Falling for the Texas Tycoon

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“This community you want to build. Would you like to do that in California?”

His question brought her back to reality. “Oh, no.” She thought about Timothy and Carrie and Brian. “I don’t intend to leave Portland. I have close friends here.”

“I would have thought a career woman on the move would relocate in order to further her ambition.”

“I was born and raised in Portland, and Portland is where I want to stay. Maybe fifteen years from now I’ll consider branching out.”

“Why fifteen?”

Lisa knew she’d just made a huge mistake. In her mind, she thought about when Timothy would be eighteen and going off to college. And if college wasn’t what he wanted, he might travel or move someplace else. Fifteen years from now, she still wanted to be his friend. Long before then, she hoped, he’d know she was his mother. She’d go wherever was necessary to maintain contact.

“Fifteen years seems reasonable to accomplish what I want to do here,” she ad-libbed.

But Alan seemed to be a perceptive man, and the look he gave her said he knew she was hiding something, or if not hiding it, guarding her privacy all too well. Well, he’d just have to wonder. She didn’t discuss her past with anyone unless they’d lived it with her. She didn’t want to revisit it, although it was always right behind her. When she thought about the threatening note she’d received, she wanted to blank it all out, and that’s exactly what she was going to do, for as long as she could.

Alan Barrett didn’t need to know anything more about her in order to work with her. And that’s all they were going to do—work together.

Alan pushed open the heavy door to the Goal Post, an out-of-the-way pub in Portland. The early February rain had pelted his windshield on his drive over. He was glad to escape from the dampness into the bar, which boasted a real fireplace. Brian had introduced him to the Goal Post after one of their first successful deals. Now Alan had named it as a meeting place for him and an old college buddy, Gil Reynolds. He and Gil had gotten together last fall after Alan had started spending a lot of time in Portland, but since then, they’d both been too busy to connect.

Alan spotted Gil at a bleacher-style booth, not far from the fireplace. As he approached, Gil grinned. His dark brown hair looked damp, and his black eyes looked as sharp and calculating as they had when they’d been housemates off campus at the University of Oregon.

Alan slid onto the hard wooden seat across from Gil. “It’s good to see you, finally. How have you been?”

“Busy, the same as you. You know the newspaper business.”

Gil was an editor at the Portland Gazette. “Real estate and news,” Alan commented. “I guess we’re both in careers that never let up.”

“That’s the truth. Not only do they never let up, but to sell papers I have to keep coming up with bigger stories. Do you know what I mean?”

“Yeah, I think I do. Clients aren’t any easier to please these days than advertisers or subscribers. And as we both know, bigger isn’t always better.”

When the waitress came to their table, they both ordered beer on tap.

“So how’s Christina?” Gil asked. “Is she enjoying her last year of high school? Are you ready for her to fly off on her own?”

“She’s loving her last year, and, no, I’m not ready for her to leave. To tell you the truth, I can’t quite imagine her not being at the ranch on weekends. I can’t imagine her only coming home on holidays. I can’t imagine worrying because she’s not with her mother and she’s not with me and God knows what she is doing.”

“I thought you said Christina has a level head.”

“She does, usually, but put her at college with all that freedom, with new friends, with guys who want to take advantage of her, and I think I’d rather lock her in her room for a couple of more years.”

Gil laughed. “You are the definition of a protective father. How does she put up with you?”

“I try to hide my protective streak when she’s around.”

“I don’t think you fool her for a minute. And how’s Sherri?”

“Sherri is Sherri,” Alan said with a shrug. “She flits from one new project to another. She’s on a committee to beautify the roads and historic buildings in Rocky Ridge. Her new hobby is making jewelry out of glass beads, and she’s thinking about staying on as the cheerleading coach even after Christina graduates. From what Christina tells me, she has a new boyfriend. This one is a stockbroker.”

“Is it serious?”

“You expect me to know that?”

“You and Sherri talk.”

“About Christina, not about our personal lives.”

“Do you have a personal life?” Gil asked, with the interest of a longtime friend.

In spite of himself, Alan thought of Lisa. “I don’t have time for one.”

