скачать книгу бесплатно
What was she doing? Softening toward him? She should fight him harder, yank her hand free, but her emotions were escalating too fast to control. His tall, powerful body and his understanding intoxicated her. She’d done without a man’s passion for too long. Done without him. If only she’d had an inkling she’d see him today, she could have steeled herself.
Instead of trying to run, she froze. His beautiful green eyes—eyes she had so adored—stared straight into hers, igniting her soul, burning away the years and the hurt and the hatred, and melting her resistance.
He lifted her callused palm to his lips and kissed it. Only then did she jerk her hand from his. “You probably prefer women with soft hands.”
“I thought I did. These days I don’t meet many women who work outside with animals the way you do. When I left Texas, I dated lots of women. Until I saw you working with Ramblin’ Man, I thought I’d put you totally behind me.
“You were so good with him. I respect that. You looked so beautiful and wild. I wish I’d come back, at least once, to check on you. I suddenly realized I never … said goodbye.”
“No … you didn’t.” She caught herself. “This isn’t happening,” she whispered, feeling shattered by his admission, by the sweetness of his kiss on her poor battered hand.
“Something sure as hell is,” he muttered, sounding angry and lost. “I should have stood my ground and stayed in London.”
“You could always just go.”
“It’s too late now. The damage is done.” His eyes devoured hers. He stared straight into her soul, which had always belonged only to him. “I’ve seen you. I’ve touched you. And now I’m curious … about a lot of things.”
She didn’t understand the stillness that possessed her, held her. Was she in a trance? Clasped tightly against his tall, muscular body, his heat flooding her, she could barely think, barely breathe.
It was as if she were in a dream, as if she was again caught in the vortex of the youthful passion that had nearly destroyed her. For years she’d told herself she’d do it differently if she was ever faced with such temptation again.
Now, here he was.
Time to smarten up, Caitlyn.
But she lifted her head, parted her lips invitingly. Her nipples tightened into pert berries, throbbing where they brushed his shirt and felt his heat. Slowly he lowered his mouth to hers, nibbling her top lip as he’d done in the past, sucking on it, tasting it. Then she melted against him.
“Oh, God,” he muttered.
Instantly, nerves tingled in her tummy. Where he was concerned, she’d always been easy. Why did he have to make her feel so good, so fast?
Sighing, she wrapped her arms around his neck, threaded her fingers in his silky hair, stood on her tiptoes and kissed him right back. He was simply too delicious to resist.
“I’m going to hate you for this,” she whispered, her voice thick. “Most of all, I’m going to hate me.”
“I hear you, sweetheart.”
Then his tongue invaded her mouth, and sweet, urgent needs made her arch her body into his hardness. Like a mare showing heat, excitement blazed through her. She ached with needs she’d never felt for any other man, not even her husband.
She knew what she was doing was wrong. Luke had hurt her, rejected her, hurt Daniel without even knowing Daniel existed. She hated him for all the lost years since he’d left.
And yet there were other emotions alongside the hate. Kissing him now was like coming home after living for too many years with strangers. She couldn’t get enough. She wanted him to tear off her jeans, throw her over his shoulder and carry her into the barn. She wanted to open her legs and lie down in the hay with him again.
She wanted too much. She always had.
For another long second she was alone in the universe with him. Then Ramblin’ Man exploded in the trailer and Lisa yelled.
As if he suddenly realized where he was and what he was doing, Luke’s hands fell away. He jumped free of her with an abruptness that startled her.
Distantly, she heard Lisa soothing Ramblin’ Man in the round pen.
Luke’s eyes hardened, and he cursed low under his breath.
In a bewildered daze, she stared at him. More than anything, she had wanted to stay in his arms, to cling to his strength, to enjoy feeling like a woman for the first time in years.
But that was impossible now.
“Take your hands off me! Let me go!” Caitlyn whispered needlessly. The humiliating truth was that Luke had already moved away and was no longer touching her.
He was silent for what seemed an eternity.
What was he thinking? Did he have demons she knew nothing about?
“You kiss like a woman who hasn’t had any in six years,” he growled, glaring at her.
She stared down at the scuffed toe of her roper boots. As always, he was uncannily perceptive. The last thing she wanted him to suspect was how she’d longed for him all through the lonely years of her marriage.
