He shrugged. “That doesn’t mean anything these days.”
She frowned as she slid his egg from the frying pan onto the plate. “It would mean something to me.”
“Okay, so you’re not married. Are you involved in a serious relationship?”
She set the plate in front of him and gave him a pointed look. “Is there a reason for these questions?”
He smiled. Because she asked he might as well go ahead and tell her. She was mature enough to handle it. “Yes, there’s a reason. When I get around to kissing you I’ll feel better knowing your mouth doesn’t belong to any other man. Legally or otherwise.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she opened her mouth, probably to tell him just where he could take his own mouth—legally or otherwise—but instead of saying anything right then, she just tightened her lips together.
He chuckled. “Tightening those lips shut won’t keep me from prying them apart for a kiss if that’s what I want to do, Chloe.”
Chloe folded her arms across her chest. “Is there a reason for this madness?”
“Is that what this is? Madness?” he asked as he began eating.
She lifted her chin and glared at him. “You got another name for it?”
“What about hunger?”
She frowned. “Hunger?”
“Yes, hunger of a sexual nature. I need to get you out my system and I figured I’ll start by kissing you to see if that will work.”
Chloe dropped her hands by her side. Not believing he’d said such a thing. And not believing her heart was thumping rapidly in her chest at the thought of him making good on his threat. “You’re nothing like Daren.”
He raised a dark brow. “Who’s Daren?”
“The last guy I was involved with.”
Ramsey ignored the twinge of jealousy that invaded his gut. “Is not being like Daren good or bad?”
She shrugged. “Not sure. Although, I think it would have been nice if he would have had even a fraction of that hunger thing.”
He immediately caught on to what she’d insinuated. “I can’t imagine any man hanging around you for long without wanting to gobble you alive. He must have been a real idiot.”
Chloe kept herself from smiling and refused to admit she’d thought the same thing. “He had his own ideas about what down to earth lovemaking was about. He suggested that we participate in a threesome.”
Ramsey frowned. He could handle the fact that her ex-boyfriend hadn’t had a passionate bone in his body, but the thought that the man had actually wanted to share her with someone else was as demented as it could get. No man in his right mind would share her.
“Then he wasn’t just an idiot,” Ramsey spoke up to say. “He was a crazy idiot. Any man who could get it into his mind to share you evidently doesn’t have the brain he was born with. There’s no way I would consider doing such a thing. I would want you all to myself.”
His gaze roamed over her. “It would be me and me alone who would leave a satisfied smile on your lips, Chloe.”
Chloe felt a tightening in her stomach as his gaze slowly swept over her, lingering in certain places and bestowing a visual caress in others. And his deep seductive voice was stirring all kinds of sensations to life inside her.
“How long were you with this guy?”
She wondered why he wanted to know. “A year.”
“And how long have the two of you been apart?”
Chloe wasn’t sure why he wanted to know that, either. Why she’d even shared anything with him about Daren in the first place was a mystery to her. But she had and evidently he was curious. “Two years. Now if you will excuse me I’m about to tackle the dishes.”
Ramsey watched her walk off over to the sink and, since she was doing her best to ignore him, he dug into his meal. Not surprisingly, everything was delicious and for the first time in a long while, he was enjoying his food. He was also enjoying watching Chloe while he ate. If she only knew all the things that were running through his mind while chewing on a piece of bacon and swallowing his toast.
She refused to look over at him which was probably a good thing. Instead she was trying to keep busy and continued to ignore him in the process. By the time he had finished breakfast and drained the last of his coffee, she had stacked all the dishes on the counter to load into the huge dishwasher. She wiped down the countertops until they gleamed.
Getting up from the table he crossed the kitchen to the sink to place his plate and cup in the sudsy water. And when he turned toward her she made a quick move to get out of his way. She wasn’t fast enough and he reached out and took hold of her hand.
A shiver immediately rushed down Chloe’s spine and she sucked in a sharp breath the instant Ramsey touched her. She tilted her head and looked up at him. He was standing in front of her and his gaze, she noticed, was intense as ever and centered directly on her lips. Then his eyes moved slowly up her face to her eyes. He smiled and then slid his gaze back down to her lips again.
She knew at that moment he was about to make good on his threat to kiss her. Heat began formulating at the center of her thighs, and the way he was staring at her lips made her hot. Wet. Then something within her began to ache. It was a hollowed emptiness she just realized was there. He moved a step closer and his scent inflamed everything within her, pulling her into the depths of his masculinity, swirling her about and drawing her under into his sensual spell.
She studied him, became enmeshed in the starkly strong features of his face. He was a very handsome man, so much so that her senses were betraying her, refusing to let her do the right thing and demand he remove his hand from hers. Instead she felt herself easing toward him at the same time he shifted his body even closer to hers.
Chloe found herself pinned between him and the counter, felt the hardness of his erection come to rest between her thighs like it had every right to be there. For the first time in her life she felt totally in sync with a man, fully aware of who he was and what he could do. And the thought of what he could do, what he would do sent an intense shiver up her spine. It made her anxious to the point where she felt her nerves beginning to quiver. She swallowed deeply and when that didn’t help her she took her tongue and swiped it across her lower lip.
