The Millionaires' Club: David, Clint & Travis: Entangled with a Texan / Locked up with a Lawman / Remembering One Wild Night

“You’ll go to any lengths to get your way,” she muttered, exasperated and delighted at the same time. He was coming on too strong, too fast, and she was too attracted to him, too susceptible. “Absolutely—”

He placed his fingers lightly on her lips. “Shh. Think it over before you disappoint both of us.”

He stepped close, sliding his hand around her waist and tilting her chin up to look down into her eyes. “As to going to any lengths to get my way—guilty as charged. Especially when what I’m after is a beautiful, sexy woman who has ruined my sleep and is driving me wild with her arguments. Wear the black dress and go out with me,” he coaxed softly in a seductive voice. “Let’s go out Saturday night.”

“What about Autumn?”

“I already have that taken care of,” he answered.

“How can I say no to that?” she whispered, lost in the depths of his gaze.

“Good!” he replied, taking the dress from her hands and tossing it on a chair. He leaned down to switch off the lamp, leaving only the flickering light from the fireplace and the light in the other part of the kitchen behind them.

Her breathing altered as he straightened, letting his gaze drift down to her mouth. “I’ve been waiting since yesterday, Rissa,” he whispered.

“I know I should say no to you.”

“Never,” he whispered, trailing kisses along her throat and over her ear. She inhaled deeply, looking at him so close. He was clean-shaven, his thick raven hair neatly combed.

“David, listen to me,” she protested, placing her hands on his forearms, a tactical error because every physical contact turned her brains to more mush.

“You listen to me,” he whispered, brushing her lips lightly, so tantalizingly, with his.

She could barely listen to anything except the thunder roll of her heart. “No, no and double no.”

“Yes, yes and triple yes,” he replied. “There’s no good reason to avoid a few hours out together, a few hours of dancing, good food and companionship, that has us both relaxed and content. Deny that one, Rissa.”

How could she deny him anything? “I’m lost,” she whispered without thinking. “Hopelessly.”

“Ah,” he said. Vaguely, she heard the satisfaction in his voice and knew she was defeated. How could she persist in a fight about going out with the man she had dreamed of having a date with for years?

His mouth possessed hers, his tongue stroking and playing until the blinding spiral of heat tightened and burst into searing longing. He had stormed her barriers and won the battle. She couldn’t resist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss, snuggling against the solidity of him and hearing a groan caught deep in his throat.

“You dirty fighter,” she whispered, coming up for air and running her fingers through his hair.

“If I win, it’s worth it,” he answered, and then his mouth covered her reply and her battle ended. With a thrill she felt his hard length pressed against her, her thighs against his muscled thighs, her breasts against his sculpted chest.

While he caressed her nape with one hand, his arm held her tightly. Their breathing became ragged; his kisses deepened.

She knew she was playing with a fire that sooner or later was going to burn her to cinders, but she couldn’t stop. Not when his heady kisses melted every impulse to resist.

His hand slid down her back, and then he tugged her T-shirt out of her jeans and slipped his hand beneath her shirt. His hand was warm, callused, delightful. While fiery tingles increased, his hand slid around to cup her breast.

She gasped as new sensations shot through her, heating her further, driving her wild. When she pressed her hips against him, she felt his hard response to her.

He tugged away her T-shirt and flung it aside, unsnapping her wisp of a bra and pushing it off her shoulders. Then he cupped her breasts in his large, tanned hands, his thumbs circling and caressing her taut nipples.

She cried out, holding his strong upper arms, closing her eyes and immobilized by nerve responses that streaked from his touch. Trembling, she grasped him, wanting him, wanting everything, knowing she shouldn’t be wanting any of his loving.

Enjoy the moment danced through her mind. Just for a time. A time to lose her heart completely. She slipped her hands beneath his sweater, running her fingers through coarse chest hair, over his hard muscles, stroking his nipples and hearing him groan again, a sound lost in their kisses.

In seconds, he tugged his sweater over his head and tossed it away, pulling her close against him while he continued to kiss her.

