“I take that as a compliment. Did Lucia say where she was going for lunch?”
“Yes, sir. She’s dining at McKay’s today.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, sir.”
Derringer hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair as an idea formed in his mind. He wouldn’t let her know he had found out the truth about her visit. He would let her assume that she had gotten away with it and that he didn’t have a clue that she was the woman who’d taken advantage of him that night.
And then when she least expected it, he would play his hand.
Three
Something, Lucia wasn’t sure exactly what, made her glance over her menu and look straight into the eyes of Derringer Westmoreland. She went completely still as he moved in fluid precision toward her, with an unreadable expression on his face.
Staring at him, taking him all in, all six-three of him, while broad shoulders flexed beneath a blue Western shirt, and a pair of jeans clung to him like a second layer of skin and showed the iron muscles in his thighs. And then there was his face, too handsome for words, with his medium-brown skin tone, dark coffee-colored eyes and firm and luscious-looking lips.
For the moment she couldn’t move; she was trans-fixed. A part of her wanted to get up quickly and run in another direction, but she felt glued to the chair. But that didn’t stop liquid heat from pooling between her thighs when her gaze locked onto his face and she looked at the same features she had seen almost two weeks ago in his bed.
Why was he here and approaching her table? Had he found her panties and figured out she was the woman who had left them behind? She swallowed, thinking there was no way he could have discovered her identity, but then she asked herself why else would he seek her out?
He finally came to a stop at her table and she nervously moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. She could swear his gaze was following her every movement. She swallowed again, thinking she had to be imagining things, and opened her mouth to speak. “Derringer? What are you doing here? Chloe mentioned you had taken a nasty fall a couple of weeks ago.”
“Yes, but a man has to eat sometime. I was told McKay’s serves the best potpie on Thursdays for lunch and there’s always a huge crowd. I saw you sitting over here alone and thought the least we can do is help the place out,” he said.
She was trying hard to follow him and not focus on the way his Adam’s apple moved with every word he said, as if it was on some sensuous beat. She lifted a brow. “Help the place out in what way?”
He gave her a smooth smile. “Freeing up a table by us sharing one.”
Lucia was trying really hard not to show any emotion—especially utter astonishment and disbelief—as well as not to let the menu she was holding fall to the floor. Had he just suggested that they share a table during lunch? Breathe the same air?
She was tempted to pick up the glass filled with ice water and drink the whole thing in one gulp. Instead, she drew in a deep breath to stop her heart from pounding so hard in her chest. How could spending only one night in his bed cause her to want to let go of her sensibilities and play out these newfound urges at the sight of him?
Of course, there was no way she would do something like that. In fact, a part of her was shaking inside at the thought he wanted to join her for lunch. She quickly wondered how Chloe would handle the situation if she was in her place. The answer came easy, but then she wasn’t Chloe. However, she had to keep her cool and respond with the confidence Chloe possessed. The confidence that she lacked.
Lucia forced a smile to her lips. “I think that’s a good idea, Derringer.”
His lips eased into a smile right before her eyes. “Glad you agree,” he said, taking the chair across from her.
She forced herself to breathe and belatedly realized just what she’d done. She had agreed to let him sit at her table. What on earth would they have to talk about? What if she let something slip and said something really stupid like, “Oh, by the way, when can I drop by and get the panties I left behind the other night?”
She sighed heavily. For all she knew, he might have figured things out already. Seriously, why else would he give a royal flip whether or not McKay’s was crowded for lunch? That in itself was suspect because he’d never sought out her attention before.
She glanced over at him and he smiled at her, flashing those same dimples that he’d flashed that night she almost melted in her chair. He looked the same, only thing was that his eyes no longer had a hungover look. Today his gaze was as clear as glass.
The waitress saved them from talking when she walked up to take both their lunch orders. When she left, Lucia wished she had a mirror to see how she looked. She would die if she didn’t at least look halfway decent. Absently, she ran a finger through her hair and pressed her lips together. She was grateful to feel her lipstick still in place, although she was tempted to get the tube of lipstick from her purse and apply a fresh coat.
“I understand you’re back in school.”
She was watching his mouth and his lips moved. She realized he’d said something. “Excuse me?”
He smiled again. “I said I heard you were back in school.”
“Yes, I am. How did you know?”
“Chloe mentioned it.”
“Oh.” She wondered why Chloe would mention such a thing unless he’d asked about her. Had he? She shook her head, finding the idea unlikely. Her name must have popped up for conversational purposes and nothing more than that. If there had been anything more, Chloe definitely would have told her.
“Yes, I’m back at school taking night classes to get my master’s degree in mass communications.” Then, without missing a beat, she said, “You seem to be doing well from your fall.” No sooner had the words left her mouth than she wished she could take them back. Why on earth would she bring up anything relating to that day?
“Yes, but I’m doing better now. I’ve been taking it easy for the past week or so and sleeping most of the time. It helped. I feel in pretty good shape now.”
She didn’t know how to tell him that as far as she was concerned, he’d been in pretty good shape that night as well. His movements hadn’t been hindered in any way. The thought of all he’d done to her sent heat soaring all through her body.
