Brenda Jackson The Westmoreland Series Books 16-20

by Brenda Jackson

  She kicked off her shoes, leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. The office would be closing in less than twenty minutes and since she would be there long after that, she figured there was no reason she couldn’t grab a quick nap.

  With her eyes shut, it didn’t surprise her when an image of Derringer came into view. Boy, he was gorgeous. And arrogant. She frowned, thinking he was as arrogant as he was gorgeous Still…

  She wasn’t sure how long she slept. But she remembered she was dreaming of Derringer, and wherever they were, she had whispered for him to kiss her and he had. She heard herself moan as the taste of him registered on her brain, and she couldn’t help thinking how real her dream was. And was that really the feel of his fingertips on her chin as he devoured her mouth with plenty of tongue play. She could actually inhale his scent. Hot, robust and masculine.

  They continued kissing in her dream and she simply melted while he leisurely explored the depths of her mouth. Nobody could kiss like him, she thought as he probed his tongue deeper. She had dreamed of him kissing her many times before, but for some reason this was different. This was like the real deal.

  Her eyes flew open and she squealed when she realized it wasn’t a dream! It was the real deal! She jerked forward and pushed him away from her. “Derringer! How dare you come into my office and take advantage of me.”

  He stood back, licked his lips and smiled. “The way I assume you took advantage of me that night? Just for the record, Lucia, you asked me to kiss you. When I entered your office, you were whispering my name. And I distinctively heard you ask me to kiss you.”

  “I was dreaming!”

  He gave her an arrogant smirk. “Nice to know I’m in your dreams, sweetheart.”

  She eased out of her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. When she saw where his gaze went—directly to where her blouse dipped to reveal more cleavage than she wanted—she dropped her arms, scowling. “What are you doing here and who let you into my office?”

  He jammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I came to see you and I arrived when your administrative assistant was leaving. She remembered me from Chloe and Ramsey’s wedding and let me in.”

  His smile widened. “She figured I was safe. I did knock on the door a few times before I entered, and would not have come in if I hadn’t heard you call out my name.”

  Lucia swallowed. Had she really called out his name? She ignored that possibility. “Why are you here?”

  “To make sure you liked your flowers.”

  She dragged her gaze from him to the huge floral arrangement she had been admiring all day. In fact, everyone in the office had admired it, and she knew they were wondering who’d sent the flowers. She glanced back at Derringer. Okay, maybe she should have called and thanked him; she hadn’t wanted to give him any ideas, but it seemed he’d gotten plenty without her help.

  “Yes, they’re beautiful. Thank you. Now you can leave.”

  He shook his head. “I figured while I’m here I might as well drop you off at school. You do have class tonight, right?”

  “Yes, but why would I want you to drop me off at school when I can drive myself? I do have a car.”

  “Yes, but I wouldn’t want you to get a ticket. You told me all about your Monday-night professor and how he hates it when anyone is late. You also mentioned that tonight is your final. You’re going to be late.”

  Lucia glanced down at her watch and went still. She wasn’t aware she had slept that long. She needed to be in class in twenty minutes and it would take her longer than that to get through town. Professor Turner had already warned the class that he would close his door exactly at seven, and Derringer was right, tonight she was to take her final.

  She slipped into her shoes and quickly moved around the desk to grab her purse out of the desk drawer. “And just how are you supposed to get me there any sooner than I can drive myself?” she asked, hurrying out the office door. He was right behind her.

  “I have my ways.” He then pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket. “Pete? This is Derringer. I need a favor.”

  She glanced over her shoulder as she was locking the door. He was calling Pete Higgins, one of the sheriff’s deputies and also one of his good friends.

  “I need escort service from Simply Irresistible to the U, and we need to be there in less than fifteen minutes.” Derringer smiled. “Okay, we’re on our way down.”

  He glanced over at her when he put his phone in his back pocket. “We’ll leave your car here and come back for it after class.”

  She frowned over at him as they stepped into the elevator. “Why can’t I drive my own car and your friend Pete can just give me escort service?”

  He shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way. He knows I’m trying to impress my girl.”

  “I am not your girl, Derringer.”

  “Sure you are. Why else would you moan my name in your sleep?”

  Lucia turned her head away from him, deciding that question didn’t need an answer. Besides, what response could she give him?

  Once they reached the bottom floor, things moved quickly. He took her laptop bag off her shoulder and put it in the backseat of his truck. By the time he escorted her to the passenger side, Pete pulled up in the patrol car with his lights flashing and a huge grin on his face. He nodded at her before giving Derringer a thumbs-up.

  Luckily, she got to school in one piece and was able to make it to class on time. An hour or so later, after she’d finished her exam and placed her pencil aside, instead of glancing back over her exam to make sure she didn’t need to do any last-minute changes, her mind drifted to Derringer.

  Lucia shook her head. What some men wouldn’t do for a piece of tail, she thought. Regardless of what Chloe assumed, she knew that was probably all she was to him. Of course he was trying to impress her just to prove a point, and just the thought that he had caught her dreaming about him, and that in her sleep she had asked him to kiss her, was enough for her to wear a brown bag over her head for the rest of the year.

