Highly Compromised Position

by Sara Orwig

  “If it isn’t Devlins doing all the bad things to us,” Rose said, “then this may give us a better chance to catch who is behind the trouble. And the Devlins will help us guard the horse farm.”

  “I hope we nab the rascals and they rot in jail. Or worse,” Jane said darkly. Rose knew while Jane’s loyalties to those she loved could be unbreakable, her anger with those she didn’t like could be ferocious.

  “You’re in for another surprise today,” Rose said quietly.

  Jane’s eyebrows arched as she dried her hands and turned to study Rose. “This sounds like big news,” she said.

  “It is.” Rose took a deep breath. “I’m pregnant.”

  Jane’s eyes opened wider. She recovered her surprise and grinned, walking over to hug Rose. “That’s wonderful! Will is going to bust his buttons with joy!” She squinted her eyes, studying Rose once more. “You’re not marrying the father, are you?”

  Rose shook her head. “No. We’re not in love. We barely know each other. I don’t want to marry a man because he feels a sense of obligation. That would be dreadful. I always expected to be deeply in love when I married.”

  “Rose, don’t deny your baby a father if there’s any possibility of working things out,” Jane said solemnly.

  “I won’t. I’m certain about this.”

  “I know you, Rose. You don’t want to share the decision-making concerning this baby. You want to control the situation yourself.”

  Rose sighed. “Leave it to you to recognize that.”

  “Honey, you’re going to find that babies have a way of demolishing adults’ plans and preconceived notions. Let go a little.” Suddenly Jane grinned and hugged Rose again. “I know your daddy will pop with joy. Nita, too.” Jane stepped back to look at Rose. “How far along are you? Two or three months?”

  “No, I’m five months.”

  “Lordy, you don’t show.”

  “You look closely, you can tell, but I’m not very big yet. I’ve had an ultrasound.”

  “And? Boy or girl?”

  “We’re going to have another girl in the family,” she announced, excitement bubbling in her now that her family knew. Their enthusiasm was infectious and added to her relief over their reactions.

  “It’ll be like having you and Nita all over again. Your daddy is going to be thrilled to have a granddaughter. If you need me for anything at all, you let me know. And tell me if you don’t feel well. Do you hear?”

  “Thanks, Jane. All of you don’t have to fuss over me.”

  “We’re going to fuss, so accept it.”

  Rose smiled and headed toward the door. “Don’t worry about me for dinner. I’m going out with Tom Devlin tonight.”

  “Oh, my! A Devlin and a Windcroft. That will stir up a storm in town.”

  “Indeed, it will.” Rose paused. “Jane, I’d prefer to keep news of my pregnancy in the family for a little while longer.”

  “Sure, Rose. Nita, Connor and I can do that, but how you will keep your Daddy from informing everyone he knows?”

  “He promised to wait. It’s been difficult enough to tell all of you. I need more time to prepare to disclose it to other people.”

  “Sure. Rose, we all love you and we’ll love this baby until it’s spoiled rotten,” Jane said tenderly, and Rose nodded.

  “Thanks, Jane. I know I can count on my family,” she said and left, realizing that family was becoming more important to her by the day.

  She turned toward the guesthouse, one set of worries changing swiftly to another set as she contemplated her evening.

  Why had she agreed to go to dinner with Tom? She knew why. Not only did her racing pulse give her an answer, but for the same reason her father had agreed to an armistice—Tom Morgan-Devlin was devilishly persuasive.

  What would it hurt if they saw each other?

  It could damage plenty, she knew, by complicating her life if he found out that she was carrying his child before she was ready to tell him. She knew she was putting off the inevitable, but she couldn’t deal with him yet. He was a forceful, aggressive, controlling male. She had always dreamed of someday falling in love with a man who was easygoing, settling in Dallas or some large Texas city where she would be close to her family but still live in an urban area. Tom didn’t fit that dream at all.

  She didn’t know him well enough to know how he would react, but a hundred times a day the decision that she didn’t want to marry someone because he felt duty bound to wed ran through her mind. She could manage as a single parent. Her father had done it for years and done a good job at it. Yet she had to admit that Jane had been there to help him.

