Читать книгу The Texas Rancher's Family - Cathy Thacker Gillen - Страница 11
ОглавлениеChapter Four
Erin was curled up in a corner of the living room sofa, sketch pad on her lap, when Mac finally came back downstairs nearly an hour later. His hair was rumpled, his shirttail out, shoes off, and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to the elbow. The sleepy look in his eyes indicated he might have briefly nodded off, too, after tucking Heather into bed. Erin smiled, appreciating the fact that he’d cared enough to stay with his daughter until she fell asleep.
“Nicholas get home okay?” he asked in a low, husky voice that warmed her inside and out.
Telling herself they were just being nice to each other because they were stuck here together for the duration of the storm, Erin nodded. “He’s upstairs doing homework.” She gazed up at Mac. “Can I get you anything?”
A sexy glimmer shone briefly in his eyes, as if he had an answer to that. One she wouldn’t want to hear. “I’m good. Thanks.” His glance trailed over the red-white-and-blue lady’s boot, emblazoned with stars and stripes, that she’d been designing. “What’s this?”
“A limited edition woman’s boot that will be prototyped in time for Independence Day.”
“Nice.” Mac sat down beside her on the sofa and propped his feet up on the coffee table. “How many copies will you make?”
Damn, but he smelled good. Like soap and man and an ever-so-faint hint of expensive cologne.
Erin tried not to think about what it would be like to kiss him, which would have been a whole lot easier if he wasn’t giving off so many pheromones and didn’t have such erotically sculpted lips. Not that she was noticing... “We’ll stop at two hundred.”
“How long will it take to sell out?”
How long would it take for her to squelch the desire she hadn’t felt since she couldn’t remember when? “Once I put a pair up on the website and in the store? About a week.”
He continued to study the design. “I like it,” he murmured. “It’s...”
“Patriotic?”
“Very,” he drawled as he settled more comfortably beside her, his elbow briefly brushing hers. “And speaking of boots, when do you want to finish the order for mine?”
Erin put her sketchbook aside. “No time like the present.”
“Great!” He beamed.
Determined to resist the disarming smile he sent her way, she rose and strode purposefully toward the armoire. Maybe it was best they keep their mind on business, rather than anything personal. Heaven knew they had shared enough earlier in the evening.
“Ready to get started?” she asked, returning with an array of samples and a book of color photos.
He nodded. “You really love this, don’t you?”
Erin replied with a shrug, “I love the design work, helping customers figure out what they want and turning their wishes into reality.”
“Do you actually make the boot, too?” His voice was low and gravelly and sexy as hell.
Erin sat down beside him. “Sometimes I do.” She’d probably make Mac’s, because of the time constraints. “But for the most part, the four artists Monroe’s employs make the lasts and do the actual cutting and sewing and buffing in their home studios.” Erin opened up her satchel. “Any idea what color boot you want?”
“Dark brown.”
No surprise there. She fanned out a bunch of samples.
Mac stared at them, as flummoxed as most men when confronted with all those choices. “I had no idea there were so many different shades of dark brown.”
She pointed out the undertones in several of the shades. “There’s also a difference in texture. Crocodile or lizard skin is bumpy.” She placed his hand over the hide, so he could feel it, then moved it to the next. “Kangaroo is a little softer. Cowhide is more durable.”
“Which would you suggest?”
Erin shrugged. “Depends on whether you plan to use them for outdoor activity or the boardroom.”
“Both.”
“In that case...” She suggested a leather that was both soft and durable.
Mac smiled. “I like it.”
“Now for the shape. Do you want a full round roper toe? A semiround one? Or something more pointed, like a cut-back toe?” She showed him pictures. “Or perhaps something more rectangular in shape, like a French toe with a wide boxed end?”
“I prefer the wide boxed end. No scalloping or fancy stitching, though.”
Erin reached for her sketch pad. “How about something like this?” Sensing from what she already knew of him that he wouldn’t want anything too fussy, she drew a medallion and wrinkle across the toe of the boot, and a simple filigree around the top. The overall effect was understated and elegant.
“That looks good,” Mac said, satisfied.
“Do you want your initials on them? We can put them on the ear pulls, where they generally won’t be seen, or on the front inside quarter panel or the heel.”
“I think the pulls would be good.”
Erin made a note of that, then got out her calculator. She wrote up a bill of sale, then handed him the final tally. “We usually ask for half up front.”
“I’ll drop off a check at the shop tomorrow.” Which meant she’d be seeing him yet again.