“If you want it that bad, we’d better go inside,” he said. “Or do you still prefer the loft? Frankly, it doesn’t matter to me. All I want is to get you out of my system—permanently.”
Feeling ashamed of her reaction to him, she lashed out at him, too. “Ditto! I don’t want you touching me again—ever! I want you gone! That’s what I want.”
“You didn’t kiss me like a woman who wants me gone, sweetheart.”
“I don’t know what came over me, but believe me, I want you gone.”
“Well, while I figure out your finances and Hassan’s motives, I’ll figure out our chemistry, as well.”
“No! You’re going to forget that stupid kiss and go—now.”
“And if I go, how will you solve your money problems?”
“I’m too upset to think about that.”
“Well, you’d better think about it.”
“I can’t work with you.”
“You’d better adjust your attitude, because you don’t have a choice.”
Looking every bit as upset as she felt, he shoved a lock of thick black hair back from his brow. “Tell you what. I’ll leave … for tonight, so you can adjust to the idea of me being around. But I’ll be gone for one night only. Then I’m moving in until we get this mystery solved and your mess figured out. You’re fifty miles from town, and, after tonight, I don’t want to waste time commuting. You’ll need to make up a spare bedroom for me.”
“The hell you say! Do you think I would let you move into my house after what just happened? I don’t want you in this state!”
“Do you really want me to tell Hassan you won’t work with me?”
Of course not. And Luke knew it.
“Because I will,” he said. “If I tell him to pull the plug on you, he’ll do it.”
She shook her head, not wanting to believe that.
“The ranch and your horse operation will be history. I could convince him to sell everything at auction. You know what that means.”
Yes. She knew. There was such a weak market for her horses, that several would be euthanized or sold to meat packers.
“Hassan would never …”
“I think I know him better than you do. He wants to help you, but if you refuse his help you will leave him no choice but to make unpleasant decisions. Do you want to lose the ranch again, like your daddy did?” he continued. “Only, this time there won’t be a rich idiot like Robert Wakefield to marry and give it back to you.”
“I haven’t lost it yet, thank you very much! You’re only rich because of your connections to Hassan. Well, I know the real you, and maybe I don’t think you’re so great. My mother warned me that you were just like Bubba.”
Her mother had fired Luke because he was a thief. Cait hadn’t wanted to believe he’d stolen cash out of her father’s truck, but when Luke had never returned or contacted her to contradict her mother’s claim, the truth of his betrayal had seemed self-evident.
“So, you believed her?” Something flashed in his eyes. Was it pain? Or rage? “You’re wrong,” he said. “You don’t know me at all. You never did. And I didn’t know you, either, or I would never have been fool enough to mistake you for a sweet, innocent girl and fall in love with you.”
His startling admission flashed through her like lightning. He’d never admitted he loved her, and she wasn’t about to believe him now. Believing him would only soften her heart toward him.
Love. He didn’t know the meaning of the word.
“Leave,” she whispered.
Much to her surprise, he nodded. “Like I said … I’m going … for now. I intend to spend the afternoon talking to your accountant. I had hoped to take you with me, but it seems our new business arrangement is going to take some getting used to.”
He spun on his heel and strode toward the long black limo parked in front of her house.
If only this would be the last she’d ever see of him. But he’d be back tomorrow, and while he was in town there was no telling what people might tell him about Daniel, especially if he asked the right questions. There had been talk at the time of her marriage—talk that had never completely died.
Even if no one talked, if Luke moved in, he’d see Daniel on a daily basis. There was no way she could keep the truth a secret for long.
Better that she control how he found out.
She shut her eyes and sucked in a breath. She had to tell him the truth herself.
“Wait!” She ran after his tall, broad-shouldered figure.
He turned and regarded her so coldly, a chill traced down her spine. How would she ever find the courage to tell him he had a son? But she had to. Period.
“I’ll meet you in town … a little later … after I finish working with Ramblin’ Man,” she said. “What time’s your appointment?”
He told her.
She licked her lips and said she’d be there thirty minutes late. “After we get through talking with Bruce, there’s something I need to tell you. Something personal,” she whispered awkwardly, staring anywhere but at him. “It’s very important. Maybe we could have coffee at Jean’s Butterchurn. We can talk privately there.”