She caressed his smooth back, wanting to touch and be touched, unable to believe that this was David who was kissing her and wanting her to go out with him. How many dreams had been spun around him, how many nights of fantasy! Now he was here, his strong arms around her, and he wanted her. He was wicked temptation and irresistible desire.

His hands were at the belt of her jeans when she realized where they were headed. She caught his wrists in her grasp, twisting slightly to look up at him.

“David, you have to stop. You’re going way too fast,” she gasped, melting under his gaze.

“You’re beautiful, Rissa,” he whispered, stepping away slightly.

Quickly, she picked up her T-shirt, yanking it over her head. As soon as she pulled it down, she again met his smoldering gaze, which was as potent as a caress.

His jeans bulged with his evident arousal, and he reached out to stroke her cheek. He stepped close and pulled her into his arms to kiss her again.

Even though Marissa intended to push him away, she wrapped her arms around his neck. David leaned back to look down at her. “Come out with me Saturday night,” he rumbled. “Say you’ll go.”

“I’ll go,” Marissa said finally. “But let me catch my breath. You go far too fast for me, David.”

Suddenly he grinned, an infectious, white-toothed grin that dazzled her.

“Yee-ha!” he exclaimed, throwing back his head and letting out another whoop. “We’ve got a Saturday night date!”

She couldn’t keep from laughing. “You browbeat me into it.”

“You call that browbeating?” he asked. “I have another name for it.”

“Seduction,” she said. “Watch out, David. You’re playing with fire.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“I guess with a Special Ops background, you like risks and life on the wild side, but I don’t. I don’t want more hurt.”

He tilted her chin up, lifting long strands of dark blond hair away from her face. “My last intention is to hurt you,” he said, and his voice held such an unmistakable note of tenderness that it made her knees weak.

“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen,” she replied. “And slow down with the seductive kisses, because I have no intention of finding myself in your bed.”

“Is that right? I’ll remember that. At the same time,” he drawled, letting his hands slide down her arms and settle on her waist while his gaze drifted leisurely over her, “maybe my goal is to get you into my bed.”

Marissa sighed. “Half of me thinks you’re teasing and half of me thinks you’re serious and both halves are right.” She leaned over to snatch up her lacy bra and jam it into her jeans pocket. She turned to find him still watching her.

“Sit over there, and I’ll sit over here and we can talk,” she announced, trying to summon as much force into her voice as possible, knowing she was failing and he wouldn’t care, anyway.

“Darlin’, how about a compromise?” he asked, sweeping her into his arms and going to the sofa to set her down in one corner. He turned and sat in the other corner, twisting to face her and smile at her. “How’s this? There’s space between us, but I can still touch you a little.” Stretching out his long arm, he caught tendrils of her hair and twirled them in his fingers.

He was too close if he was in the same room with her, but at least she had slowed him down enough that she could gather her wits. She tried to ignore the fact that her body ached and tingled and burned for more. She could happily drown in his kisses for the rest of the night, but she knew where that would lead and that wasn’t what wisdom indicated she should do.

And that magnificent chest was still bare and still in touching distance. And far too distracting for a regular conversation. “Aren’t you cold?” she asked him, giving his chest a once-over again.

His brows arched. “You want me to put on my sweater? My chest disturbs you?” he asked with great innocence.

“You know what you’re doing,” Marissa snapped. “Go without your sweater. I can resist your chest,” she added, and he grinned, snaking out his long arm to grab his sweater and pull it over his head. He raked his fingers through his hair and it sprang back in thick waves. Marissa knew it didn’t matter a whole lot whether he had on his sweater or not because everything about him stirred her hormones.

“So if we go out—” she said.

“You said yes. When we go out—not if,” he reminded her.

“When we go out, who is taking care of Autumn?”

“I have that all worked out,” he replied smoothly, his fingers caressing her nape as he shifted a few inches closer to her. “I have a neighbor and fellow Texas Cattleman’s Club member and friend, Jason Windover, and his wife, Meredith. They have a little boy who was born in June of this year. We’ll take Autumn to their house. Meredith is great, and Jason is ex-FBI so Autumn will be safe. How’s that?”

“Ex-FBI? Autumn needs an FBI or Special Ops person around? Is she in danger?”