Erin glanced at the clock, noting it was after eleven. Rain was still pouring down outside. For a long beat, no one said anything. He seemed as reluctant to call it a night as she was. “I had no idea it was so late,” she said.
Mac stretched lazily. “Me, either.” His voice was low, gravelly and sexy as hell.
She moved her gaze away from his sinewy shoulders and chest. There was no use dreaming about what was never going to happen. What she would never let happen. She swallowed around the sudden dryness in her throat. Emotional barriers firmly in place, she asked politely, “Can I get you anything before I go up to bed?”
He smiled. “I’m good.”
“Well.” Her pulse quickening in reaction to his nearness, she closed her heavy satchel. “You know where the kitchen is. Mi casa es su casa and all that. Help yourself to anything you want or need. And I’ll see you in the morning.”
He nodded, his easy acknowledgment cocooning her in warmth. “Good night. And Erin?” He held her eyes until her heart skipped a beat. “Thanks for the hospitality.”
This wasn’t the end of a date, even if it suddenly felt like one. Ignoring the telltale rush of heat inside her, Erin cleared her throat. “No problem.”
He smiled again, even more gratefully.
Tingling, she forced herself to turn away and head for the stairs. She was halfway to the second-floor landing when everything suddenly went dark.
* * *
MAC HAD THOUGHT the evening could hold no more surprises. Just showed how little he knew.
“Mac?” Erin’s soft voice came out of the pitch-black interior of the sprawling ranch house.
He pushed away the notion that she could easily become something to him. “Yeah?”
“Need a flashlight?” she asked.
“It would help.”
Damn, but it was black out here, with the rain still teeming down outside. No light whatsoever, anywhere, not even a distant flash of lightning. Mac put his hands out in front of him, wishing for night-vision goggles, and trying to feel his way.
“Where are you?” Erin’s voice sounded closer.
Good question. “Somewhere between the foyer and the middle of the living room,” he replied, hoping that Heather—and the other kids—would sleep through this. He didn’t want his daughter in another meltdown.
“Stay where you are,” Erin advised calmly. “I’ll come and get you.”
“So, is this one of those rolling brownouts I’ve been hearing about?”
“Given the fact we’ve had no lightning in the immediate area, I’d have to guess yes.”
The only upside of this situation was the sensuality of hearing her voice in the darkness, so soft and sweet and helpful. Mac had always loved a woman who was good in an emergency. He exhaled. “If that’s what this is, how long is it going to last?”
“Thirty minutes.” As Erin’s voice came closer, he inhaled a drift of lilac perfume. “Maybe more. Maybe less.” Without warning, her palm hit him in the center of his chest.
He savored her body heat. “And now you’ve found me.”
“Sorry.” She dropped her hand, stepped back.
He still couldn’t see her, but he could hear the uneven meter of her breathing. His body tensing with need, he inhaled the flowery fragrance of her skin and hair. He had to rein in his fantasies here. “Now what?”
“The flashlights are in the kitchen.”
Mac figured it would be better not to crash into anything else, especially something—or someone—soft and feminine and incredibly enticing. “Lead the way.”
She touched his chest again, tentatively this time. “Take my hand.”
He was glad she didn’t grope for his palm, given the difference in their heights. No telling what she might have found.
He wrapped his hand around hers and fell into step behind her, or tried to. They hadn’t gone more than five paces when she bumped into something and stumbled back into him, knocking him off balance, too. They would have fallen if he hadn’t clamped an arm across her body and caught her against him, swift and hard. Unfortunately, the difference in their heights meant his forearm landed on the soft swell of her breasts.
His reaction was immediate. “Sorry,” he murmured quickly, loosening his grip as soon as he was sure she was steady on her feet.
Sensing her embarrassment in the silence that followed, he said, “I didn’t mean to, uh...”
“Touch me that way?” she finished, with a trace of humor.
Mac winced in the darkness. “Right.”
Unfortunately, now he knew how warm and womanly her breasts felt. The memory would stay with him, probably all night. He shifted, trying to ease the pressure at the front of his jeans.
“Put your hand out and take mine,” she commanded.
When their fingers reconnected, he could feel the heat in her skin. “Let’s keep going,” she directed. “We’re almost there.”
Mac sucked in a breath. “I’m right behind you.”
They moved forward, Erin holding on to him with one hand, feeling her way forward with the other. Eventually, they made it down the hallway to the kitchen. She let go of him, and opened a drawer.
Mac listened as she rummaged through the contents, muttering in dismay.
“What is it?” he asked.
