The Heart of Hill Country

by Sherryl Woods

She meant it, too. She sprinted ahead of him so fast, he realized that she was every bit as nervous as he was about being alone together in that room.

  Though the motel was fully occupied, they were the only two people in the dining room.

  “I hurry everyone,” Mr. Perez announced with a beaming smile. “I know this is very special occasion. A honeymoon, yes?”

  Duke let the guesswork pass. He had a feeling there would be enough discussion about Mr. Perez’s conclusions with Dani once they reached their table.

  Sure enough, Mr. Perez had no sooner filled their glasses with champagne and vanished into the kitchen than she turned on Duke.

  “Honeymoon?” she inquired sweetly. “Where would he get an idea like that?”

  “I told him tonight was special, that’s all,” Duke declared. “He obviously drew his own conclusions.”

  “Conclusions that merited fresh flowers, candlelight and champagne, I see.”

  “Actually, those were my ideas.”

  Her eyes widened. “Really? Fascinating. Is the mariachi band warming up in the back?”

  Duke chuckled. “Probably, but if it is you can thank Mr. Perez for it. I was content with the jukebox. It has some really terrific oldies on it.”

  She stared hard. “You checked out the jukebox, too?”

  “Of course. You can’t slow dance to just anything on a first date.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Of course not. It has to be romantic, memorable.”

  “Just one question. When did this go from being a business trip to being a date?” She tilted her head and regarded him thoughtfully. “When you saw the beds, perhaps?”

  Duke shook his head and regarded her solemnly. He reached across the table and brushed a tendril of hair away from her cheek, then followed the curve until he cupped her chin. “No. I got this idea the first time I laid eyes on you.”

  She didn’t blink and look away as he’d expected. Instead, she smiled. It was like sunshine breaking through clouds. Duke knew in that instant that he was more than halfway to reaching his goal.

  If the rest of the night went even one-quarter as smoothly as this, by morning there was no way she wouldn’t say yes when he asked her to marry him. He would find a jewelry store, if he had to bribe the manager to open it on a Sunday morning, and insist on picking out a ring before they ever left Fort Worth. He wanted her well and truly committed to being his before they ever got back to Los Pinos.

  “You’re looking very smug all of a sudden,” she observed.

  “Not smug,” he insisted. “Pleased. I can’t tell you how much I’ve wanted to share an evening like this with you.”

  “Stranded in a storm with me smelling like a barn?”

  “If you’re trying to spoil the mood, forget it. You look beautiful, and you smell like flowers.”

  “That is flowers you’re smelling,” she pointed out. “Either that or the after-shave you have on.”

  “You don’t like it? The boys promised me all girls loved it. They picked it out special.”

  Dani grinned. “The boys have been coaching you?”

  “Just on a few of the finer points of courtship.”

  “Tell them they missed the boat on the after-shave. Soap and water suits me just fine.”

  “I’ll shower again the minute we get back to the room,” he offered.

  She swallowed hard at the promise. Duke had a hunch she was mentally climbing into that shower with him. Suddenly, she regarded him with suspicion.

  “You’re playing with my head, aren’t you?”

  “Am I?”

  “You bet.”

  “How, precisely, am I doing that?”

  “You’re deliberately planting provocative ideas.”

  He worked hard to hold back a triumphant grin. “You’re having provocative ideas about the two of us?” he inquired innocently. “You can’t possibly hold me responsible for what goes on in your head.”

  “Of course, I can. You’re sneaky and devious that way.”

  “Ever stop to think that maybe you’re the one with the wicked mind? You were watching X-rated cable, you know.”

  “That was an accident,” she protested. “Once it was right there in front of my eyes I couldn’t seem to look away, sort of like stumbling on a wreck on the highway.”

  “An interesting comparison.”

  She scowled at him. “I wasn’t comparing sex and traffic accidents.”

  “Good, because they don’t have a lot in common as far as I can see. Sex is a whole lot more fun, to say nothing of way less deadly, at least if it’s done right. We could talk about it more, if you like.”

  “You’re doing it again,” she accused.

  “Doing what?”

  “Putting those images into my head.”

  “Darlin’, it seems to me you just have a one-track mind.”

  She sighed heavily at that. “Maybe I do,” she conceded. “But it wasn’t true until I met you.”

  Duke barely contained a victorious shout. “Fascinating,” he said quietly.

  “To the contrary, it’s actually pretty terrifying how badly I want you,” she admitted.

  She looked so lost and vulnerable that Duke wanted to scoop her up and comfort her...right before he seduced her. He settled for taking her soft hand in his and brushing his lips across her knuckles.

  “Don’t look so scared, darlin’. We’re going to be sensational together.”

  For how long? He could practically read the unspoken question in her eyes. Because she needed to know this much—and he needed to make it very clear, he answered her unspoken question aloud.

  “Stop worrying, darlin’. We’re going to be sensational forever.”

  13

  The entire evening had been calculated to destroy her unspoken resolve. That much was obvious to Dani as she slipped into Duke’s arms for yet another slow dance.