“She could be. No one knows because we don’t know anything about the mother,” he replied, letting strands of Marissa’s hair slide through his fingers. She found it difficult to keep her focus on their conversation. Tingles and aches tormented her while her attention was drawn like a magnet to David, and even though his chest was covered by his sweater, she knew it was there, temptingly close to touch and kiss.

“But you do know something,” she pressed.

“Yes, a little,” he replied, and related all the incidents of the night Autumn and her mother came to town.

“Half a million dollars! David, someone is probably after that money!” Marissa tilted her head to study him. “Out of the goodness of your hearts, you guys are guarding her, caring for her baby, safeguarding the money and trying to find out her identity?”

“Something like that,” he answered solemnly.

Memories flitted to mind, dredged up from the past as she studied him. “I remember some rumors about Texas Cattleman’s Club guys helping people in trouble. It’s true, isn’t it, David?”

“That’s what we’re trying to do here.”

“You don’t have any idea how much danger Autumn is in?”

“No, we don’t. Chances are, someone is after the mother and the money. Unless she kidnapped the child and took the money. Then that’s different. But I think it’s probably the mother who is in the greatest danger.”

“Well, I’m glad you told me,” Marissa said, wondering what she had gotten herself into.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “You’re safe here on the ranch. I have alarms all around the house and the outbuildings. I have dogs.”

“I met two of the dogs last week, and they’re as ferocious as pudding,” Marissa pointed out.

“They bark and they’re good about strangers,” David replied. “And I have six dogs on the place. The guys who work here have been alerted and Gertie is always cautious. My Dad wanted this ranch to be a shelter from the world and he started all this security stuff. Then, when I was in the military, I added to it.”

“You might have warned me.”

“You’re not in danger, or I would have. Besides, I’m close at hand.”

“You may be my greatest danger,” she replied breathlessly, because he was lightly caressing her nape.

“I’m no threat to you,” he replied blandly. “Wait until Saturday night and you’ll see that all your fears were for naught.”

“Right,” she replied, suspecting she was going to regret her Saturday night date with him for a long time. “And regarding Saturday night. Will we pick Autumn up on the way home?”

“Yes,” he replied, leaning a little closer and letting his fingers skim across her back and shoulders as he twirled long strands of her hair in his hand. “Or, Meredith said we can leave Autumn all night.”

“No way. We pick her up,” Marissa said firmly, trying to ignore the effect he was having just playing with her hair and lightly touching her. She was aware of each little tug and pull, aware when his hand stroked her. “Autumn is too little. I want to bring her back here.” She did not add that she also didn’t want the temptation of being alone with David.

He smiled. “I think I picked the best nanny in all of Texas. You’d think you were her mother.”

“She’s too little to leave with someone else all night long.”

“I won’t argue about it. As long as we have Saturday night, I’ll be happy to pick her up. As far as leaving Autumn with someone else—she’s here with us, instead of being with her mother, and she spent one night with just me, a totally inexperienced male, which was not the greatest for her. But if you want to bring her home Saturday night, that’s what we’ll do,” he said, and smiled at her.

“Thank you. It’s definitely what I want to do.”

“She’ll be in good hands, I assure you.”

Marissa stood and picked up the black dress and held it up. “This is beautiful,” she said. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“I did what I wanted to do.”

“I’m sure you did!” she exclaimed, laughing and he shrugged. “I haven’t opened my other presents.”

Returning to the sofa, she picked up another box and opened it to find a pair of black pumps. She looked at him quizzically. “How’d you know what size to get?”

“Do I have the right size?”

She studied the pump. “Yes, you do.”

“My special magic.”

“Yeah, right,” she said, eyeing him and wondering when he had peeked at her things. “Well, they’re perfect. Now, what’s this?” She opened a fancy small box tied in a pink bow.

She opened the tiny box and lifted out a shimmering gold bracelet. “David, it’s beautiful! You shouldn’t have done all this.”

“I wanted to,” he said, taking the bracelet from her in his large fingers. “Hold out your arm.”

She did as she was told and he fastened the bracelet on her wrist. It caught glints of light from the fire as she twisted her wrist back and forth. “It’s beautiful!” She looked up at him. “Thank you for everything,” she said, deciding she would stop arguing with him about keeping his gifts.