Erin groaned. “The flashlights aren’t here! The boys must have taken them to play with.”
“So now what?”
Exasperated, she laid out their options. “Stay here in the kitchen and try and feel our way to the chairs at the table? Go back to the living room and wait it out there? Or try to make it up the stairs to bed. Without crashing into something and waking the entire household?”
“Those are our only options?”
She huffed. “Unless you can think of something else to do.”
Actually, Mac could. Not, he reminded himself sternly, that making a pass at her was one of the options...
This was a business situation.
Or at least it had been...until they had started sharing personal stories and whiling away the time together.
Then it had become something else.
Something a lot more...treacherous.
Erin groaned and let out a nervous laugh. “Forget I said that.”
The gentlemanly side of Mac knew he should. Only trouble was, he wasn’t feeling particularly chivalrous right now. He was feeling...turned on. And she was, too, otherwise her mind wouldn’t have gone in the exact same direction his had.
The direction that would land them in each other’s arms.
“Actually,” Mac said gruffly, turning toward her and gathering her closer, “I don’t think I will.”
Then, going on instinct, he slowly lowered his head.
* * *
ERIN HAD KNOWN this kiss was coming. Known it long enough to avoid being alone with him. But she hadn’t.
Instead, she had invited it.
Why?
Because something about him attracted her and made her want to lose herself in him. In this.
And lose herself she did, as she opened her mouth to the inviting pressure of his.
He tasted so good. So dark and male. The strength of his chest pressed against hers. His thighs were rock hard, the rest of him just as impatient for more.
And that, above anything, told Erin she needed to stop this. Now.
Only she couldn’t.
This was the most alive she had felt in a very long time.
And had it not been for a sudden beam of light flashing across their bodies, who knew how long it would have gone on?
* * *
THE LAST THING MAC EXPECTED when he took Erin in his arms was to be busted by the intrusive beam of a flashlight.
But that was what happened as Gavin walked into the kitchen and caught them pressed up against each other in a steamy lip-lock.
Reluctantly, Mac broke off the kiss and lifted his head from hers.
Dropping her hands from his chest, Erin stepped away.
Gavin looked at his sister, his brow lifted in silent inquiry.
She gazed back, angry and defiant. Not to mention embarrassed.
“Everything okay here?” Gavin asked finally, shifting the plastic casing so the flashlight became a lantern.
It was a minute ago, Mac wanted to say.
Figuring this was family business—and he should stay out of it—he remained silent.
“Do you know where the rest of the flashlights are?” Erin asked, her gaze averted from Gavin’s probing look.
His body tense with a disapproval mostly directed at Mac, he nodded. “There are two in the cabinet above the washing machine. The rest are upstairs in the boys’ rooms, next to their beds.”
Erin disappeared into the laundry room, then returned with two flashlights in hand. She handed one to Mac.
“Are all the kids still asleep?” she asked Gavin.
“So far. I even looked in on Nicholas. He’s snoozing away.”
“Well...” Erin inhaled deeply, then turned and looked at Mac. “I’m going to call it a night.”
He nodded. “See you tomorrow.”
After she headed up the stairs, Gavin continued staring at him. “I gather you’ve got something to say?” Mac asked.
“You guessed right.” A muscle worked in his cheek. “My sister’s been through enough. The last thing she needs in her life is another guy who’s not going to be around for the long haul.”
Much as he hated to admit it, Mac knew Gavin had a point.
“It was just a kiss.”
Gavin’s jaw tightened. “Maybe to you. She hasn’t given any guy the time of day since her ex left.”
Mac hadn’t dated in a very long time, either. And he sure as hell hadn’t taken any woman in his arms and kissed her soundly.
He swallowed. “It’s not my intention to hurt your sister.”
Gavin shook his head. “Then I suggest you stick to business, and leave it at that.”
Reluctantly, Mac gave ground. “You’re right. No sense starting something that can’t go anywhere. So maybe it’s best we get down to business.” Mac looked at Gavin, man to man, figuring the sooner he achieved his goals, the better. “Hopefully, you can help me with that.”
* * *
ERIN STARED AT GAVIN just after eight the next morning. She’d been out taking care of the horses. By the time she got back to the house, Mac and his daughter had already left. They’d gotten directions back to town via an alternate route that avoided any flooded crossings. Erin’s boys were upstairs brushing their teeth.
Nicholas had gone on to school.
Erin wasn’t sure how she felt about missing Mac’s departure. Seeing him probably would have been awkward after the sizzling kiss they had shared. Especially since she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it all night. Even when she’d finally closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, she had woken up reliving the emotion of that moment.