  What was less clear was why he had gone to so much trouble. After a couple of glasses of bubbly champagne and a few spins around the deserted dance floor, the answer was fuzzier than ever.

  Okay, he wanted to seduce her. Nothing unclear or unexpected about that. But he also seemed determined to make the whole evening memorable.

  Not that he had to worry with regard to the sex, she thought wryly. She was already anticipating making love with Duke so eagerly that he couldn’t possibly think she needed additional persuading. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he would make love with the same passion with which he tackled everything in his life.

  No, he seemed to be after more than her surrender in bed. Champagne, candles, fresh flowers, they all added up to a man on a romantic mission, a forever kind of mission.

  “Stop thinking so hard,” he advised, regarding her with amusement.

  Her gaze snapped up to clash with his. Was the man psychic or what? “I just wish I could figure out what you’re up to,” she said a little wistfully.

  “Who says I’m up to something?”

  “You do. Every now and then this vaguely guilty expression flits across your face. What’s that about?”

  He shrugged. “I can’t imagine. I don’t feel the least bit guilty about anything.”

  “Not even luring me to Fort Worth with a storm on the way?”

  He chuckled at the accusation and executed a tricky spin designed to rob her of the ability to speak.

  “Are you giving me credit for controlling the weather?” he inquired lightly as she tried to get her equilibrium back.

  “No, just taking advantage of it.”

  “Darlin’, a wise man takes advantage of all life’s opportunities.”

  “So whatever plotting has been going on in that head of yours began when the first drop of rain fell earlier this afternoon and not a moment before?” she asked skeptically.


  He did look vaguely uncomfortable at that. “Not exactly.”

  As one song ended and there was a pause before the next, she took the opportunity to look him in the eye. “When exactly did this particular opportunity present itself?” she inquired.

  “Does it really matter?”

  “It does to me. Let’s just call it a test of faith.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning, I want to see if you have enough faith in me to tell me the truth.”

  He stared hard at her, as if searching for loopholes. Dani kept her gaze unblinking.

  “Okay, okay,” he finally mumbled. “When the boys started talking about wanting to learn to ride, I saw an opportunity to get you alone for a while. Just for the day, though.”

  “Not overnight?”

  As the music began again, he grinned unrepentantly and swept her back into his arms. “No,” he insisted, “this is just a bonus.”

  Dani couldn’t help it. She chuckled. “There now, that wasn’t so difficult, was it? See how honesty pays?”

  “I suppose that depends on whether you ask the Perezes to let you bunk with them or come back to our room with me.” His gaze locked with hers. “So, Dani, it’s the moment of truth. What’s it going to be?”

  She should have left him dangling, held off on an answer until dessert just to torment him, but she couldn’t do it. “I suppose, since you’ve gone to so much trouble...”

  His lips began a slow curve into a smile. “The room?”

  “The room,” she agreed softly.

  “Now?” he inquired with ego-boosting eagerness, already heading back to their table for the check.

  She grinned and shook her head, then deliberately pulled out her chair and sat. “Settle down, cowboy,” she advised. “This is one opportunity that doesn’t need to be claimed in a rush.”

  * * *

  For a while there Duke’s heart had been in his throat. Dani had seen straight through him, guessed all—well, almost all—of his devious little secrets and, he’d been almost certain, had been about to bring his whole scheme crashing down around his head. That she hadn’t was testament to the depth of her feelings. He wondered if she even recognized how revealing her reactions had been. He doubted it. She would hate that he could see into her heart, especially since she’d worked so hard to hide all the soft spots.

  Comforting himself that his goal was all but certain, Duke settled back in his chair and forced himself to relax. It wasn’t all that difficult. He simply set out to enjoy the play of candlelight across her face, the shimmering of gold it set off in her hair. He relished the hitching of her breath whenever his fingers chanced to graze hers.

  In fact, he discovered that the slow build of anticipation had its own reward. It had been a long time since he’d felt the kind of insistent, gut-deep hunger for a woman that he was feeling for Dani by the time they clasped hands and walked slowly back to their room.

  The temperature hadn’t dropped nearly as precipitously as had been predicted. The rain had softened to little more than a gentle shower, leaving the air cleansed and crisp.

  To his amazement, Dani stepped out from under the shelter of the covered walkway and tilted her face up to the sky. A fine mist settled on her skin, leaving it as dewy as a spring morning and a hundred times more appealing. She held out her arms as if to embrace the night. The gesture was so totally unselfconscious, so gloriously uninhibited and happy that Duke found himself joining her, getting soaked for the second time that night. He hardly even noticed.

  “Isn’t it wonderful?” she murmured, meeting his gaze.

  “It’s wet,” he observed, concluding that she was definitely a little tipsy.

  “It reminds me of ‘Singing in the Rain,’ one of my all-time favorite movies,” she said, looking nostalgic.

  He recalled the specific scene vividly. “Gene Kelly dancing in the street,” he said with a smile. “Are you planning to launch into song or dance any second now?”

  “No,” she said with a wistful sigh. “I can’t sing and I can’t dance.”

