Brenda Jackson The Westmoreland Series Books 16-20

by Brenda Jackson

  “Your body doesn’t need me that way, Gemma. It needs an adjustment period,” he whispered against her lips.

  She nodded. “But later?”

  His lips curved in a wicked smile. “Yes, later.”

  * * *

  Callum was vaguely aware of the information the foreman of one of his sheep ranches was giving to him. The report was good, which he knew it would be. During the time he’d been in Denver, he’d pretty much kept up with things here as well as with Le’Claire. He’d learned early how to multitask.

  And he smiled, thinking how well he’d multi-tasked last night. There hadn’t been one single part of Gemma he hadn’t wanted to devour—and all at the same time. He’d been greedy, and so had she. His woman had more passion in her body than she knew what to do with, and he was more than willing to school her in all the possibilities. But he also knew that he had to be careful. He didn’t want her to start thinking that what was between them was more lust than love. His goal was to woo her every chance he got, which is why he’d hung up with the florist a few moments ago.

  “So as you can see, Mr. Austell, everything is as it should be.”

  He smiled at the man who’d been talking for the past ten minutes, going over his sheep-herding records. “I figured they would be. I appreciate the job you and your men have done in my absence, Richard.”

  A huge grin covered the man’s face. “We appreciate working for the Austells.”

  Richard Vinson and his family had worked on an Austell sheep ranch for generations. In fact, upon Callum’s grandfather’s death, Jack Austell had deeded over five hundred acres of land to the Vinson family in recognition of their loyalty, devotion and hard work.

  A few minutes later, Callum was headed back to his car when his phone rang. A quick check showed it was a call from the States, namely Derringer Westmoreland. “Yes, Derringer?”

  “Just calling to see if you’ve given any more thought to becoming a silent partner in our horse-breeding venture?”

  Durango Westmoreland, part of those Atlanta Westmorelands, had teamed up with a childhood friend and cousin-in-law named McKinnon Quinn, and bought a very successful horse-breeding and -training operation in Montana. They had invited their cousins, Zane, Derringer and Jason, to become part of their outfit as Colorado partners. Callum, Ramsey and Dillon had expressed an interest in becoming silent partners. “Yes. I’m impressed with all I’ve heard about it, so count me in.”

  “Boy, you’re easy,” Derringer teased.

  His words made Callum think about Gemma. She had said the same thing to him last night, but during the course of the night he’d shown her just how wrong she was. “Hey, what can I say? Are you behaving yourself?”

  Derringer laughed. “Hey, now what can I say? And speaking of behaving, how is that sister of mine? She hasn’t driven you crazy yet?”

  Callum smiled. Gemma had driven him crazy but in a way he’d rather not go into with her brother. “Gemma is doing a great job decorating my place.”

  “Well, watch your wallet. I heard her prices can sometimes get out of sight.”

  “Thanks for the warning.”

  He talked to Derringer a few moments longer before ending the call. After he married Gemma, Ramsey, Zane, Derringer, the twins, Megan and Bailey would become his in-laws, and those other Westmorelands, including Dillon, his cousins-in-law. Hell, he didn’t want to think about all those other Westmorelands, the ones from Atlanta that Ramsey and his siblings and cousins were just beginning to get to know. It didn’t take the Denver Westmorelands and the Atlanta Westmorelands long to begin meshing as if they’d had a close relationship all their lives.

  Callum’s father had been an only child and so had his father before him. Todd Austell probably would have been content having one child, but Le’Claire had had a say in that. His father had known that marrying the American beauty meant fathering at least three children. Callum chuckled, remembering that, according to his father, his birth had been a surprise. Todd had assumed his daddy days were over, but Le’Claire had had other ideas about that, and Todd had decided to give his wife whatever she wanted. Callum was using that same approach with Gemma. Whatever this particular Westmoreland wanted is what she would get.

  After Callum snapped his seat belt in place, he checked his watch. It was a little past three and he would be picking Gemma up around five. He’d wanted to take her to lunch, but she’d declined, saying she had a lot of orders to place if he wanted the house fully decorated and ready for him to move in by November.

  He really didn’t care if he was in that house, still living in his condo on the beach or back in Denver. All that mattered to him was that Gemma was with him—wherever he was. And as he turned the ignition to his car, he knew that making that happen was still his top priority.

  * * *

  “Will there be anything else, Ms. Westmoreland?”

  Gemma glanced up at the older woman Callum had introduced her to that morning, Kathleen Morgan. “No, Kathleen. That’s it. Thanks for all you did today.”

  The woman waved off her words. “I didn’t do anything but make a lot of phone calls to place those orders. I can just imagine how this place is going to look when you finish with it. I think Mr. Austell’s decision to blend European and Western styles will be simply beautiful. One day this house will be a showplace for Mr. Austell and his future wife. Good bye.”

  “Goodbye.” Gemma tried letting the woman’s words pass, but couldn’t. The thought of Callum sharing this house with a woman—one he would be married to—bothered her.

  She tossed her pencil on the desk and glanced over at the flowers that had been delivered not long after he’d dropped her off here. A dozen red roses. Why had he sent them? The card that accompanied them only had his signature. They were simply beautiful, and the fragrance suffused her office.