She hadn’t felt so aroused in what seemed like forever. Hadn’t even been sure she could feel desire like that again.
Now she knew.
She still had plenty of untapped passion, ready and raring to go. And now Mac Wheeler knew it, too. As did her brother Gavin.
Erin went to the sink to wash her hands. “What did you and Mac talk about last night?” She had heard them conversing long after she had turned in. Their tone had been cordial, matter-of-fact, whereas she had still been in turmoil.
“I told him to stay away from you.”
Erin squirmed. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I was being sarcastic.”
“Noted.”
Erin folded her arms. “What did Mac say?”
“He agreed kissing you was a bad idea.”
Her lips quirked. “Let me guess... And promised not to do it again?”
“We agreed, since he’ll be leaving soon, and you have enough on your plate, that the two of you should stick to business. Which is why we have a family meeting tonight. Adults only, so you’ll need to get a sitter for your boys, and it’d be nice if Mac’s daughter could hang out with them, too.”
Not sure she liked the idea of the two men joining forces, Erin asked, “Why is Mac going to be at our family meeting?”
Gavin filled his travel mug with coffee. “He wants to talk to us all about putting a wind farm on our ranch. He wanted to do it over dinner at one of the restaurants in town, but I said that wasn’t necessary. So we’re going to meet at Travis Anderson’s law office instead.”
Erin blinked. As the oldest, she considered herself the head of the family. And therefore used to calling the shots. “You asked our family attorney to sit in on this?”
“Travis is an expert in energy and property law.”
Erin wasn’t arguing that. She just didn’t see the necessity of any of this, whether Mac Wheeler wanted it or not. “I’m not interested in selling the ranch.”
“Well, the rest of us are, which means you owe us the courtesy of hearing Mac out.”
* * *
ERIN CAUGHT UP WITH MAC early that afternoon, when she saw him coming out of the Wagon Wheel Restaurant with four of the county commissioners.
The two women and two men were deep in conversation with him, and appeared to be listening intently to what he had to say. All were smiling when they shook hands and parted ways. Mac was really making inroads, even in khakis, a button-down oxford-cloth shirt and loafers.
Not wanting to think what he could accomplish if he ever fully assimilated into a bona fide Texan, Erin continued down the sidewalk toward him. She inhaled a jerky breath, trying not to self-combust. Not easy, when all she could seem to do, now that they were within touching distance, was remember their kiss.
She couldn’t help wondering if he was thinking the same thing.
She lifted her chin. “Got a minute?”
He favored her with a half smile. “Actually, you’re just the lady I was hoping to see. I was headed to the store to give you a check for the down payment on the boots.”
Erin glanced across the street. Some roughnecks from Prairie Natural Gas, the company that supplied gas to the power plant, were standing in front of several beat-up trucks, talking and looking their way. Not surprisingly, they seemed as interested in Mac as everyone else in the area was. Probably because their company would expand their business in Laramie County if he failed, and lose ground if he was successful. Aware that none of the men looked familiar, Erin turned back to Mac with a cool smile. “I’d rather talk privately.”
He shrugged, his manner not nearly as businesslike. “You want to sit in my SUV?”
What speculation that would bring! Erin glanced around, assessing the options. “Let’s walk over to the park across the street.” She could pretend she was showing him something.
Mac glanced behind him, and his brow creased with concern. “Have those men been bothering you?”
His protectiveness rankled. “No. Why do you ask?”
He slid a hand beneath her elbow, ready to take care of her, anyway. “You seemed...a little on edge when you were looking at them.”
She let him grasp her arm for a moment, so as not to look like an overreactive idiot to anyone watching, then casually pried herself loose, her skin still tingling from his touch. “I was wondering if they were following you around.”
“Maybe. Then again—” Mac mimicked her Southern drawl as his handsome face took on a Texas-size grin “—maybe we’re all just going to the same places. We’re definitely all bunking at the Laramie Inn, at least since I got back.”
Texas was a friendly place, Laramie County even more hospitable. Yet Erin knew things could get ugly fast when large sums of money were involved, no matter what state you were in. Luckily, Mac looked like he could take of himself, and then some.
She didn’t want to see anyone go after him. And there was his adorable little daughter to consider, too.
“Where is Heather this morning?” Erin had expected to see her with Mac.
“School. She was enrolled in a Montessori program in Philadelphia, so it was easy enough to get her transferred into the one here. Because it’s a self-paced curriculum, she should be able to finish out first grade here in Texas, before we head back to Philly.”