“As the most eligible bachelor in Rocky Ridge, you might have dated every single woman there. But now that you’ve come to Portland, you have a whole new dating pool. Every man needs a little recreation.”

For a certain number of years after his divorce, Alan and Gil had had the same mind-set about dating. Women could relieve the pressure of a heavy workload, while providing entertainment, companionship and physical satisfaction. But over the past few years, Alan had found that seeing women in that light, not attempting to find anything deeper, had left him empty, restless and feeling more alone than he had after his divorce. So instead of putting his energy into being charming and attentive to a woman for an evening, he’d discovered he’d found more enjoyment in traveling someplace he’d never been, going white-water rafting or simply riding his favorite horse until the wind blew the cobwebs from his head.

“I’m not interested in Portland’s dating pool.” Nevertheless, he thought again of Lisa—how poised she was, how frank, how the camera had seemed to love her face during her interview. Once more, he pushed her from his mind.

“Are you seeing anybody regularly?” he asked Gil.

“That all depends on what you mean by regularly.”

“You know, the same woman one weekend after another for more than a month.”

Instead of the sardonic smile Gil was so good at, he frowned and moved the saltshaker back and forth on the table. “I don’t know, Alan. I start liking a woman. We have fun together. We have a good time in bed. Then something happens. Suddenly we’re not just dating. We’re a couple and then I hear things like, ‘Maybe you could stay overnight more often, maybe I could stay with you more often, why don’t you give me a key, why don’t we move in together, you should meet my parents, I should meet yours, have you thought about having a family?’”

“In other words, the woman wants more.”

“Yeah, that’s right. The woman wants more. I don’t. Some days I go into work at six and I don’t get home until ten, twelve, two. I’ve got a career and it’s damn demanding. My personal life has always come second, but a woman never wants to hear that.”

“Tell me something, Gil. Is your career just a ready excuse not to get involved with anybody?”

“You tell me. Don’t you do the same thing?”

“Not anymore. As I said, I’m not even looking at the dating pool. I’ve found other ways to enjoy life. But you like parties. You like going clubbing.”

The waitress brought them mugs of beer and Gil raised his to Alan. “You’re right. I do. I like having fun.”

“That’s why you shut down and make an exit when a woman wants more?”

Gil’s eyes narrowed and he lifted his mug. “Uh-oh. We’re getting way too deep here. Maybe you’re asking me all these questions because you’re looking for answers yourself.”

Was he looking for answers to the void in his life that would yawn wide open when Christina went to college? Why hadn’t he gotten involved with anyone seriously since his divorce? Why had meeting Lisa Sanders shaken him up in a way he didn’t understand at all?

“One more question, then we can move on to how the Mariners are going to do this year,” Alan promised.

Gil took a few swallows of beer, then set down his mug. “Shoot. But I reserve the right to remain silent.”

“Have you ever dated a younger woman?”

Gil smiled. “How much younger?”

“I don’t know, maybe ten, twelve, fifteen years younger.”

“I’ve dated a few women in their mid-twenties, but we seemed to run out of things to say. Our reference points were different. Do you know what I mean?”

Alan understood what Gil was saying, yet when he talked with Lisa, he didn’t feel any of that.

“Are you thinking about dating someone younger?” Gil asked.

Now wasn’t that a million dollar question. Alan lifted his mug, too. “I was just hypothesizing.”

“You don’t hypothesize. You act. You’re a doer, not a ponderer. So if there’s a younger woman who’s making you ponder, you could be in big trouble already.”

Gil was an intelligent man and thought of himself as a cynical reporter feeding the public’s right to know. He had a sixth sense about a good story and could be perceptive about everybody but himself. This time Alan hoped Gil’s insight into what was going on with him was all wrong.

But the devil on Alan’s shoulder told him his friend was on the money once again.

Chapter Four

“Brian left about a half hour ago, Alan.”

Lisa kept her voice completely professional as they spoke over the phone late Monday afternoon. On Saturday, during breakfast with Alan after her interview, she’d let Carrie lead the conversation. However, her gaze had locked with his too many times and her heart had beat much too fast whenever he’d spoken to her…whenever she’d spoken to him.