“So, what else have you been up to lately?”
Lucia felt her heart give a loud thump in her chest and wondered if he’d heard it. Dragging her gaze from her silverware, she thought that she could remember in vivid detail just what she’d been up to lately with him. Sitting across from her was the man who’d taken her virginity. The man who’d introduced her to the kind of pleasure she’d only read about in romance novels, and the man whom she’d loved forever. And knowing he probably had no idea of any of those things was the epitome of insane. But somehow she would fake it and come off looking like the most poised person that ever existed.
“Not a whole lot,” she heard herself saying. “School and the magazine keep me pretty busy, but because I enjoy doing both I won’t complain. What about you?” His gaze seemed to linger on her lips.
He chuckled. “Other than making a fool of myself with Sugar Foot, I haven’t been up to a whole lot either.”
She inclined her head. “What on earth would entice you to ride that horse? I think everyone has heard how mean he is.”
He chuckled and the sound was a low, sexy rumble that made goose bumps form on her arms. “Ego. I figured if Casey could do it then so could I.”
She knew his cousin Casey and her husband, along with his cousin Durango and his wife, Savannah, had come visiting a few weekends ago. She’d heard everyone had been amazed at the ease with which Casey had gotten on Sugar Foot’s back and held on even when the horse had been determined to get her off.
“I’m a pretty good horseman,” Derringer said, breaking into her thoughts. “Although I’d be the first to admit I wasn’t personally trained by the renowned and legendary Sid Roberts like Casey and her brothers while gr
owing up.”
Lucia nodded. His cousins Casey, Cole and Clint were triplets, and she had heard that they had lived with Roberts, their maternal uncle, while growing up. “We can all learn from the mistakes we make,” she said, taking a sip of her water to cool off.
“Yes, we sure can.”
Deciding she needed to escape, if only for a short moment, Lucia stood. “Would you excuse me for a moment? I need to go to the ladies’ room.”
“Sure, no problem,” he said, standing.
Lucia drew in a deep breath, wishing she was walking out the restaurant door with no intention of returning and not just escaping to the ladies’ room. And as she continued walking, she could actually feel Derringer staring at her back.
Derringer watched Lucia leave, thinking she looked downright sexy in her below-the-knee skirt and light blue pullover sweater. And then he couldn’t help but admire her small waistline and the flare of her hips in the skirt as she walked. Standing about five-seven, she had a pair of nice-looking black leather boots on her feet, but he could recall just what a nice pair of legs she had and remembered how those legs had felt wrapped around him the night they’d made love.
He would be the first to admit that he’d always thought Lucia was pretty, with her smooth brown skin and lustrous shoulder-length black hair that she usually wore pulled back in a ponytail. Then there were her hazel eyes, high cheekbones, cute chin and slim nose. And he couldn’t forget her luscious-looking mouth, one that could probably do a lot of wicked things to a man.
He leaned back in his chair remembering how years ago when she’d been about eighteen—about to leave home for college—and he had been in the process of moving back home from university, she had caught his eye. In memory of his parents and his aunt and uncle, who’d died together in a plane crash while he was in high school, the Westmorelands held a charity ball every year to raise money for the Westmoreland Foundation, which had been founded to aid various community causes. Lucia had attended the ball that year with her parents.
He had been standing by the punch bowl when she had arrived, and the sight of her in the dress she’d been wearing that night had rendered him breathless. He hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her all evening. Evidently others had noticed his interest, and one of those had been her father, Dusty Conyers.
Later that same night the older man had pulled him aside and warned him away from his daughter. He let Derringer know in no uncertain terms that he would not tolerate a Westmoreland sniffing behind his daughter, creating the kind of trouble that Carl Newsome was having with Derringer’s cousin Bane.
Bane had had the hots for Crystal Newsome since junior high school, and since Bane had a penchant for getting into trouble, Newsome hadn’t wanted him anywhere near his daughter. Unfortunately, Crystal had other ideas and had been just as hot for Bane as he’d been for her, and Crystal and Bane managed to get into all kinds of naughty trouble together. Once, they’d even tried their hand at eloping before Carl Newsome had found his daughter and shipped her off to heaven knows where. A brokenhearted Bane had decided to take charge of his life by going into the Navy.
Derringer knew that although he didn’t have Bane’s badass reputation, he was still a Westmoreland, and a lot of mamas and daddies were dead set on protecting their daughters from what they thought was a Westmoreland heartbreak just waiting to happen. A part of him couldn’t fault Dusty Conyers for being one of them; especially since Derringer had made it known far and wide that he had no plans to settle down with any one woman. A wife was the last thing on his mind then as well as now. Making a success of the horse-training business he’d just started was his top priority.
“I’m back.”
He glanced up and stood for her to sit and thought that Lucia was even more beautiful up close. She had a nervous habit of licking her lips with her tongue. He would do just about anything to replace her tongue with his the next time she did it. And he also liked the sound of her voice. She spoke in a quiet yet sexy tone that did things to his insides, and he decided to keep her talking every chance he got.