  And what was even worse was that he would be picking her up when class was over. She had no choice if she wanted to get home without taking the bus. A part of her steamed at the thought of how things had worked out nicely for him in that regard. He would be driving her to get her car and nothing more. If he thought there would be more, he had another think coming.

  The moment she stepped out of the Mass Communications Building, she glanced around. Derringer’s truck was parked in a space in a lighted area and he was leaning against it as if he was expecting her, which was odd since he hadn’t known when her class would let out. Had he been here the entire time?

  She quickly crossed to where he stood. “How did you know I was about to walk out?”

  He glanced over at her as he opened the truck door for her. “I didn’t. I figured that you would catch a cab to get your car if I wasn’t here, so I thought the best thing to do was to be here when you came out.”

  She frowned at him before stepping up into the truck. “You’ve been here the whole time?”

  “Yep.”

  “Don’t you have anything better to do?” she asked coolly.

  “Nope.” He then closed the door and moved around the front of the truck to get into the driver’s side.

  He closed the door, buckled his seat belt and turned the key in the ignition. “Don’t you think you’re getting carried away with all this, Derringer?”

  He chuckled. “No.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Seriously. I couldn’t have been that great in bed.”

  His mouth tilted in a slow, ultrasatisfied smile. “Trust me, Lucia. You were.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest as he pulled out of the parking lot. “So you admit this is only about sex.”

  “I didn’t say that, so I won’t be admitting anything. I told you what I wanted.”

  She glanced over at him. “To sleep with me again.”

  “Yes, but not just a couple more
times. I’m talking about the rest of my life. You’re my soul mate.” Derringer smiled thinking that sounded pretty darn good and had to thank Jason for putting the idea into his head.

  Her mouth dropped. “Soul mate?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s insane,” she threw out

  “That’s reality. Get used to it,” he threw back.

  She turned around in her seat as much as her seat belt would allow. “It’s not reality and I won’t get used to it, because it doesn’t make sense. If this has anything to do with you thinking I got pregnant from our previous encounters you don’t have that to worry about. My monthly visitor arrived this morning.”

  “That wasn’t it, although that would have definitely been important to me if you had gotten pregnant. But like I told you before, you’re in my blood now. You were a virgin and I’d never been with a virgin before.”

  “Whoop-de-do,” she said sarcastically. “No big deal.”

  “For me it is.”

  She just stared at him, deciding not to argue with him anymore. Doing so would give her a friggin’ headache. She shifted positions to sit straight in her seat and closed her eyes, but she wouldn’t go to sleep for fear of waking up with her lips locked to his again.

  Each time she felt herself being lulled to sleep by the smooth jazz sounds coming from the CD player, she would open her eyes to gaze out the window and study all the buildings they passed. She thought Denver was a beautiful city and there was no other place quite like it.

  Due to the lack of traffic, they returned to her office building sooner than she had anticipated. And, she tried convincing herself, not as quickly as she would have liked. But she knew that was a lie. She liked the fact that she was the woman riding in the truck with him tonight. She had been the one he had waited for outside her classroom building. And she was the one for whom he had ordered a special escort service to get her to school on time. Then there were the flowers. A girl could really succumb to him if she wasn’t careful.

  “How do you think you did on your test tonight?”

  His question surprised her and she glanced over at him when he parked his truck behind her car. She couldn’t help but smile. “I think I aced it. I’m almost sure of it. There were a lot of multiple-choice questions, but there was one essay question to test our writing skills.”

  “I’m happy for you then.”

  “Thanks.”

  She watched as he opened his door and then walked around the back of the truck to open the door for her. Once he helped her out, they stood there facing each other. “I appreciate all you did tonight, Derringer. Because of you I got to school on time.”

  “No problem, baby.”

  The term of endearment sent sensations rippling through her. “Don’t call me that, Derringer.”

  “What?”

  “Baby.”

  He leaned against his truck. “Why?”

  “Because I’m sure I’m not the only woman you’ve called that.”

  “No, you’re not, but you’re the only one I’ve called that when it meant something.”

  She shook her head as she walked slowly to her car with him strolling beside her. The April air was cold and everyone was talking about a snowstorm headed their way this weekend. “You just won’t give up, will you?”

  “No.”

  “I wish you would.”

  They came to a stop next to her car. The smile he gave her was slow and sexy. “And I wish you would let me make love to you again, Lucia.”

  She was certain that irritation showed on her face. “Yet you want me to believe it’s not just about sex?”

  She shook her head sadly, thinking he just didn’t get it. She loved him and now that he knew how she felt, she refused to settle for anything less than being loved in return. She knew for him to fall in love with her was something that wouldn’t happen—not in her wildest dreams—so all she wanted to do was get on with her life without him being a part of it. “Good night, Derringer.”

  He moved out of the way when she got into her car and quickly drove away.

  * * *

  Later that night, Derringer tossed and turned in his bed. Finally, he pulled himself up and reached out to turn on the light. Brightness flooded the room and he rubbed his hands down his face.