  Her office.

  And that was another mystery. She had assumed she would have an empty room on the main floor of the house with a table and just the bare essentials to operate as a temporary place to order materials and supplies. But when she’d stepped through the door with Callum at her back, she had seen that the empty room had been transformed into a work place, equipped with everything imaginable, including a live administrative assistant.

  She pushed her chair back and walked across the room to the vase of flowers she’d placed on a table in front of a window. That way she could pause while working to glance over at them and appreciate their beauty. Unfortunately, seeing them also made her think of the man who’d sent them.

  She threw her head back in frustration. She had to stop thinking of Callum and start concentrating on the job he’d hired her to do. Not only had he hired her, he had brought her all the way from Denver to handle her business.

  But still, today she’d found herself remembering last night and this morning. True to his word, he had not made love to her again, but he had held her, tasted her lips and given her pleasure another way. Namely with his mouth. He had soothed her body and brought it pleasure at the same time. Amazing.

  She turned when her cell phone rang and quickly crossed the room to pick it up. It was her sister, Megan. “Megan, how are you doing?” She missed her sisters.

  “I’m fine. I have Bailey here with me and she says hello. We miss you.”

  “And I miss you both, too,” she said honestly. “What time is it there?” She placed her cell phone on speaker to put away the files spread all over her desk.

  “Close to ten on Monday night. It’s Tuesday there already, right?”

  “Yes, Tuesday afternoon around four. Today was my first day on the job. Callum set a room up at the house for me to use as an office. I even have an administrative assistant. And speaking of administrative assistants, has the bank’s security team contacted you about Niecee?”

  “Yes, in fact I got a call yesterday. It seems she deposited the check in an account in Florida. They are working with that bank to stop payment. What’s in your favor is that you acted
right away. Most businesses that are the victims of embezzlement don’t find out about the thefts until months later, and then it’s too late to recover the funds. Niecee gave herself away when she left that note apologizing the next day. Had she been bright she would have called in sick a few days, waited for the check to clear and then confessed her sins. Now it looks like she’ll be getting arrested.”

  Gemma let out a deep sigh. A part of her felt bad, but then what Niecee had done was wrong. The woman probably figured that because Gemma was a Westmoreland she had the money to spare. Well, she was wrong. Dillon and Ramsey had pretty much drilled into each of them to make their own way. Yes, they’d each been given one hundred acres and a nice trust fund when they’d turned twenty-one, but making sure they used that money responsibly was up to them. So far all of them had. Luckily, Bane had turned his affairs over to Dillon to handle. Otherwise, he would probably be penniless by now.

  “Well, I regret that, but I can’t get over what she did. Twenty thousand dollars is not small change.”

  A sound made Gemma turn around and she drew in a deep breath when she saw Callum standing there, leaning in the doorway. And from the expression on his face, she knew he’d been listening to her and Megan’s conversation. How dare he! She wondered if he would mention it to Ramsey.

  “Megan, I’ll call you back later,” she said, placing her phone off speaker. “Tell everyone I said hello and give them my love.”

  She ended the call and placed the phone back on her desk. “You’re early.”

  “Yes, you might say that,” he said, crossing his arms across his chest. “What’s this about your administrative assistant embezzling money from you?”

  Gemma threw her head back, sending hair flying over her shoulders. “You were deliberately eavesdropping on my conversation.”

  “You placed the call on speaker and I just happened to arrive while the conversation was going on.”

  “Well, you could have let me know you were here.”

  “Yes, I could have. Now answer the question about Niecee.”

  “No. It’s none of your business,” she snapped.

  He strolled into the room toward her. “That’s where you’re wrong. It is my business, on both a business and a personal level.”

  A frown deepened her brow. “And how do you figure that?”

  He came to a stop in front of her. “First of all, on a business level, before I do business with anyone I expect the company to be financially sound. In other words, Gemma, I figured that you had enough funds in your bank account to cover the initial outlay for this decorating job.”

  She placed her hands on her hips. “I didn’t have to worry about that since you gave me such a huge advance.”

  “And what if I hadn’t done that? Would you have been able to take the job here?”

  Gemma didn’t have to think about the answer to that. “No, but—”

  “No, buts, Gemma.” He didn’t say anything for a minute and it seemed as if he was struggling not to smile. That only fueled her anger. What did he find so amusing?

  Before she could ask, he spoke. “And it’s personal, Gemma, because it’s you. I don’t like the idea of anyone taking advantage of you. Does Ramsey know?”

  Boy, that did it! “I own Designs by Gems—not Ramsey. It’s my business and whatever problems crop up are my problems. I know I made a mistake in hiring Niecee. I see that now and I should have listened to Ramsey and Dillon and done a background check on her, as they suggested. I didn’t and I regret it. But at least I’m—”

  “Handling your business.” He glanced at his watch. “Ready to go?” he asked, walking away and heading for the door, turning off the light switch in the process. “There’s a nice restaurant not far from here that I think you’ll like.”

  Gemma spun around to face him. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m mad.”