Not a good move.
She looked into his face and saw the effect doing such a thing had on him. By no means was she trying to encourage him and when she saw heat flare in his eyes, she knew something elementally male was taking place and he had no intention of fighting it.
He leaned forward and before she could catch her next breath, he bent his head and captured her lips.
Five
Ramsey had told Chloe this wasn’t madness, but at that moment he knew that quite possibly it was worse. There was no way to explain why the moment his lips touched hers he’d felt something he couldn’t name or define slid up his spine. And her taste—rich, honeyed and sweet—drove him to stroke his tongue all over her mouth, sample her everywhere, taste her, and with a greed that made him groan. And when he released his hold on her wrist to place his hands at the center of her back, he shifted positions as fire spread through him.
Energy he didn’t think he had, especially after a sleepless night, raced through him, gripped him hard, made his erection swell that much more. He wanted to think this was ludicrous, but he knew this was as sexual as it could get, as he took her mouth in a hot and urgent kind of way. He was determined to make her feel all the things he was feeling at that moment. And when she took hold of his tongue, he knew he’d succeeded.
The hands at her back became possessive, they lowered to cup her backside and she moaned at the same time she moved against him. They were chest to breast, hip to thigh, with mouths locked tight and tongues mingling wildly. He’d said he was sexually hungry and he was proving just how famished he was.
And the way his hands were now moving over her, as if outlining the shape of her bottom, was driving him insane. He was becoming acquainted with her curves
and all her soft yielding flesh. There was no doubt in his mind that while he took her mouth with a passion, she could feel his aroused body part pressing deeply into the juncture of her legs as if that was where it belonged.
He heard the moans coming from her throat and every time one escaped he deepened the kiss that much more. He was tempted to spread her out on the kitchen table at that very moment and have his way with her. Take her with a passion until he was too weak to stand.
“We could always leave and come back later.”
The heavy voice made them jump apart like kids who’d gotten caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Filled with both anger and protectiveness Ramsey moved in front of Chloe while glaring at his brothers, Zane and Derringer, and his cousin Jason.
“What the hell are the three of you doing here?”
Derringer smiled. “We had a meeting. You told us to be here at seven. Sharp. Threatened us with dire straits if we were late. Did you forget?”
He had.
“We can understand if you did forget,” Zane said. He was two years younger than Ramsey and known as a smart-mouth.
“It’s no big deal, Ram,” Jason said. Jason was the easygoing cousin and his trademark smile was genuine. “It would be nice if you introduced us,” Jason added.
“Yeah,” Zane said grinning. “Any reason you’re hiding her behind your back?”
Cursing quietly, Ramsey realized he was doing that very thing. He stepped aside and the moment his brothers’ eyes lit on Chloe, all three gave her an appreciative male perusal. He loved every member of his family, but at that moment thoughts of doing these three in actually made him want to smile.
“Chloe, I want you to meet my brothers, Zane and Derringer, and my cousin Jason.” And then to his brothers and cousin, he said. “Guys, this is Chloe Burton, my new cook.”
Chloe had never been so embarrassed in her entire life and actually felt the color stain her already-dark skin. From the way the three were staring at her she could only assume that they’d never walked in on Ramsey kissing a woman before.
She extended her hand to them. “How do you do?”
Their handshakes were firm and as she locked eyes with each of them she saw a friendliness in their dark depths. And there was no doubt in her mind that when placed in the same room with a crowd anyone could easily guess they were related. They all had the same chiseled jaw, dark brown eyes, dimpled smile and creamy brown skin. They were extremely handsome men. Her gaze was momentarily drawn back to Derringer, the man who had her best friend’s heart and he didn’t even know it.
“Okay, so much for introductions,” Ramsey broke into her thoughts and said aloud. “Let’s have that meeting.”
Zane, she noticed, was still holding on to her hand. He smiled, glanced over at Ramsey and said, “The three of you can have a meeting. I prefer staying here with Chloe. I hear she can whip up the best scrambled eggs this side of the Rockies.”
She watched Ramsey tip his head back and sigh. He then fixed his brother a leveled stare. “Don’t push things with me, Zane.”
Zane drew his gaze from Ramsey and glanced down at Chloe. She thought the smile that tugged at his lips was devilish. “What about a rain check, Chloe? Tomorrow perhaps?”
She could only nod and then watched the three men follow Ramsey from the room.
* * *
“That pretty much sums things up,” Jason was saying. “I talked to Durango and McKinnon yesterday and they are excited at the prospect of expanding their operation to Colorado.”
Ramsey nodded. Durango Westmoreland and McKinnon Quinn were cousins of theirs, Durango by blood and McKinnon by marriage. The two lived in Montana and owned M&D, a very successful horse breeding and training operation. A few years ago they had invited another cousin, Clint Westmoreland, who lived in Texas, to join their million-dollar business. And now they were making the same offer to Zane, Derringer and Jason. The three had traveled to Bozeman and spent three weeks with Durango and McKinnon and their families, learning more about the operation and to determine if it was a business venture they wanted to become a part of. As all three were fine horsemen, Ramsey couldn’t imagine their turning down the offer.