“Wear it all Saturday night. That’s what I bought it for.”

“If you have seduction in mind, I can tell you now—”

Once again he stopped her, placing his hand on her lips. “Shh, Rissa. Just wear them and look pretty. That’s all. There will be time later for seduction.”

She didn’t know whether to be angry or pleased, and his words spun in her mind and she knew she would remember this moment forever. “The presents are a delight,” she said, turning the bracelet and watching it reflect glints of light in the gold. “Your motive might not be. You’re very sure of yourself.”

“Would you rather I bite my nails when I ask you to go out with me?”

“It would be a change.”

“I’ll try to be on my best behavior.”

She shook her hair away from her face, crossed her legs beneath her on the sofa and turned to face him. “Thanks, again. That was a delightful surprise.”

The phone rang and David crossed the room to pick it up. He talked softly and Marissa’s thoughts were on the gifts he had given her and the coming Saturday night date.

When he replaced the receiver and sat down, his expression was solemn. “That was Clint Andover. A man tried to slip into our Jane Doe’s room tonight.”

Six

“To harm her?” Marissa asked, chilled by David’s news.

“Probably, otherwise why try to sneak in?”

“Did he get away?”

“Yes. Clint had to see about our mystery Jane Doe and the intruder got a head start on Clint.” David raked his fingers through his hair and frowned while he thought about someone attempting to get to Autumn’s mother.

“That’s dreadful!”

“Someone is after her and now he knows she’s in Royal. He’s getting brazen about going after her. But then, for the money she was carrying, a lot of people would be willing to go to drastic lengths to get the money back.”

“Do the police know?”

“Yes, they’re at the hospital now, but my friend Clint will stay to guard our mystery Jane Doe.” David shifted slightly closer to Marissa. “I’ll need to go to town tomorrow to meet with my friends.”

“David, I’d like to go see this woman and take Autumn.”

“The mother’s in a coma. She’d never know her baby is there,” David pointed out.

“I know she’s unconscious, but maybe deep down in some depths of her mind or heart, having Autumn there might make a difference. Will you ask if we can do this?”

“She has a nurse, Tara Roberts, who’s taken an interest in her. We can ask Tara,” he decided. “But it seems like an exercise in futility.”

“I know Tara,” Marissa stated. “My niece and nephews were born at Royal Memorial, so I’m familiar with some of the people there. Tara’s great, and I’m glad that she’s interested in this Jane Doe. Can you please find out when Tara Roberts is on duty?”

“Jane Doe’s in ICU. She can’t have visitors,” David cautioned.

“She can have family for brief visits,” she told him confidently. “And Autumn is family, more than Tara or your friend Clint who guards her.”

He stared at Marissa while he appeared to mull it over. “It may not work out, but if you want to try, I’ll ask. I’ll go along with you, though.”

“That’s fine. Thanks. I’ll feel better about it if mother and baby are united briefly.”

“You’re hopelessly optimistic,” he said lightly, and she smiled.

“That’s what my sister Greta always says. According to her, I’m the optimist, she’s the pessimist, Karen is the party girl and Dallas is boy-crazy.”

“Do you concur with the analysis?”

“Sort of,” she said, smiling again.

“When I met you in the baby store and introduced myself, you said you knew me through your older sister. You look a lot younger than your sister.”

“I’m twenty-eight. I often went with her to football games and I watched you play ball.”

“And you remembered me from that?” he asked, and she knew her cheeks were hot and she knew he was going to persist with his questions until he found out the answer.

“Yes, David, I remembered you. I thought you were cute. It was a schoolgirl crush. Satisfied? I got over it.”

“I hope not,” he said, leaning forward. “And whatever it is between us, I feel it, too.”

“I suspect what you feel is lust.”

“Damn straight. My pulse is racing right now. How about yours?” He placed his hand against her throat and waited.

She twisted away slightly. “I can’t help it if my body responds to you, but that doesn’t change my mind,” she said, taking his hand and removing it from her throat where he had been checking her pulse. “Now, you scoot back where you were.”