  Callum flashed her a smile. “Then get over it.”

  Gemma was too undone…and totally confused. “I won’t be getting over it.”

  He nodded. “Okay, let’s talk about it then.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t want to talk about it, because it’s none of your business.”

  Callum threw his head back and laughed. “We’re back to that again?”

  Gemma glared at him. “We need to get a few things straight, Callum.”

  He nodded. “Yes, we do.” He walked back over to her. “I’ve already told you why it’s my business and from a business perspective you see that I’m right, don’t you?”

  It took her a full minute, but she finally said, “Yes, all right. I see that. I’ll admit that you are right from a business perspective. That’s not the way I usually operate but…”

  “You were robbing Peter to pay Paul, I know. However, I don’t like being Peter or Paul. Now, as far as it being personal, you were right.”

  She lifted a brow. “I was?”

  “Yes. It was your business and not Ramsey’s concern. I admitted it and told you that you handled it. That was the end of it,” he said.

  She gave herself a mental shake, trying to keep up with him. He had scolded her on one hand, but complimented her way of handling things on the other. “So you won’t mention it to Ramsey?”

  “No. It’s not my place to do that…unless your life is in danger or something equally as dire, and it’s not.” He looked down at her and smiled. “As I said, from the sound of the conversation you just had with Megan, you handled this matter in an expeditious manner. By all accounts, you will be getting your money back. Kudos for you.”

  A smile crossed Gemma’s lips. She was proud of herself. “Yes, kudos for me.” Her eyes narrowed. “And just what did you find amusing earlier?”

  “How quickly you can get angry just for the sake of doing so. I’d heard about your unique temperament but never experienced it before.”

  “Did it bother you?”

  “No.”

  Gemma frowned, not sure how she felt about that. In a way she liked that Callum didn’t run for cover when her temper exploded, as it did at times. Zane, Derringer and the twins were known to have had a plate aimed at their heads once or twice, and knew to be ready to duck if they gave her sufficient cause.

  “However, I would like you to make me a promise,” he said, breaking into her thoughts.

  She lifted a curious brow. “What?”

  “Promise that if you ever find yourself in a bind again, financial or otherwise, you’ll let me know.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I don’t need another older brother, Callum.”

  He smiled and his teeth flashed a bright white against his brown skin. “There’s no way you can think we have anything close to a brother-sister relationship after last night. But just in case you need a little reminder…”

  He pulled her into his arms, lowered his head and captured her mouth with his.

  Twelve

  Gemma’s face blushed with anticipation as she walked into Callum’s condo. Dinner was fantastic, but she liked being back here alone with him.

  “Are you tired, Gemma?”

  He had to be kidding. She glanced over her shoulder and gave him a wry look. He was closing the door and locking it. “What makes you think that?”

  “You were kind of quiet at dinner.”

  She chuckled. “Not hardly. I nearly talked your ears off.”

  “And I nearly talked yours off, too.”

  She shook her head. “No, you didn’t. You were sharing how your day went, and basically, I was doing the same.” While sitting there nearly drooling over you from across the table. Now that they were alone, she wondered if she would have to tell him what she wanted or if he already had a clue.

  “So Kathleen worked out well for you?”

  “Yes,” she said, easing out of her shoes. “She’s a sweetheart and so efficient. She was able to find all the fabric I need and the cost of shipping won’t be bad. I really hadn’t expected you to set up the office like that. Thanks ag
ain for the roses. They were beautiful.”

  “You thanked me already for the flowers, and I’m glad you liked them. I plan to take you to the movies this weekend, but how would you like to watch a DVD now?”

  She studied his features as he walked into the living room. Was that what he really wanted to do? “A movie on DVD sounds fine.”

  “You got a favorite?”

  She chuckled as she dropped down on the sofa. “And if I do, should I just assume you have it here?”

  He sat in the wingback chair across from her. “No, but I’m sure it can be ordered through my cable company. As I said, whatever you want, I will make it happen.”

  In that case. She stood from the sofa and in bare feet she slowly crossed the room and came to a stop between his opened legs. “Make love to me, Callum.”

  Callum didn’t hesitate to pull Gemma down into his lap. He had been thinking about making love to her all day. That kiss in her office had whet his appetite and now he was about to be appeased. But first he had to tell her something before he forgot.

  “Mom called. She’s invited you to have lunch and go shopping with her, my sister and my sisters-in-law next Friday.”

  Surprise shone on Gemma’s face. She twisted around in his arms to look up at him. “She did?”

  “Yes.”

  “But why? I’m here to decorate your house. Why would they want to spend time with me?”

  Callum chuckled. “Why wouldn’t they? You’ve never been to Australia and I gather from the conversations the other day they figured you like to shop like most other women.”

  “The same way men like watching sports. I understand that sports are just as popular here in this country as in the States.”

  “Yes, I played Australian rules football a lot growing up. Not sure how my body would handle it now, though,” he said, adjusting her in his lap to place the top of his chin on the crown of her head. “I also like playing cricket. One day I’m going to teach you how to play.”

  “Well, you must have plans to do that during the time I’m here, because once I return home it’s back to tennis for me.”