Texas Temptation

Her cheek brushed his neck, and the warmth of her sigh on his skin had his blood pounding again, only faster and more furious this time because he was wide awake now and more aware of Annie in his arms than he had ever been aware of any woman in his entire life.

His hands tightened on her arms, and his mind screamed to move away before she felt his arousal. But somehow he was pulling her closer, tucking her against him as if he might never let go.

“Annie,” he breathed her name with a ragged whisper, “I—”

He stopped himself. I what? I want you? I need you? For God’s sake! This was Annie. Jonathan’s Annie. He didn’t have the right. Not ever.

With willpower he didn’t know he possessed, he finally set her away from him. He struggled to breathe, and when he looked at her flushed face and saw the confusion in her eyes, he decided that horse whipping wouldn’t be good enough for him. She’d needed comfort and he’d wanted to take her. To touch her and make love to her. Right here. Right where Jonathan had died.

Disgusted with himself, he stood and pulled her to her feet. “You might want to take a look at the equipment,” he said in a voice that sounded foreign to him. “It was purchased new three years ago, and I’ve reconditioned everything in the past few weeks.”

Annie felt as if everything inside her was shifting. She looked at Jared, heard him speaking, but she hadn’t a clue what he’d said. Her heart beat low and heavy. Her throat felt dry. When he let go of her hand, she nearly protested.

What had just happened between them? Something very strong, powerful even. It had the same physical drive as yesterday when he’d pulled her into his bed and kissed her, but there was an even stronger force this time, something that went beyond attraction. Something primitive and raw, a need that shook her clear to her toes.

Her pulse increased as he watched her with eyes that were as dark as they were intense. They stood mere inches from each other. A simple lift of a hand would connect them, bring them together. Her body tingled with anticipation.

“Jared—”

The blast of a car horn shattered the moment like fragile glass. Annie turned and watched the approach of a white luxury sedan. Clouds of dust billowed behind the car as it turned off the paved road and made its way toward them.

Jared stepped away from her and tipped back his hat. “The woman is determined, I’ll give her that much.”

Annie looked at him curiously. “What woman?”

“Myrna.”

“Your stepmother?”

Jared nodded, watching the sedan approach. “Ever since she realized she couldn’t buy Jake’s land, she’s been after mine. She makes at least a weekly trip out here.”

He sighed, then turned and headed for the stairs. Annie followed, hurrying to keep up with Jared’s long strides. “Why would she want to buy this land? Is she interested in drilling for oil?”

His laugh was dry and harsh. “Hardly. She’s got this idea she wants to breed and train Thoroughbreds.”

“Horses? Myrna?” Annie couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice. The Myrna that Annie remembered hated horses. She’d hated the smell and the flies and the “stable refuse,” as she’d so fondly referred to the ever-present mountains of manure.

“It’s a real hoot, ain’t it?” Jared waited at the base of the stairs, his gaze narrowed as the cloud of dust grew closer. “Not that she’d ever spend a penny of her own money. She’s managed to convince Carlton to buy it for her.”

“Carlton?”

“Her father. Carlton Hewitt III. He’s never said no to the woman once in her life. I always thought she married my father because he was the first man who ever did say no.” Jared’s expression was somber as he leaned back against a rig post and folded his arms across his chest. “But even that changed after they’d been married for a while. She built that damn house of hers and spent every penny of J.T.’s money she could get her hands on. He stood by and never said a word.”

Annie watched the sedan pull up in front of the office trailer. “Why?”

“I suspect it had to do with Angela. He wasn’t the same man after she left.” Jared shook his head. “He just sort of gave up.”

“Until he found out he had another daughter,” Annie said quietly.

“We found out last month that Myrna knew all along. Not only about the affair, but that Angela was pregnant.” Jared’s jaw tightened. “I can forgive her a lot of things, but not that. Emma is our sister, our blood, and we all missed out on a lot of years.”

Annie touched Jared’s arm. “But you have her now.”

He smiled. “Yeah. We have her now.”

The sedan’s engine stopped and the car door opened. One white high-heeled shoe touched the dirt, then another. Myrna stepped out of the car, smoothed the front of her yellow skirt, then adjusted her yellow-and-white-striped silk blouse. Her red hair gleamed in the morning sun as brightly as the shiny chrome on her car.

She patted the crisp back of her starched hairdo and headed for the office.

“Over here,” Jared called.

Myrna turned abruptly, her hand still poised in midair. “Oh, there you are. I was just on my way to pick Daddy up at the airport and thought I’d stop by to say hello.”

As if Myrna ever just stopped to say hello, Jared thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. “Your father’s coming here?”

“It took a doctor’s order to finally get that man to spend some time with me.” The woman picked her way toward them, carefully avoiding rocks and shrubs. “He had a couple of dizzy spells, and his physician insisted he take some time off.”

Carlton Hewitt coming to Stone Creek was certainly a rare occurrence. If the seventy-three-year-old man wasn’t in a business meeting discussing the half of Houston he already owned, he was in a business meeting trying to buy the other half.

Like father, like daughter, Jared noted silently. But maybe while the man was here, it would keep Myrna occupied elsewhere. And for that, Jared would forever be in Carlton’s debt.

“Oh, dear me,” Myrna said, looking at Annie. “Am I interrupting?”

As if it would matter to her if she was, Jared thought. Before he could answer, his stepmother moved closer to Annie and held out a hand. “Hello, I’m Myrna Stone, Jared’s stepmother. You must be the geologist from Arloco that Jared told me about.”

Jared ground his teeth. He hadn’t told Myrna anything about Arloco or the geologist. She’d obviously been snooping again.

And how could she have forgotten Annie? Myrna had given Jonathan and Annie an engagement party. It was difficult, but Jared held back the swear word on the tip of his tongue.

“Actually we’ve met, Mrs. Stone,” Annie said before Jared could intercede. “I’m Annie Bailey. I was Jonathan’s fiancée.”

“Annie Bailey?” Myrna’s hand froze. She looked at Jared, then back at Annie. “Jonathan’s fiancée? But I... You mean, you aren’t the geologist from Arloco?”

“Well, yes,” Annie said. “I’m that, too.”

Jared wanted to laugh at the dumbfounded expression on Myrna’s face, but even more, he wanted to get rid of the woman.

Myrna moved toward Annie and took her hand. “Annie. Oh, yes, of course I remember you. Jonathan’s fiancée. It’s just been so long, and I certainly never expected you, of all people, to be Jared’s geologist.”

“Mrs. Stone,” Annie said carefully, “I’m not Jared’s geologist. I’m here as a representative for Arloco Oil to determine the feasibility of this project.”

“Well—” Myrna lifted one perfectly tweezed brow “—Jared must certainly be thankful for that. After all the problems this young man has had finding backers, he must see you as a true godsend.” She turned to Jared with a smile as phony as the color of her hair. “I would assume that congratulations are in order.”

“Annie is still evaluating the rig,” Jared said through clenched teeth. “When she’s finished, she’ll give her findings to Arloco.”

Myrna gestured blithely with her hand. “Well, yes, but she’s the one who really decides, doesn’t she?”

Jared searched the ground for a rope. He’d tie the woman up, then—