  Rose let herself through the side gate to the guesthouse and crossed the wraparound porch to enter through the large, high-ceilinged kitchen. She strode to her bedroom, her thoughts completely on Tom as she dressed for the evening.

  When it was almost seven, Rose studied herself in the mirror, turning first one way, then another before she smiled in satisfaction. Her black hair was cut chin length, curling toward her face and the black dress she wore didn’t cover her knees. Her stomach was beginning to be slightly rounded, but it wasn’t obvious in her loose-fitting dress. She had changed very little, except that her skirts were tighter at the waist than before. But hopefully Tom wasn’t going to guess her condition. No one else had.

  She heard a car approach, then stop outside. A door slammed and in seconds her doorbell rang. While her heart jumped with excitement, she glanced once more at her image. “You shouldn’t be doing this,” she whispered to her reflection, shaking her head, knowing that spending the evening with Tom was tempting fate and could bring a heap of trouble down on her. Until she told him the truth, she should avoid him like the plague. This was the last man on earth with whom she should be spending the evening.

  Her racing heartbeat said otherwise.

  She hurried to the front door. As she swung it open, she was dazzled by the sight of him. Wearing a charcoal suit, with his black hair neatly combed, he sent her pulse galloping even faster.

  “Am I glad I came to West Texas,” he said while his warm gaze drifted over her.

  “Come in and I’ll get my purse,” she invited, stepping back.

  “Sure,” he replied, following her into a large knotty-pine-paneled family room, where she picked up her purse and turned to find him watching her intently.

  “You look beautiful,” he said softly.

  “Thank you. And you look handsome,” she added.

  Crossing the room, he dominated the space around him and as he approached her, her heart thudded.

  “Rose, I’ve missed you,” he said, stopping close in front of her. His fingers closed around her upper arm and he drew her to him.

  “Tom—”

  “We can go to dinner in a little while. Let’s finish what we started this afternoon,” he said, his heated gaze boring into her. As he leaned toward her, Rose placed her hands against his chest.

  “This morning we were impetuous,” she said softly.

  “We were spectacular together,” he said. His gray eyes held flames of desire. A little warning that she was getting more embroiled with him by the minute went off inside her. She really should be doing the opposite.

  She shouldn’t even be going to dinner with him. She didn’t want him to learn about her pregnancy yet.

  And the only way to avoid having him discover that she was pregnant was to stay far away from him. Too late now.

  “Let’s go to dinner,” she insisted, but her voice was breathless. Without waiting to see if he was following, she turned to leave the room.

  When he caught up with her, she saw amusement in his expression, but there was no mistaking the longing that burned in his eyes and made her heart pound.

  “Nice house.” he said.

  “This was the first ranch house. Although rooms were added through the years. My mom never liked living out here on the farm, so Daddy built the new house for her.”

  “My uncle’s house
is like this one. It’s the original structure that has been added to. I like staying on the ranch, but it’s temporary.”

  “Do you have a job you have to go back to?”

  One corner of Tom’s mouth lifted in a lopsided grin. “Sure, but if I’m not there, I have employees who can run things efficiently. I just meant I can’t live on the Devlin ranch permanently. I’d feel as if I were imposing on my uncle’s hospitality. I have a condo in town and I’ve bought a ranch.”

  Startled, she missed a step and he steadied her as she looked up at him. “You’re moving here permanently?”

  “Yes, I am. I have to build a house on the land I’ve purchased, so I can’t move there yet, but I’m staying in this part of the country. I love West Texas and everything about it. I want to be a rancher. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll sell my demolition business or just let others run it.”

  Shaken by the fact that he might be their neighbor soon, she was silent. While she wondered how knowledge about the baby would affect his decision to move, Rose locked up and they left the house. They climbed into a black sports car, and she settled in while Tom drove to Royal.

  He had made reservations at Claire’s, Royal’s elegant French restaurant on Main. As they were seated at their table, the candle in a crystal holder flickered, throwing the planes of Tom’s face into shadow, highlighting his prominent cheekbones. His gray eyes reflected the golden light.