His eyes narrowed. “This isn’t going to be good news, is it?”
“I guess that will depend on how you take it,” she said. “It’s not altogether bad news, but it’s certainly not something I relish telling you.”
Then she shook herself and stood straighter. No matter how much she dreaded her hour of confession, she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing how afraid she was.
“Well, I’ve got a stallion to load,” she said briskly.
“Later, then.” He turned and headed to his limo.
Two
What the hell did she have to tell him that was so important?
It wasn’t the first time she’d fed him that line. On the day he’d left for good, nearly six years ago, she’d told him she had something important to tell him. But when he’d gone to meet her in their secret place, her mother had showed up instead. Her mother had fired him and set him straight about a lot of other things, too. Caitlin planned to marry someone else.
Luke had left, but later when he’d calmed down, he’d called Caitlyn. She’d never answered his calls, so he’d written. She’d never written back. Clearly, she’d wanted him out of her life but had lacked the courage to break up with him in person.
Who cared what she had to say today? Quit thinking about it, he told himself.
As if he could. Her brown eyes had been huge, fear-filled dark orbs, her shaky tone ominous. He’d wanted to reach out and pull her close. Thank goodness he hadn’t acted on that rash impulse. She didn’t deserve his kindness, nor his compassion. She never had.
They say you can never go home.
As he’d told Caitlyn, Luke damn sure wouldn’t have come here if he’d had a choice. He belonged in London, in his office, sitting at the helm of his many businesses.
But Hassan, to whom he owed everything, had prevailed.
For nearly six years, Luke Kilgore had avoided all things Texan, especially its women. He wanted no one with dark hair or fiery dark eyes that held a hint of vulnerability; he wanted no one with a soft drawl that sounded too much like a cat’s purr.
Now, sprawled in the back of his leased stretch limo on this fool’s errand, trying to pretend he was relaxed, Luke’s fingers clenched, wrinkling the latest of his CEO’s reports about Kommstarr’s disgruntled employees. Luke thrust it aside impatiently. Steve’s figures in defense of his out-of-control expenditures at Kommstarr made no sense. Luke didn’t like firing people any better than Steve did, but some cuts had to be made.
Hell, Luke had hardly been able to concentrate since he’d landed in San Antonio last night and felt the warmth, even in winter, of the vast, starlit Texas sky. So different from London’s gray, damp chill that all he’d been able to think about was her. In his hotel in downtown San Antonio he’d even dreamed of her.
Why was she scared?
Caitlyn Cooper Wakefield.
Now that he’d seen her, touched her, tasted her, she’d scrambled his brain just like she’d done in the past. How could she still get to him?
Six years ago she’d merely been Caitlyn Cooper. A respected rancher’s only daughter. She should have been off-limits to the motherless son of the county’s number one drunk, Bubba Kilgore. She would have been—if she’d obeyed her daddy or if Luke had had enough sense to keep his hands off her.
Luke compared the woman she was now to the slim girl she’d been back then. She’d been more cute than beautiful, with a freckled nose and wide, dark, innocent eyes that had sparkled with curiosity and laughter. And she’d laughed a lot. At least, in his company.
She hadn’t laughed today.
Back then she’d seemed to find him as exciting as he’d found her. From that first afternoon, when he’d stomped onto her daddy’s porch, desperate for a job, and she’d refused to invite him in, there had been vital chemistry between them.
She wasn’t nearly as beautiful as the women he dated now, and she didn’t dress as fashionably. She’d never cared about those things. Deep down he admired her because she wasn’t vain. Her face was narrow and angular, her thick black hair unruly. She hadn’t worn any makeup. Did it matter? There was something real, something genuine about her, and she sure as hell knew how to kiss.
He wished he could forget how seductively soft and warm her lips had felt beneath his own, forget how good she’d tasted, forget how hard he’d become even before he’d grabbed her this afternoon. Lacking polish, she was all fire and sass, making him burn.
Her hands had climbed his chest and wrapped around his neck as if she knew she belonged to him and no one else. When she’d leaned into him and pulled him close, he’d felt the heat of every female curve.
She’d been hotter than ever, maybe because she’d known exactly what she wanted. Or maybe she’d missed him … really missed him, as he’d missed her.