He grinned and scooted away a few inches, increasing the distance between them only slightly. “So tell me more about your life. How come you were working in the baby store?”

“I majored in sociology in college and that’s what my degree is in. I had a job with the clinic, and after doing that for a few years, I knew I didn’t want to do it forever. I have a minor in public relations and I’ve got applications out right now, so the store job is temporary. So where did you go to college?”

David talked about college and life on the ranch, safe topics that didn’t dredge up emotions or bad memories, yet gave her a glimpse of his life. When Autumn began to cry, Marissa brought the baby to the kitchen and she and David took turns caring for her. As Marissa held and rocked her, they talked. Later that night Autumn had a second bottle, but this time when Marissa got Autumn back to sleep, she stood.

“It’s almost two in the morning, David. I’m going to bed.”

“Want me to carry Autumn?” he offered, standing and crossing the room to Marissa.

“No need. She’s a featherweight,” Marissa replied.

“I’ll bring your things, then,” he said, picking up the boxes of gifts he had brought her. As they left the room, he switched off the kitchen light.

“So when will we go to town tomorrow?” she asked.

“My meeting is at ten in the morning. After that, I’ll talk to Clint and Tara about taking Autumn to the hospital. I don’t want you wandering around alone with her. I’d rather drive back here in the afternoon and pick you two up and take you into town then.”

When they reached her bedroom, he followed her inside and placed her presents on the bed. She crossed to him and caught his hand in hers. As his brows arched in surprise, she said, “Come here, David.”

He went with her and she led him into the hall, pausing at the door. “Thanks for the interesting evening and dinner. Good night.”

He looked amused. “You don’t want me in your bedroom?”

“Not yet,” she answered, and his chest expanded as he inhaled a deep breath.

“That wasn’t the answer I expected, since you tricked me to get me out of your room.”

Marissa smiled. “What was it you said? Sneaky and underhanded sometimes gets you what you want, or some such. Good night,” she repeated with emphasis, glancing toward his bedroom.

He braced one hand against the doorjamb, blocking her way. “Just one kiss.”

“You’ve had a kiss, and I have a baby in my arms.”

“Neither matters,” he said, catching her chin in his other hand and leaning down. Before he could touch her lips, Marissa ducked under his arm and stepped quickly into her bedroom.

“See you in the morning.” She closed the door in his face and let out her breath. How she ached for his kisses! Every inch of her wanted to be standing outside her door in his arms. Thank heavens she had shown some restraint. Now, if she could just hang on to that restraint throughout this job.

She put Autumn in her crib, standing over the baby. Autumn was one of the most beautiful babies she had ever seen. She touched Autumn’s cheek lightly with her finger. Marissa closed her eyes and said a prayer that Autumn’s mother would have a full recovery. When she opened her eyes, she smoothed the baby’s wispy hair. How it was going to hurt to say goodbye to Autumn!

That was one more thing she could postpone thinking about. Better to go home crying over the loss of Autumn, than to go home brokenhearted, crying over the losses of both Autumn and David. Just keep remembering that one, she told herself.

“This is no big deal. Relax and enjoy yourself.” His words haunted her. It was no big deal to him. To her, it was enormous. The dream of half a lifetime. His sexy appeal was irresistible now. If she let the man seduce her, she would be absolute and hopeless mush around him all the time.

“Marissa Wilder, learn now to say no,” she ordered aloud, remembering her ex and how charming he had been at the first. “No, no and no.”

Repeating no, no, no to herself, she crossed the room to open the boxes and look again at the beautiful dress he had given her. She peeled off her T-shirt and jeans and stepped into the dress, pulling it on and sliding up the zipper, turning to look at herself in the mirror. The dress was perfection. Simple, sleek lines, short, figure-hugging, soft. She unzipped it and changed into the oversize T-shirt she slept in.

In the dark, she lay in bed and remembered David’s hands on her, his touches, his fabulous kisses. Tingling, she ached and wondered whether he was really losing sleep over her or if it was just a line he used when it suited him.

She thought about the danger to the mother and to Autumn. By insisting on going to the hospital, would she put Autumn at risk? She hoped not, but she felt certain that, even though the mother wasn’t conscious, she should have her baby near her for a few minutes.