Fortune's Greatest Risk (The Fortunes 0f Texas: Rambling Rose Book 4)

by Marie Ferrarella

  The only thing she wanted to do when the night ended was leave Dillon wanting more.

  She hurried through dressing, keeping her eyes on the bedside clock. Dillon struck her as the type of man who arrived early for an appointment, not late.

  And, as it turned out, she was right.

  Hailey had just finished getting ready by the skin of her teeth. She was in the process of slipping on her high heels when she heard her doorbell ring. Hoping she didn’t look like something the cat had dragged in, she hurried to the front door and opened it.

  Dillon was standing on her doorstep, looking breathtakingly handsome in jeans, a crisp shirt as blue as his eyes and a pair of tooled riding boots that looked more than broken in.

  “You’re early,” she remarked, trying to cover up the fact that she was staring at him. Belatedly, she remembered to take a step back so that Dillon could come in.

  His eyes traveled over the length of her, obviously enjoying the journey. “And you’re sensational. I mean...” He found himself at a loss for words.

  She grinned, relieved Dillon didn’t seem to have noticed her breathless reaction to him.

  “No need to correct yourself,” she quickly told him. “You can stop right there. It’s been a really rough week and an even rougher afternoon and your compliment is more than welcomed,” she assured him with feeling. And then she smiled. “Thank you.”

  “I meant it,” Dillon told her. “You do look nothing short of sensational.” When he saw her reaching for it, he took her shawl in his hands and helped her slip it over her shoulders. “I kind of feel bad that I’m only taking you to the local steakhouse,” he confessed. “If I was back in Fort Lauderdale, I could take you to a really classy place, but here...”

  He shrugged as his voice trailed off, indicating that he felt at a disadvantage at the shortage of upscale restaurants to choose from.

  Picking up her purse, Hailey led the way out. She was eager to put Dillon at ease.

  “Well, this really isn’t about the food, is it? It’s about two people going out so that they can get to know each other better.” She smiled at him as she locked her front door. “Right now, all I know about you is that you’re part of a construction firm that is busy building and renovating Rambling Rose and that you have very strong shoulders,” she added with a laugh.

  “Not that strong,” Dillon corrected. “You’re not exactly heavy.”

  “Still, that was a very impressive move at the flea market,” she told him as they walked to his car. “Speaking of which, I love my frog,” she said with genuine enthusiasm. “He’s officially the best piece in my collection and if it hadn’t been for you, I might have missed him entirely.”

  Dillon nodded, really pleased by her reaction. “Glad I could help,” he responded.

  * * *

  The drive to the restaurant was a short one. Too short to get embroiled in any sort of meaningful conversation.

  Dillon seemed to be fine with that. As a matter of fact, Hailey got the distinct impression that he preferred it that way.

  But then, she told herself, she was probably reading too much into the stretch of silence that occurred between them.

  When they were seated and the server handed them their menus, Hailey noted with a shade of minor distress that all the meals appeared to be centered around either beef or chicken.

  Noticing her frown as she skimmed the menu, Dillon asked, “Anything wrong?”

  She raised her eyes to his. “Hmm? No, everything’s fine,” she assured him, wanting their first outing to remain positive. “Would you know if this place offers any vegetable platters?”

  He looked at her as if her question didn’t make any sense to him. “A vegetable platter?” he repeated, a little mystified. “This is Texas. Everything’s about meat here, isn’t it?”

  “Not necessarily,” she told him. When she saw that he looked somewhat dismayed by her reaction, she did her best to quickly try to cover it up. “That’s all right. I just asked because I was in the mood for something light.” She didn’t dare tell him she was a vegetarian.

  He thought for a second. “Why don’t you try the grilled chicken? I hear that’s light enough to float right off your plate.”

  “Well, now you’ve piqued my curiosity. Okay, I’ll give the grilled chicken a try,” she said, closing her menu and putting it down beside her silverware.

  Pleased that he had solved her problem, he looked back at the menu to double check something, then put it down, as well.

  “Well, I know what I’m having.” He saw her raise an eyebrow, waiting for him to tell her. “The porterhouse steak. Rare,” he added. “With a serving of mashed potatoes and gravy.”

  “No vegetables?” she couldn’t help asking him.

  Dillon shook his head. “They’ll only take room away from the steak.”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to say that the vegetables were healthier and if he had his heart set on the steak, he could at least offset his choice with a side of vegetables, but she refrained. The last thing a man on his first date with a woman wanted to hear was a lecture about his food choices.

  Instead, Hailey just allowed herself to make a comment about the way he liked his food prepared. “Rare, huh?”

  Dillon nodded, blissfully oblivious to her subtle meaning. “Rare,” he repeated, then added, “I like my steak barely passed over the flames.”

  She thought of all the lectures she had attended regarding the health factors of cooking red meat, and wondered whether she ought to suggest to Dillon that he reconsider and have his steak cooked a little more. Well, at least a little more! But she didn’t want to come across as lecturing him, and besides, that could be a conversation for another time, in the future.

  If they wound up having a future, she silently added.