  Tomorrow would be a busy day for Denver’s branch of D&M Horse-Breeding and Training Company. In fact, the rest of the week would be hectic. His cousin Cole would be delivering more than one hundred horses from Texas at the end of the week and they needed to make sure everything was ready. It didn’t help matters that a snowstorm was expected this weekend. That made things even more complicated as well as challenging.

  He reached behind him and lifted his pillow and smiled when his hand touched the lacy items. He had two pairs of Lucia panties. Added to the pink pair were the red ones he’d taken off her last weekend. He wondered if she’d missed them yet and figured she probably hadn’t; otherwise, she would have mentioned it.

  And she wasn’t pregnant. He’d actually been disappointed when she’d made that announcement. He had gotten used to the idea that perhaps she could be pregnant with his child. He knew that kind of thinking didn’t make much sense, but he had.

  He settled back down in bed thinking she just wouldn’t let up with this “only sex” thing. He had all but told her she was his soul mate so what else did she want?

  He knew the answer without thinking much about it. She wanted him to love her, but that wouldn’t and couldn’t happen. What if she got real sick or something and he couldn’t get her to the hospital in time? What if she was in a car accident and didn’t survive? What if she got stampeded by a herd of horses? What if…he lost her like he had his parents? His aunt and uncle? They were here one day and had been gone the next. He rubbed his hand down his face, not liking how his thoughts were going. He was freaking out for no reason; especially when he didn’t intend to get attached to her like that.

  He liked things just the way they were and didn’t intend for any woman, not even Lucia, to start messing with his mind…and definitely not with his heart. But he wanted her.

  There had to be a middle ground for them, something they could both agree on. It would have to be something that would satisfy them both.

  He would come up with a plan. Because, no matter what, he had no intention of giving up on her.

  Ten

  Lucia closed the lid to her washing machine and leaned back against it thinking that Derringer had not given her back the panties he’d taken off her the other night. The red pair. Now he had two. What was he doing with them? Collecting them as souvenirs?

  She strolled to the window and glanced out. It looked totally yucky outside. The forecasters’ predictions had been correct. She had awakened to see huge snowflakes falling outside. That’s the only thing she missed about the time she lived in Florida. This was the middle of April, spring break in most states and it was hard to believe that in some other place the sun was shining brightly. A week spent on Daytona Beach sounded pretty darn good about now. At least the snow had waited for the weekend and most people didn’t have a reason to venture outside.

  Her parents had gotten smart and decided to fly to Tennessee for a few weeks to visit her mother’s sister. Chloe had called this morning to chat and to tell her how she, Ramsey and the baby were snuggled inside in front of the roaring fireplace and planned to stay that way. Lucia sighed deeply, thinking this was the only time she regretted being an only child. Things could get lonely at times.

  She moved away from the window to go into the kitchen to make herself a cup of hot chocolate and watch that movie she had planned to watch last week, and she remembered why she hadn’t.

  Derringer had dropped by.

  She hadn’t heard from him since the night he had taken her to school. Maybe he had finally admitted to himself that he only wanted one thing from her and had moved on to some other willing female. The thought of him making love to someone else had her hurting inside, b
ut she could deal with it the way she’d always done. It wasn’t the first time she’d known the man she loved was sleeping with others and it wouldn’t be the last. But it hurt knowing someone else was the recipient of his smile, his look and his touch. More than anything, a part of her wished she hadn’t experienced any of it for herself. But then a part of her was glad that she had and would not trade in a single moment.

  Moments later, with a cup of hot chocolate in her hand, she moved toward the living room to watch her movie. She had a fire blazing in the fireplace and it added soothing warmth to the entire room. Why she wanted to watch a romantic movie when she lacked romance in her own life was beyond her. But then, women had their dreams and fantasies, didn’t they?

  Lucia had settled back against her sofa with a cup in one hand and a remote in the other when the doorbell rang. She frowned, wondering what on earth could get Mrs. Noel to come across the street in this weather, unless her heating unit was on the blink again. Standing, she placed the cup and the remote on the table and headed for the door. She looked out the peephole and caught her breath.

  Derringer!

  Denying the rush of heat she immediately felt between her thighs, seeing him standing there and looking sexier than any man had a right to look—this time of day and in this horrid weather—she drew in a deep breath and fought the anger escalating in her chest. She would not hear from him for a week or so and then he would show up at her place unannounced. It didn’t matter that she had told him to leave her alone. That was beside the point. The only point she could concentrate on was that he evidently thought he could add her to his booty-call list. Well, she had news for him.

  She snatched the door open and was about to ask what he was doing there, but wasn’t given the chance to do so.

  * * *

  Derringer didn’t give Lucia the chance to ask any questions, but leaned in and covered her mouth with his. He not only wanted to silence her, he also wanted the heat from his kiss to inflame her as they stood just inside with a frigid snowstorm raging outside. There was no doubt in his mind the kiss had enough spark, power and electricity to light the entire city of Denver. And he felt it all rush through his body.