die away.

  “We need to take this indoors,” he murmured against her cheek, shuddering as she shifted on his lap, increasing the pressure of her backside against his erection. The sensation made him groan.

  “Give me a second,” she replied. “I’m pretty sure I can’t walk at the moment.”

  Wait? Like hell.

  “Let me help you with that.” He lifted her into his arms and stood.

  “Your room,” she exclaimed before he’d taken more than two steps. “Please. I’ve been imagining you all alone in that big bed and thinking about all the things I’d like to do to you in it.”

  He liked the way her mind worked. “I’ve been picturing you there, as well.” He slipped through the French doors and approached his bed. “We’ll take turns telling each other all about it and then acting every scenario out.”

  “Sounds like we’re going to have a busy night.”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  Tonight, he’d make sure she didn’t have the strength to leave until he was good and ready to let her go.

  Ten

  The Royal Diner was packed at nine o’clock on Sunday morning, but Brandee had gotten there at eight and grabbed a table up front. As Chelsea slid into the red vinyl booth across from her, Brandee set aside the newspaper she’d been reading.

  “Thanks for meeting me,” Brandee said. “I needed to get out of the house. This thing with Shane is not going as I’d hoped.”

  “I told you it was a bad idea.”

  Brandee winced. “Let’s put it down to me being in a desperate situation and not thinking straight.”

  “So, have you finally given in to that wild animal magnetism of his?”

  “I haven’t given in to anything,” Brandee retorted. “However, we have been having fun.” A lot of fun.

  “You are such a fake.” Chelsea laughed. “You act all cool chick about him, but I watched you yesterday. When he was talking to the kids, you were all moony. You’ve got it bad.”

  Brandee wasn’t ready to admit this in the relative safety of her mind much less out loud to her best friend in a public restaurant. “It’s just sex. I’ve been out of circulation for a long time and he’s very capable.”

  Chelsea shook her head in disgust and picked up her menu. “Is that why you look so tired out this morning?”

  “No. I actually got a good night’s sleep.”

  That was true. After they’d worn each other out, Brandee had fallen into the deepest slumber she’d had since Maverick had sent that vile demand. Snuggling in Shane’s arms, his breath soft and warm against her brow as she’d drifted off, she’d gained a new perspective on the amount of time she spent alone. Where she’d thought she was being smart to direct her energy and focus toward the ranch, what she’d actually done was maintain a frantic pace in order to avoid acknowledging how lonely she was.

  “Thanks again for your help yesterday,” Brandee said once they’d put in their breakfast orders and the waitress had walked away. “I couldn’t have managed without you and Gabe and, once he showed up, Shane. I hope this wasn’t my last mini-event.”

  “Anything new from Maverick?”

  “No, but my resignation from the TCC and the money are due in two days. And I don’t know if Shane’s going to sign away his claim to Hope Springs Ranch before the deadline.”

  “You don’t think Shane is falling in love with you?”

  Brandee’s heart compressed almost painfully at Chelsea’s question. “I don’t know. Do you think he is? Even a little?” She sounded very insecure as she asked the question.

  “It’s hard to tell with Shane. He hides how he feels nearly as well as you do.” Chelsea eyed her friend over the rim of her coffee cup. “But given the way he looked at you during dinner last night, I’d say that he’s more than a little interested.”

  Brandee still felt an uncomfortable pang of uncertainty. “That’s something, I guess.”

  “Which makes the whole wager thing a bummer because it’s going to get in the way of you guys being real with each other.”

  Thinking over the prior evening’s conversation and the lovemaking that followed, Brandee wasn’t completely sure she agreed. She’d felt a connection with Shane unlike anything she’d ever known before. Maybe sharing their struggles with their parents had opened a gap in both their defenses.

  “I’d like to call off my wager with Shane,” Brandee admitted. “What started out as a good idea has gotten really complicated.”

  “So do it.”

  “How am I supposed to explain my change of heart to Shane?”

  “You could tell him that you really like him and want to start with a clean slate.”

  Brandee threw up her hands, her entire body lighting up with alarm. “No. I can’t do that. He’ll think he’s won and I’ll have to sell him Hope Springs.”

  Besides, leaving herself open to be taken advantage of—or worse, rejected—went against all the instincts that had helped her to survive since she was twelve years old. She didn’t want to be that girl anymore, but she was terrified to take a leap of faith.

  Chelsea blew out her breath in frustration. “This is what I’m talking about. You have to stop working the angles and just trust that he feels the same way.”

  “But what if he doesn’t?” Already Brandee had talked herself out of canceling the wager. “What if it’s just that he’s done a better job of playing the game than me?”

  “And what if he’s really fallen for you and is afraid to show it because that means you’ll win the wager? Shane loves a challenge. You two have squared off against each other almost from the day you met. Frankly, I’m a little glad this Maverick thing came along to bring you two together.”

  Chelsea’s frustrated outburst left Brandee regarding her friend in stunned silence. She’d never considered that being blackmailed could have an upside. Yet she couldn’t deny that her life was a little bit better for having gotten to spend time with Shane.

  The sound of angry voice
s came from a table twenty feet away.

  Chelsea, whose back was to the drama, leaned forward. “Who is it?”

  “Looks like Adam Haskell and Dusty Walsh are at it again.” The two men hated each other and tempers often raged when they occupied the same space. “I can’t quite tell what it’s about.”

  “You’re nothing but an ignorant drunk.” Walsh’s raised voice had the effect of silencing all conversation around him. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Well, he’s not wrong,” Chelsea muttered, not bothering to glance over her shoulder.

  Brandee’s gaze flickered back to her best friend. “He needs to learn to mind his own damn business.” She remembered how when she first bought Hope Springs Ranch, Adam had stopped by to inform her that ranching wasn’t women’s work.

  “You’re gonna get what’s coming to you.” Haskell’s threat rang in the awkward silence that had fallen.

  “You two take it outside.” Amanda Battle stepped from behind the counter and waded into the confrontation. “I’ll not have either of you making a ruckus in my diner.”

  Most people probably wouldn’t have tangled with either Haskell or Walsh on a normal day, much less when they were going at each other, but Amanda was married to Sheriff Nathan Battle and no one was crazy enough to mess with her.

  “He started it,” Walsh grumbled, sounding more like a petulant five-year-old than a man in his sixties. It was hard to believe that someone like Dusty could be related to Gabe. “And I’m not done with my breakfast.”

  “Looks like you’re done, Adam.” Amanda glanced pointedly at the check in his hand. “Why don’t you head on over to the register and let Karen get your bill settled.”

  And just like that it was over. Brandee and Chelsea’s waitress appeared with plates of eggs, biscuits and gravy, and a waffle for them to share. She returned a second later to top off their coffee and the two women dug in.

  After a while Brandee returned to their earlier conversation. “I’ve been thinking more and more about what Maverick brought to light.”

  “That it’s not really fair to keep Shane from knowing that his family is the rightful owners of the land Hope Springs sits on?”