  “Don’t look now,” she said, “but heads turned all over this restaurant, and there was a definite hush when we walked into the room. We’re making history here.”

  “The hush and head turning was everyone looking at the most beautiful woman in Texas.”

  “Stop it!” she exclaimed, laughing. “We’re getting stared at right now, and the report of our dinner together will be all over Royalton County before the hour is up.”

  “If that’s the case, let’s give them reason to gossip,” he said, moving the candle out of his way. He reached across the table to slip his hand behind her head and draw her toward him while he leaned forward to kiss her.

  The instant she knew what he intended, she started to protest. At the same time amusement bubbled in her.

  As his mouth covered hers, she was lost with longing, remembering his sexy, bone-melting kiss from this morning. When his tongue touched hers, her heart thudded.

  Desire kindled, a burning flame low inside her. She wanted him, and every contact reaffirmed her longing.

  Gathering her wits, she caught his wrist in her hand and pulled away, glancing into his eyes to see pinpoints of searing hunger that made her heart pound even more.

  “Now you’ve really done it,” she said as he sat back and replaced the candle.

  He gave her a level, satisfied look, but it held a promise of things to come and was as sexy as his kiss. She tore her gaze from his and looked down at her hands in her lap, trying to act cool, regain her composure and dredge up some resistance to his seductive ways.

  To her relief, a waiter arrived. Rose passed on the glass of wine Tom offered, instead drinking only water, while he ordered a glass of white wine.

  “Well, you did give everyone enough gossip to carry them through the rest of the month. It’ll be all over West Texas, not just the county by morning. This old feud is very well-known.”

  “Maybe it’ll be clear to one and all that we’ve declared a truce.”

  “I don’t think you’ve left one shred of doubt involving reconciliation,” she remarked drily, and they both laughed.

  “The Devlin-Windcroft peace agreement may worry whoever’s behind the incidents at the ranch. With that in mind, I considered trying to keep our dinner together a secret and taking you somewhere else. There are advantages either way. If everyone knows that we’re no longer fighting, the criminal may be more careful or lie low for a time.”

  “Well, it’s too late now if you don’t want people to know.”

  “True.” Their beverages arrived and as soon as they were alone, Tom raised his glass in a salute. “May all our moments together be unforgettable.”

  She couldn’t resist touching her glass to his with a faint clink.

  “I’m glad you talked Daddy into letting go of the feud,” she said, trying to steer the conversation to less personal subjects.

  “Someone is trying to stir hatred between Devlins and Windcrofts—unless the crimes have been a smoke screen for what that person really wants.”

  Glancing beyond her, Tom stood.

  “Don’t get up,” came a brittle voice, and Rose turned to see tall blond Gretchen Halifax smiling at Tom. The city councilwoman glanced at Rose. “Evening, Rose. I didn’t know you two knew each other,” Gretchen said to Tom. “I can’t believe my eyes and I’m surprised Earl Finlay from the Royal newspaper isn’t in here. A Devlin sitting at the same table with a Windcroft? Is it possible? I would have said no, except I’m looking at both of you.”

  “We have made peace between the families,” Tom said.

  Gretchen’s laughter made heads turn. “It looks to me as if you’ve bounced from hate to love,” she said, flicking another cold look at Rose before turning back to Tom.

  “I’m sure you’re on the campaign trail, so to speak, here in town,” Tom remarked. “Election time for the office of mayor is almost here.”

  “I do hope I have your support. Rose, you’ve probably lived away long enough that you can’t vote anyway, can you?”

  “That’s right,” Rose answered and instantly lost any of Gretchen’s attention as the councilwoman turned fully to Tom. While the two talked, Rose studied Gretchen. She was attractive enough in her own way with her pale blond hair in a smooth chignon. She was slender and shapely, yet, to Rose, too severe and as cold as ice.

  “I’m interrupting your cozy little dinner,” Gretchen said, “but I had to come over and see for myself that you two actually are on speaking terms. I hope this isn’t a show for some hidden reason.”

