Texas Wild

“I think it’s important, and it’s the first break I’ve had,” he responded. “I was finally able to find something on Clarice Riggins.”

A glimmer of hope spread through Megan. Clarice was rumored to have been her great-grandfather’s third wife. Megan leaned forward in her chair. “How? Where?”

“I was able to trace what I’ve pieced together to a small town in Texas, on the other side of Austin, called Forbes.”

“Forbes, Texas?”

“Yes. I plan to leave Thursday morning. I had thought of leaving later today, after this meeting, but your brothers and cousins talked me out of it. They want me to hang out with them for a couple of days.”

Megan wasn’t surprised. Although the Westmorelands were mostly divided among four states—Colorado, Georgia, Montana and Texas—the males in the family usually got together often, either to go hunting, check on the various mutual business interests or just for a poker game getaway. Since Rico was the brother-in-law to two of her cousins, he often joined those trips.

“So you haven’t been able to find out anything about her?” she asked.

“No, not yet, but I did discover something interesting.”

Megan lifted a brow. “What?”

“It’s recorded that she gave birth to a child. We can’t say whether the baby was male or female, but it was a live birth.”

Megan couldn’t stop the flow of excitement that seeped into her veins. If Clarice had given birth, that could mean more Westmoreland cousins out there somewhere. Anyone living in Denver knew how important family was to the Westmorelands.

“That could be big. Really major,” she said, thinking. “Have you mentioned it to anyone else?”

He shook his head, smiling. “No, you’re the one who hired me, so anything I discover I bring to you first.”

She nodded. “Don’t say anything just yet. I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. You can say you’re going to Texas on a lead, but nothing else for now.”

Presently, there were fifteen Denver Westmorelands. Twelve males and three females. Megan’s parents, as well as her aunt and uncle, had been killed in a plane crash years ago, leaving Dillon and her oldest brother, Ramsey, in charge. It hadn’t been easy, but now all of the Westmorelands were self-supporting individuals. All of them had graduated from college except for the two youngest—Bane and Bailey. Bane was in the U.S. Navy, and Bailey, who’d fought the idea of any education past high school, was now in college with less than a year to go to get her degree.

There had never been any doubt in Megan’s mind that she would go to college to become an anesthesiologist. She loved her job. She had known this was the career she wanted ever since she’d had her tonsils removed at six and had met the nice man who put her to sleep. He had come by to check on her after the surgery. He’d visited with her, ate ice cream with her and told her all about his job. At the time, she couldn’t even pronounce it, but she’d known that was her calling.

Yet everyone needed a break from their job every once in a while, and she was getting burned out. Budget cuts required doing more with less, and she’d known for a while that it was time she went somewhere to chill. Bailey had left that morning for Charlotte to visit their cousin Quade, his wife Cheyenne and their triplets. Megan had been tempted to go with her, since she had a lot of vacation time that she rarely used. She also thought about going to Montana, where other Westmorelands lived. One nice thing about having a large family so spread out was that you always had somewhere to go.

Suddenly, a thought popped into Megan’s head, and she glanced over at Rico again to find him staring at her. Their gazes held for a moment longer than necessary before she broke eye contact and looked down at the calendar on her desk while releasing a slow breath. For some reason she had a feeling he was on the verge of finding out something major. She wanted to be there when he did. More than anything she wanted to be present when he found out about Clarice’s child. If she was in Denver while he was in Texas, she would go nuts waiting for him to contact her with any information he discovered. Once she’d gotten her thoughts and plans together, she glanced back up at him.

“You’re leaving for Texas in two days, right?”

He lifted a brow. “Yes. That’s my plan.”

Megan leaned back in her chair. “I’ve just made a decision about something.”

“About what?”

Megan smiled. “I’ve decided to go with you.”

Rico figured there were a lot of things in life he didn’t know. But the one thing he did know was that there was no way Megan Westmoreland was going anywhere with him. Being alone with her in this office was bad enough. The thought of them sitting together on a plane or in a car was too close for comfort. It was arousing him just thinking about it.

He was attracted to her big-time and had been from the moment he’d seen her at Micah’s wedding. He had arrived late because of a case he’d been handling and had shown up at the reception just moments before the bride and groom were to leave for their honeymoon. Megan had hired him a month earlier, even though they’d never met in person. Because of that, the first thing Rico did when he arrived at the reception was to ask Zane to point her out.

The moment his and Megan’s gazes locked he had felt desire rush through him to a degree that had never happened before. It had shocked the hell out of him. His gaze had moved over her, taking in every single thing he saw, every inch of what he’d liked. And he’d liked it all. Way too much. From the abundance of dark curls on her head to the creamy smoothness of her mahogany skin, from the shapely body in a bridesmaid gown to the pair of silver stilettos on her feet. She had looked totally beautiful.

At the age of thirty-six, he’d figured he was way too old to be that attracted to any woman. After all, he’d dated quite a few women in his day. And by just looking at Megan, he could tell she was young, that she hadn’t turned thirty yet. But her age hadn’t stopped him from staring and staring and staring … until one of her cousins had reclaimed his attention. But still, he had thought about her more than he should have since then.

“Well, with that settled, I’ll notify my superiors so they can find a replacement for me while I’m gone,” she said, breaking into his thoughts. “There are only a few surgeries scheduled for tomorrow, and I figure we’ll be back in a week or so.”

Evidently she thought that since he hadn’t said anything, he was okay with the idea of her accompanying him to Texas. Boy, was she wrong. “Sorry, Megan, there’s no way I’ll let you come with me. I have a rule about working alone.”

He could tell by the mutinous expression on her face that he was in for a fight. That didn’t bother him. He had two younger sisters to deal with so he knew well how to handle a stubborn female.

“Surely you can break that rule this one time.”

He shook his head. “Sorry, I can’t.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Other than the fact that you prefer working alone, give me another reason I can’t go with you.”

He crossed his arms over his own chest. “I don’t need another reason. Like I said, I work alone.” He did have a reason, but he wouldn’t be sharing it with her. All he had to do was recall what had almost happened the last time he’d worked a case with a woman.

“Why are you being difficult?”

“Why are you?” he countered.

“I’m not,” she said, throwing her head back and gritting out her words. “This is my great-grandfather we’re talking about.”

“I’m fully aware of who he was. You and I talked extensively before I agreed to take on this case, and I recall telling you that I would get you the information you wanted … doing things my way.”

He watched as she began nibbling on her bottom lip. Okay, so now she was remembering. Good. For some reason, he couldn’t stop looking into her eyes, meeting her fiery gaze head on, thinking her eyes resembled two beautiful dark orbs.

“As the client, I demand that you take me,” she said, sharply interrupting his thoughts.

He narrowed his gaze. “You can demand all you want, but you’re not going to Texas with me.”

“And why not?”

“I’ve told you my reasons, now can we move on to something else, please?”

She stood up. “No, we can’t move on to something else.”

He stood, as well. “Now you’re acting like a spoiled child.”

Megan’s jaw dropped. “A spoiled child? I’ve never acted like a spoiled child in my entire life. And as for going to Texas, I will be going since there’s no reason that I shouldn’t.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. “Okay, there is another reason I won’t take you with me. One that you’d do well to consider,” he said in a calm, barely controlled tone. She had pushed him, and he didn’t like being pushed.

“Fine, let’s hear it,” she snapped furiously.

He placed his hands in the pockets of his jeans, stood with his legs braced apart and leveled his gaze on her when he spoke in a deep, husky voice. “I want you, Megan. Bad. And if you go anywhere with me, I’m going to have you.”

He then turned and walked out of her office.