  “So, tell me, what made you want to become a contractor?” she asked once the server had taken their orders and retreated.

  Dillon didn’t really have to think before giving her an answer. “I guess I like taking old places and bringing them back to life,” he told her. “Besides, it was something my brothers were into wholeheartedly.” He smiled, remembering. “They have a tendency to jump in with both feet and I’m the one who stops to look at all the possible angles, all the ways something could go wrong. I suppose,” he went on as he buttered one of the rolls that the server had left, “you could say that I’m their anchor and my brothers are the ones who buoy me up. In other words,” he concluded just before he took a bite of his roll, “we make a good team.”

  “In any words you make a good team,” Hailey countered. “But that kind of work has to be rather stressful for you,” she said after thinking it over. “If it ever gets to be too much, you might want to look into taking some yoga classes.”

  His experience at the spa was limited to the Mommy and Me class—and that was really enough in his opinion. Dillon had to laugh. “I think bending into a pretzel would turn out to be more stressful than beneficial for me,” he told Hailey. Dillon thought that his response would bring an end to the discussion.

  “There’s more to yoga than that,” she tactfully pointed out.

  He shrugged off the point she was attempting to impress on him. “I’ll just take your word for it,” he told her.

  She eagerly jumped at the opening he’d inadvertently created. “Well, if you’d like to make an appointment, I could personally show you how taking yoga lessons can help you.”

  He looked at her with surprise. “You think I need help?”

  Seeing her error, she quickly restructured her statement. “I think in this fast-paced world, if we’re out in it, we all need help.”

  “Okay,” he agreed, gracefully bowing out of what could wind up being a rather lengthy, uncomfortable discussion. “I’ll think about it and let you know.”

  “Can’t ask for more than that,”
Hailey said cheerfully. She could, she added silently, but that wouldn’t get her anywhere and the idea was for them to get to know one another, not to antagonize one another. She had a feeling that if she pushed too much, she just might drive Dillon away instead of get closer to him.

  She had noticed that when they’d sat down, Dillon had placed his phone on the table right next to his plate instead of tucking it away. Not only that, but she saw that his eyes kept straying to it. He must have done that several times so far and they hadn’t even been served yet.

  “Expecting a call?” she couldn’t help asking.

  He hadn’t realized that he was being so obvious. “No,” he denied. “I just want to be ready in case a call does come in. In this business, you never know,” he told her evasively. “Nothing more frustrating than fumbling around, trying to locate a ringing cell phone,” he added in an attempt to sweep the subject under a rug. “But if it makes you feel better, I can put my cell phone into my pocket so it doesn’t interfere with our dinner,” he told her, going through the motions of picking the phone up, even though he was hoping she would say no to his offer. “How’s that?”

  “Very understanding of you, but if you’d rather keep closer tabs on your phone, please, feel free to do so.” She smiled at him warmly. “I take it you can multitask?”

  “With the best of them,” Dillon told her with a laugh, checking the screen again in case he had accidentally turned down his phone so he couldn’t hear it when it was ringing.

  But according to the information, there were no missed calls and no text messages, either.

  Dillon tried not to show his disappointment.

  Chapter Ten

  During the course of the meal, as she did her best to draw Dillon out, Hailey discovered that they were more different than they were alike.

  Dillon, she found, was a dyed-in-the-wool carnivore who for the most part was a workaholic and he had a tight rein on his emotions. She, on the other hand, was a vegetarian who, while dedicated to her job, was outgoing and liked to live within the moment, getting everything from life it had to offer. She also found out that he liked spending evenings alone while she enjoyed unwinding with friends. She liked reading mysteries while he tended to read architectural books.

  No doubt about it, she thought by the end of the evening, they were oil and water. However, she had to admit that they did have one very big thing going for them.

  Chemistry. Really hot chemistry.

  There was no denying that she was extremely attracted to Dillon and she had the definite impression that he felt the same way.

  She felt this even more so when they finally left the restaurant because when Dillon brought her home, he seemed reluctant to leave and have the evening come to an end.

  Hailey debated inviting him in for a nightcap and seeing where that led. She really wanted to, but at the same time, she didn’t want Dillon getting the wrong impression about her, didn’t want him thinking that this was the usual way she did things.

  There was nothing “usual” about the way she felt about Dillon. Which was why, despite her promise to herself to the contrary, Hailey was on the verge of inviting him inside when he surprised her by suddenly asking, “Would you like to come and see my ranch next weekend?”

  Hailey felt her mouth curving in amusement. “Is that anything like asking me to come and see your etchings?” she asked.

  Confused, Dillon looked at her blankly. “What?”

  She laughed at his bewildered expression and shook her head. Definitely from two different worlds, she thought.

  “Never mind,” Hailey said, waving away her question. “I didn’t realize you bought a ranch.”

  “Well, technically, I didn’t. Not exactly.” He searched for the right words. “When we first came out to Rambling Rose to check things out, Callum felt we’d feel as if we all had more at stake and in common with the township if we actually lived here, so we bought The Fame and Fortune Ranch. Jointly,” he added. “It belongs to all of us. Callum, Steven, me and Stephanie,” Dillon explained when she didn’t say anything.