  “Our sitting here together is for real,” Tom replied easily. “I enjoy Rose’s company.”

  “Well, I’ll leave you two alone. Now don’t forget to vote,” Gretchen said and moved on, pausing two tables away to greet more people. In a few minutes she joined a distant relative of the Devlins, Malcolm Durmorr.

  “I guess a man has succumbed to Gretchen’s charms,” Rose observed. “There’s Malcolm Durmorr with her.”

  “Yes. That’s one Devlin that Uncle Lucas doesn’t want to claim. Malcolm has done shady things in his past and been on the wrong side of the law. From what I’ve heard, he’s always after easy money. He and Gretchen are strange bedfellows. She seems damned ambitious.”

  “Actually he doesn’t look too happy with her right now.” Rose turned away when Malcolm glanced at her, his small brown eyes reminding her of a lizard.

  “I think they may be discussing us,” Tom said. “Probably speculating about the feud ending and what that’ll mean.”

  “Daddy wonders if Malcolm is mixed up in Jonathan’s murder. And my family would all agree with you that Malcolm is a nefarious sort.”

  “Your father might not be far off in his suspicions,” Tom said. “It isn’t out for the public, but it looks as if Jonathan Devlin died from an overdose of potassium chloride, not from natural causes as first thought. Problem is, potassium chloride poisoning is damned difficult to trace. Whoever did it had to know how to give him the shot.”

  “All of you Texas Cattleman’s Club guys, including Sheriff O’Neal, were suspicious of Nita for a while. She would never do anything to someone,” Rose said.

  “I’m sure she wouldn’t. She’s not a suspect now.”

  “Malcolm worked as an orderly a long time ago,” Rose said, rubbing her arms. “I remember because at the time, I thought I wouldn’t want to be in a hospital and have him touch me. There’s something creepy about the man.”

  “You’re right on all counts.”

  “You and Connor and your other Cattleman’s Club friends are considering Malcolm as a
suspect in Jonathan’s killing, aren’t you?”

  Tom gave her a level look, and she smiled. “All right. Don’t answer me. I don’t need to know and I’m sure what all of you do is confidential, given out only to wives. Enough talk on the subject of Malcolm, as well as Gretchen who didn’t bother to say goodbye to me when she found out I can’t vote. May Jake Thorne be our next mayor.”

  “Amen to that one,” Tom said.

  At that moment their waiter served their tossed green salads and their conversation drifted to other topics. As the meal progressed, and in spite of delicious pink grilled salmon dinners, Tom seemed as indifferent to eating as she was.

  “The evening is still early. Let’s go to the Royalton to one of the lounges where we can dance,” he suggested, and she had to laugh.

  “You do like to live dangerously. There will be no stopping the rumors about the Windcrofts and Devlins.”

  “What are we waiting for?” he asked, standing. “I knew when I met with your father that I was making history.”

  Eagerly Rose left with him and they drove the short distance on Main to Royal’s oldest and finest hotel. Tom held her arm as they crossed the quiet lobby, with its potted palms, plush Oriental carpets and high ceilings. They went to a dimly lit lounge where a band was playing, and anticipation made her pulse accelerate. Tom led her to an empty booth in a secluded corner near the dance floor, where she asked once again for water while he ordered a beer.

  When he asked her to dance, she went to the dance floor and into his arms, letting go of her worries and simply enjoying the moment.

  Slow-dancing to old favorites heaped another coal on the fires of seduction. As she moved in perfect unison with him, her desire burned hotter. “It’s like we’ve done this forever instead of only one time before,” she said.

  “I’ve dreamed about you,” he said. “Catching the first glimpse of you when I was on the road this morning, I was stunned.”

  “Your surprise wasn’t one iota greater than mine,” she admitted, gazing up into his thickly lashed eyes. “I never expected to see you at our farm. I would have been surprised to see you anywhere in Texas. When I saw you at the conference, you were leaving the country. What project are you working on now? If I remember correctly, the last one was in Madrid.”