“Tell me about the classes you’re taking at the university and why you decided to go back and get your master’s degree.”
She lifted a brow and then her lips curved into one of her smiles again. Evidently, he’d hit on a subject she liked talking about. “Although Chloe hasn’t made any announcements about anything, I can see her spending less and less time with Simply Irresistible. Whenever she does come into the office she has the baby with her, and it’s obvious that she prefers being home with Susan and Ramsey.”
He nodded, thinking he’d had that same impression as well. Whenever he paid Ramsey and Chloe a visit, they appeared to be a content and very happy couple who thoroughly enjoyed being parents. He’d heard from his other brothers that already Ramsey and Chloe were thinking about having another child.
“And I want to be prepared if she decides to take a leave of absence for a while,” Lucia continued. “She and I talked about it, and because my bachelor’s degree was in business, we thought it would be a good idea for me to get a degree in communications as well.”
The waitress chose that moment to return with their food, and once the plates had been placed in front of them, she left.
“I understand Gemma is adjusting to life in Australia.”
He couldn’t help but smile. Although he missed his sister, it seemed from all the phone calls they got that she was adjusting to life in Australia. He’d known Callum, the man who used to be the manager of Ramsey’s sheep farm, had loved Gemma for a while, even if his sister had been clueless. He’d always known Callum’s feelings for Gemma had been the real thing and not for the sole purpose of getting her into bed. He’d wholeheartedly approved of Gemma and Callum’s relationship.
“Yes, I talked to her a few days ago. She and Callum are planning to come home for the Westmoreland Charity Ball at the end of the month.” He wondered if she planned to go and if so, if she already had a date.
“Are you dating anyone seriously?” he decided to ask and set his plan into motion.
She looked over at him after popping a strawberry into her luscious mouth, chewed on it a moment, and then she swallowed it before replying. “The only dates I have these days are with my schoolbooks.”
“Um, what a pity, that doesn’t sound like a lot of fun. How about a movie this weekend?”
She cocked a surprised eyebrow. “A movie?”
He could tell his suggestion had surprised her. “Yes, a movie. Evidently, you’re not spending enough time having fun, and everyone needs to let loose now and then. There’s a new Tyler Perry movie coming out this weekend that I want to see. Would you like to go with me?”
Lucia’s heart began pounding in her chest as she quickly reached the conclusion that Derringer had to have figured out that she was the woman who’d brazenly shared his bed. What other reason could he have for asking her out? Why the sudden interest in her when he’d never shown any before?
Their eyes held for what seemed like several electrifying moments before she finally broke eye contact with him. But what if he didn’t know, and asking her out was merely a coincidence? There was only one way to find out. She glanced back over at him and saw he was still staring at her with that unreadable expression of his. “Why do you want to take me out, Derringer?”
He gave her a smooth smile. “I told you. You’re spending too much time studying and working and need to have a little fun.”
She still wasn’t buying it. “We’ve known each other for years. Yet you’ve never asked me out before. In fact, you’ve never shown any interest.”
He chuckled. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to show an interest, Lucia, but I love my life and all my body parts.”
She raised a brow and paused with the fork halfway to her mouth. “What do you mean?”
He took a sip of his iced tea and then his mouth curved ruefully. “I was warned away from you early on and took the warning seriously.”
She nearly dropped the fork from her hand and had to tighten her grip to place it back down. “What do you mean you were warned away from me?” That was impossible. She’d never had a boyfriend jealous enough to do such a thing.
A grin flashed across his face. “Your dad knows how to scare a man off, trust me.”
Her head began spinning at the same time her heart slammed hard against her rib cage. “My dad warned you away from me?”
He smiled. “Yes, and I took him seriously. It was the summer you were about to leave for college. You were eighteen and I was twenty-two and returning home from university. You attended the Westmoreland Charity Ball with your parents before you left. He saw me checking you out, probably thought my interest wasn’t honorable, and pulled me aside and told me to keep my eyes to myself or else…”
Lucia swallowed. She knew her dad. His bark was worse than his bite, but most people didn’t know that. “Or else what?”
“Or else my eyes, along with another body part I’d rather not mention, would get pulled from their sockets. The last thing he would put up with was a Westmoreland dating his daughter.”
Lucia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She could see her father making a threat like that because he was overprotective of her. But she doubted Derringer knew how much his words thrilled her. He had been checking her out when she was eighteen?
She nervously moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue and couldn’t help noticing the movement of his gaze to her mouth. Her skin began burning at the thought that he had been attracted to her even when she hadn’t had a clue. But still…
“Aw, come on, Derringer, that was more than ten years ago,” she said in a teasing tone.
“Yes, but you probably don’t recall a few years ago I dropped by the paint store to make a purchase and you were working behind the counter and waited on me.”
Oh, she definitely remembered that day, and three years later hadn’t been able to forget it. But of course she couldn’t tell him that. “That was a long time ago, but I think I remember that day. You needed a can of paint thinner.” She could probably tell him what brand it was and exactly how much he’d paid for it.
A Wife for a Westmoreland Page 4