  “Who says?” he protested. “No one’s grading you out here. Come on, darlin’. Go for it.”

  He encouraged her by whistling the first few bars of the song. She did a little skip, then something vaguely resembling a tap routine. She was no Gene Kelly, that was for sure, but her face was glowing and her eyes were sparkling under the twinkling display of neon that splashed color across the damp pavement.

  “You, too,” she insisted, grabbing his hand.

  “I’ll sing,” he offered instead, belting out what he considered to be a credible rendition of the movie’s title song. He grabbed her off her feet and twirled her around for the sheer exhilarating fun of it. It was, if he did say so himself, quite a finale.

  Or, perhaps, an extraordinary opening, if the main production was yet to come. Either way, he was well and truly caught up in the storyline.

  Especially when her body slid slowly down his as he lowered her feet back to the ground. Eyes wide, she met his gaze evenly, then slowly, so slowly that his body throbbed with the anticipation of it, she lifted her hands to his cheeks and framed his face. When she stood on tiptoe and kissed him, he was more or less convinced that the whole state of Texas shook.

  “Oh, baby,” he whispered raggedly, when he could catch his breath at all. “That was a real show-stopper.”

  She grinned at him, her expression very feminine and very smug. “Come along. I’m not waiting around out here for the applause. Something tells me it’ll be a long time coming, and I have better things to do.”

  “Really? You turning brazen on me, darlin’?” he inquired hopefully.

  “I’m thinking about it,” she said, leading the way to the doorstep of their room.

  Duke decided he was enjoying her seduction far too much to race right inside. Instead of opening the door, he leaned down and stole one more kiss, a real barn burner of a kiss.

  It was Dani who eventually dragged her mouth away from his and stared up at him with dazed eyes. “Inside,” she murmured. It came out as part command, part plea.

  Duke nodded. “Fine by me.”

  “Open the door, then.”

  “I think I’ll leave that up to you.”

  Her gaze faltered. “But you have the key.” Alarm flared for a second in her eyes. “You do have the key, don’t you?”

  “Sure do. It’s in my pocket. Anytime you want to slide your hand in there and get it,” he suggested provocatively, “we can go right on in.”

  She regarded him with amusement. “Think you’re real smart, don’t you?”

  He feigned a disinterested expression. “Smart enough.”

  “Okay, mister, let’s see if you can take what you dish out,” she said, offering her own challenge.

  The glittering dare in her eyes made Duke vaguely uneasy. He braced himself for the torment of her touch. It would be interesting to see just how far she would go to prove which of them was the more clever.

  “Which pocket?” she inquired with mild curiosity, after a visual survey of the alternatives.

  When he would have replied, she touched a silencing finger to his lips. “Never mind. I think I’ll just take my time and figure it out.”

  She stepped in very close, until her breasts were pressed against his chest and her warm breath was fanning across his cheek. Her arms circled his waist and she very, very slowly ran one hand up the curve of his backside until she reached the top of his pocket. Duke’s blood began to hammer in his veins.

  She searched that pocket so thoroughly and with such lingering, devilish caresses he thought for sure his heart would burst.

  Then, when he was sure that his jeans couldn’t possibly be any more uncomfortable, she did the exact same thing all over again with the other back pocket.

  “Not here,” she finally conclu
ded, regarding him gravely. “Now where could that key be?”

  Duke was totally incapable of replying. Maybe if he could have, maybe if he’d snatched the darn thing out himself, he could have saved himself from the wicked probing of his remaining pockets.

  She slid her hands up his chest, examined the pockets in his shirt with care, finally satisfying herself that the key was elsewhere. He was breathing hard when she was done.

  Then she moved on to the front pockets of his jeans. Deft fingers managed to skim far more than the depths of those pockets. With some sort of uncanny intuition she had managed to save the one that actually held the key until last. By then he was relatively certain that his body was one caress away from coming apart.

  As she slowly and triumphantly removed the key, he stepped back so fast he almost tumbled off the curb. “Satisfied?” he muttered.

  “Not yet,” she said, giving him a saucy smile. “You?”

  “Definitely not yet.”

  “Well, then, I guess we should go inside before we make a spectacle of ourselves.”

  Duke regarded her curiously. “What just happened here?”

  “I’m pretty sure I proved that I know how to get you all hot and bothered,” she said with obvious satisfaction. She opened the door and stepped inside, then gave him a head-to-toe survey that could have melted steel before adding, “It remains to be seen if you can do the same.”

  He shook his head. “Darlin’, don’t you know how dangerous it is to issue that kind of a challenge to a man as close to the end of his rope as I am?”

  “No,” she said, then added innocently, “Perhaps you should show me.”

  Duke stepped inside and slammed the door so hard behind him, it rocked on its hinges. Dani grinned at the impatient gesture.

  “Careful there. If we want any privacy, we need that door right where it is.”

  “Very amusing,” he said and reached for her.

  She put up very little resistance when he tugged her into his arms and settled his mouth over hers. There was nothing careful or tentative about this claiming. He was a man possessed. He wanted to taste her, to make very sure she knew that from this night on she belonged only to him.