  “How do you not get in each other’s way living in the same house like that?”

  He began to laugh, then realized she might be thinking that he was laughing at her and quickly explained, “I think once you see the place, you won’t think that.”

  “Big?” Hailey asked, assuming that it probably had to be, given that it belonged to the Fortunes.

  He was honest with her. “It would have to be downsized for that description to fit.” And then he stopped abruptly. “I’m sorry, did that sound like I was bragging?” He didn’t want her thinking that he was one of those wealthy men who enjoyed rubbing other people’s noses in his wealth.

  Hailey laughed again. She couldn’t help thinking the man was adorable.

  “If anyone else had said that, maybe,” she told him honestly. “But coming from you, no. You were just stating a fact for my benefit.” Taking a breath, she looked up at him, all sorts of warm feelings rushing through her. “And to answer your initial question, yes, I’d loved to come and see your ranch.” She thought about all the work they had done since they had arrived in Rambling Rose. “Did you and your brothers build the ranch, as well?”

  “Actually, we didn’t,” Dillon answered seriously, “although it is brand new. The original owner built it for himself and his fiancée.”

  “But?” Hailey prodded, then explained, “I sense there’s a but coming.”

  “Very intuitive of you,” Dillon commented. “They broke up before they ever had a chance to move in together. According to Callum, who handled the transaction, the guy was anxious to get rid of the place and move on, so for the mansion that it is, the cost was relatively inexpensive.”

  “Mansion?” Hailey repeated, allowing the full import of the word to sink in. If Dillon referred to it as a mansion, the place had to be absolutely huge.

  Dillon nodded, wondering if he’d said the wrong thing again.

  “That’s the best way to describe it,” he confessed. “There’s enough space in the place for each of us to have the privacy we want and not wind up stumbling across the other three if we don’t want to.” He smiled as he envisioned the ranch. “Not to mention that there are also two guesthouses on the property. And, while the place isn’t a working ranch, at least not at the present time, there is a stable on the premises.”

  “And horses?” she asked, allowing a touch of eagerness to seep through.

  He looked down at her, amused. “What’s a stable without horses?”

  “Empty,” Hailey answered automatically.

  “Well, rest assured, our stable isn’t empty,” he told her. “So, now that I’ve given you a quick history, are you still interested in coming out and seeing it?” he asked, wanting to make sure that he wasn’t reading what he wanted to hear into her answer.

  “Well, that depends,” Hailey told him, doing her best to maintain a straight face.

  What sort of a condition could she be putting on this? he wondered. “On what?”

  “On whether or not we go horseback riding,” she answered simply.

  Hailey didn’t add that this would flesh out the fantasy she had when she’d first laid her eyes on him and couldn’t help thinking of him as the embodiment of a magnificent cowboy.

  “Would you like to? Go horseback riding, I mean. Next Saturday,” he added. He had planned to build his way up to that slowly once he got her out to the ranch, but since she had brought up the subject now, he figured he’d ask.

  “Absolutely,” she told him. There was no mistaking her enthusiasm.

  “Then it’s a date,” Dillon told her happily. Eager now, he began making plans in his head. “How early can I come by to pick you up?”

  “How early did you have in mind?” she asked. Then, in case he was going to temper his answer because he felt she was
the type who liked to sleep in whenever the opportunity arose, Hailey told Dillon, “I’m an early riser.”

  He broached the hour slowly, not wanting to scare her away. “Is eight too early?”

  “Only if I were a slug—and I’m not,” she added quickly in case he wasn’t certain.

  “All right, you pick the time,” he told her. He decided it was safer if she got to pick.

  “I can be ready by six,” she told him, then added, “Earlier if you need me to be.”

  “No, six is plenty early enough.” He rolled the time over in his head. “Tell you what, make it six-thirty in case the horses want to sleep in.”

  He did have a sense of humor, she thought, relieved as she grinned at him.

  “Six-thirty it is,” she told Dillon. She decided she needed to wrap this up just in case he wanted to be on his way. “I had a great time tonight,” she added.

  Dillon smiled at her. “No, you didn’t,” he said knowingly. “I should have asked you what sort of restaurant you wanted to go to. I guess it never crossed my mind you might be a vegetarian.”

  Because he apologized, she felt her heart swelling. The men she was used to dating would have blustered through it, saying something about the fact that they thought she was odd rather than apologizing for possibly making her feel uncomfortable. Dillon and she might not have the same tastes, but where it really counted, they were the same. She found that very comforting.

  The corners of her mouth curved. He really was very, very sweet. “You’re forgiven if I’m forgiven.”

  Dillon didn’t understand what she was saying. “For what?”

  “For making you uncomfortable,” she explained.

  But that didn’t really clarify anything for him. “I’m not uncomfortable,” he protested. Then, because he felt as if the woman who had gone out with him tonight could see through him, he added, “Now.”

  She looked up at him, feeling so very moved that she could hardly stand it.