“I was hoping I could catch him before he left.” Frustration edged Alan’s tone. “I have the schematics he wanted for that San Diego resort. I suppose I could have them messengered to his house.”

“No! I mean,” she added quickly, “I can come over and pick them up.”

She had to convince Alan not to interrupt Brian tonight. Brian had shown her the flowers he’d picked up at lunchtime to take home to Carrie, a dozen long-stemmed red roses. Since they were leaving Wednesday for the trip to Texas, and tomorrow night would be busy with last minute preparations, Lisa suspected he and Carrie were going to have some quality time tonight after Timothy went to bed. If they were interrupted by a messenger service, their evening could be ruined. She had a key to the house. She could pick up the materials from Alan and drop them off without Brian and Carrie even noticing. She’d leave them in Brian’s office with a note and slip out again before they even knew she had been there.

“I hate to take you out of your way. If I can’t find a service to do this tonight, I could drive them over to Brian myself,” Alan offered.

“Aren’t you working on the presentation for the investors?”

“Did Brian tell you that?”

“He gave me a schedule of our meetings with clients, what he was covering and what you’re covering. I know you’re busy. My evening’s free. I really don’t mind stopping by. Just give me directions and tell me exactly where you live.”

After a brief hesitation, Alan did just that.

A half hour later, the security guard at Alan’s building showed Lisa to a private elevator that went directly to the penthouse floor. Alan had apparently given the man her name and told him she’d be arriving within the hour.

The elevator was smooth and speedy, rushing her to the seventh floor in a matter of seconds. When the doors parted, she stepped out into a hallway with plush wine carpeting. The paintings that hung along the corridor were watercolors of ranch scenes.

When she stopped before one and studied it, she saw Christina Barrett’s signature in the corner. Obviously Alan was proud of everything his daughter did.

Lisa had almost reached the paneled mahogany door of the penthouse when it opened and he stood there, looking like neither a businessman nor a Texas rancher. Dressed in khakis and a long-sleeved, black Henley shirt, his rough-hewn face shadowed by a beard line, he looked too sexy for words and not altogether glad to see her. His blue eyes assessed her. She knew he couldn’t see much, because she’d buttoned and belted her coat against the inclement weather.

“Didn’t you park in the garage?”

“I found a spot across the street and just dashed over. I’m not fond of parking garages. They make me feel claustrophobic.”

“That surprises me. You give the impression you’re not afraid of anything.”

“I didn’t say I was afraid of parking garages. I just prefer not to park in them.”

He held up a staying hand. “I shouldn’t have made the observation. I don’t really know you. I’ve just gotten a few impressions.”

She’d gotten a few impressions of her own. Alan, for all his charming Texas manners, was a bit of a loner. How she knew that she wasn’t sure. Maybe he was different around family. Maybe his daughter knew the real man underneath. But Lisa didn’t suppose many people did.

He motioned her inside. “If you want to warm up a bit before you dash back out there, I have a fresh pot of coffee brewing.”

Having coffee with Alan—in his apartment, no less—wasn’t a good idea. Coming here had been a bad idea. Still, she looked around with interest. “No, I’ll just pick up whatever you want Brian to look at, then I’ll be going.”

Alan’s condo was a showplace. The same rich carpeting from the hall covered the living room. A navy leather couch and huge recliner were arranged across from a high-tech entertainment center, plasma screen TV, stereo system, CD player. Other electronic gadgets sat on the shelves—an iPod and an Xbox, along with a rack of CDs. The buttered plaster walls were devoid of art. She could see into the dining room with its shiny mahogany table that looked as if it had never been used. Alan might stay here when he was in Portland, but he didn’t really live here. It was too uncluttered, too clean, too polished.

He went to the library table along one wall and picked up a cardboard tube. Handing it to her, he asked, “What’s the real reason you wanted to pick these up?”

His perception amazed her. She’d found most men accepted simple explanations and didn’t look much deeper. But she was discovering that Alan wasn’t like most men.