If Erin ever needed another reminder he was leaving again, this was it. Which was another reason she shouldn’t get involved. Last thing she needed was to fall for another man who would leave her in the dust.
“I’m still looking for a furnished house or apartment to rent,” Mac continued as they walked over to the park, “but that’s not so easy. Seems no one wants to rent for one to two months. If you hear of anything...”
Erin nodded. “I’ll put the word out, let you know if anything turns up.”
“There it is. That legendary Texas hospitality again.”
Erin returned his smile. It would be so easy to get lost in that charm. In him.
“So what did you want to discuss with me?” Mac asked.
Erin stopped short of the stone-and-glass monument that contained the framed map of the downtown Laramie historic district as well as directions to other popular tourist destinations in the area. She pretended to show him something. “Why did you kiss me last night?”
He studied the flush in her cheeks. “Do I need a reason, beside the obvious?”
“That’s not an answer,” she said stiffly.
Mac’s blue eyes took on a mischievous gleam. “Okay, then. Why did you kiss me?”
Because, Erin thought, I had been wanting to kiss you all evening, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. And because you make me feel incredibly reckless and alive whenever I’m near you. After years of feeling numb inside, I suddenly want to feel like a woman again. I want to feel desired. And that scares the heck out of me, even as it appears to energize you.
“Did your hitting on me have anything to do with selling me on the wind farm idea?” Because if that was the case...
Mac’s consternation quickly turned to pique. “I haven’t slept my way up the ladder, if that’s what you’re intimating.”
“What about to a specific deal?” Erin persisted. Mac was ambitious, charming and oh, so good-looking. He oozed testosterone. Not to mention being single and in a very competitive field. Erin knew there were sales execs who would use whatever they had at their disposal to close a deal, and then move on to the next. Her ultrasuccessful ex-husband had been one of them.
Mac scoffed. “Let me get this straight. You think I need to bed a woman to persuade her that dealing with me and the company I represent would be good business?”
I think, given the way you kissed me, you could persuade a woman of damn near anything if you ever got her into bed.
Erin struggled not to flush. “I’m just saying there are better ways to get what you want around here than by bolstering someone’s ego.”
“And here I thought you were a straight-talker,” he teased.
“I am very direct.”
“Then maybe you can answer this for me.” He looked her square in the eye. “If I were to pursue you romantically, would it make you more inclined to listen to me? Or less?”
“Neither.”
“Sure about that?” Mac asked.
She propped her hands on her hips. “Why do you keep answering a question with a question?”
“I want to know more about you. What you’re thinking, feeling, wishing for.”
Now she was really in trouble. How long since it had been since anyone had cared about her in that way?
“And because your questions are all so foolish,” he added.
They were, Erin thought indignantly, if his feelings were aboveboard and he could totally separate attraction and desire, and the process of closing a business deal. But if, as she half suspected, his emotions were as tangled as hers, they should run as far and fast from each other as they possibly could.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t get a good reading from him, courtesy of his calm, inscrutable expression. “Look, I just want to know why you kissed me.” I want to know, she added silently to herself, if it meant anything.
The look in his eyes became even harder to decipher. “It was dark. You’re pretty. You smelled good. And felt amazing. And,” he finished huskily, “you tasted pretty nice, too. Like that cup of peppermint tea you’d been drinking, before I came back downstairs. And like, for lack of a better way of describing it, you.”
He had tasted good, too. And felt so warm and strong and male. She hung on to her irritation with effort. “Gavin said the two of you spoke about us.”
“Yeah.” Mac let out a breath. “Your brother wasn’t too happy he caught us making out.”
Though Gavin was a year younger, he had taken on the role of her male protector in the family since their folks died. Just as Erin had assumed the role of mama bear. They acted as surrogate parents to the rest of the brood, which made their sibling relationship a lot more complicated.
Aware that the Prairie Natural Gas roughnecks were still watching her and Mac, Erin turned her back on the men. “I wasn’t happy about it, either.”
“The kissing?” Mac studied her. “Or getting caught?”
“Both.”
He pursed his lips, clearly not believing her on the first, accepting the truth of the second.
Erin knew he had a point. Had Gavin not come downstairs, she and Mac could have ended the embrace in a more leisurely, natural way. Said whatever needed to be said then, instead of putting it off until now, when everything was so much more confused and complicated. Mainly because Mac had insisted on bringing his company’s proposed wind farm and her land into the mix.