“So the three of you are really thinking about doing it?” he asked as he looked over the report. Everything was in order and M&D was doing extremely well; especially after Prince Charming, a horse they had trained for Sheikh Jamal Yasir—another cousin by marriage—had placed in the Kentucky Derby.
“Yes, and we figured since our three properties are adjacent to each other,” Jason was saying, “we can share acreage for grazing land and for future expansions. But what we don’t want to do is to reduce the land you need for your sheep.”
Ramsey nodded, appreciating their concern. Sheep required a lot of land and his siblings and cousins had been very generous in letting him use some of theirs for grazing purposes. At present he was satisfied with the number of sheep he owned, and other than the lambs due to be born at the end of the month, he didn’t intend to increase his herd anytime soon.
“With what Dillon and I own together, there will be plenty enough,” he said to the three. “And before Bane took off for the Navy he gave Dillon permission for me to use his land if there was a need. A few days ago I received a letter notifying me that the federal government has approved my use of land at Diamond Ridge, so I’ll start taking part of the herd there later this year for grazing.”
Ramsey glanced back down at the report. “Although I have my hands full here with the sheep, I’ll be interested in becoming a silent partner with the M&D Colorado-based operation once it gets started. I think it’s time that I consider diversifying. It’s not good to have all your eggs in one basket.”
“True,” Zane nodded, casting his brother a smile. “We would love to have you on board. And speaking of eggs, you kind of got uptight when I invited myself to breakfast.”
Ramsey snorted as he leaned back in his chair. “What is it with you and Callum with your crazy games? Chloe is off limits.”
Derringer, who was slouched down on the love seat, glanced over at Ramsey and asked in a belligerent tone. “Says who?”
Ramsey frowned. Derringer was younger than him by three years and enjoyed being argumentative. “Says me, Derringer. Evidently you either didn’t get it or you didn’t understand the message I gave Zane in the kitchen.”
“So, you’re saying Chloe is more than just your cook?” Jason asked, as if for clarification.
Ramsey hauled in a deep breath, irritated at the thought of having to explain anything to his relatives. But knowing them the way he did, he knew he’d better do so. There was no doubt in his mind that there would be more explaining to do to the others when word got around that these three had walked in on him kissing Chloe. Zane was probably just itching to tell everyone, especially because it had been eons since Ramsey had been involved with a woman.
“Chloe is nothing more than my cook,” he said.
Now it was Zane who snorted. “I don’t recall you ever kissing Nellie.”
Ramsey rolled his eyes. “Nellie is a married woman.”
Derringer straightened in his seat and lifted a brow. “Are you saying if she wasn’t married you’d be kissing her?”
Before he could respond Zane burst out laughing while slapping his thigh. “Damn, Ramsey, we didn’t know you had it in you. And all this time we figured you were living a dull and sexually inactive life.”
Ramsey took a deep, calming breath. His brothers were trying to get a rise out of him and he refused to fall prey to their tactics any more than he had to Callum’s earlier. He tossed the document he was holding on his desk. “Let me get something straight. The kiss the three of you walked in on was something that just happened. Chloe is my cook and nothing more. She’ll be living here for two weeks until Nellie returns.”
He then leaned forward to make sure they heard his next words clearly. “However, since I know how two of the three of you operate, I want to make it clea
r here and now that she is not open game. You’re all welcome to breakfast, lunch or dinner at any time, as always. But that’s all you’re welcome to.”
“Um, that sounds kind of territorial, Ram,” Zane said, eyeing his brother.
Ramsey shrugged. “Think whatever you like, just make sure you heed my warning.”
* * *
Later that evening Chloe went into Ramsey’s living room and sat on the sofa with a glass of wine in her hand. She curled her feet beneath her as she took a sip. It felt good to relax after a tiring day.
Although she enjoyed being in the kitchen, spending her time cooking for a group of men was not how she had envisioned her month-long vacation. Especially one that had started off in the Bahamas.
But she would have to admit that just seeing the satisfied grins on Ramsey’s men’s faces when they had eaten breakfast that morning and lunch at noon had been worth all the time she had spent over a stove.
The men asked her to make more homemade biscuits in the morning, and they liked having a choice of bacon and sausage. She would surprise them tomorrow by going a step further and making omelets.
She had checked with her office in Florida and had spoken briefly to her editor-in-chief. Everything was going fine, which Chloe wasn’t surprised about. She had an efficient team who ran things whether she was in the office, and that’s the way she wanted it. Her father had told her time and time again that to be successful as CEO of your own company, you needed a good team working for you who could handle just about anything in your absence. She had built Simply Irresistible to the magazine it was and was using her time expanding the market area.
Her thoughts shifted from the magazine to Ramsey and the kiss they had shared earlier that day. It was the kiss that three members of his family had witnessed. She could just imagine how Ramsey felt about it, which was probably the reason he had avoided her most of the day. He hadn’t dined with his men at lunch and he hadn’t returned to the ranch since she had noticed his leaving early that afternoon.
Brenda Jackson The Westmoreland Series Books 16-20 Page 19
