Dreams of Forever: Seduction, Westmoreland Style

Henrietta smiled. “I’ll be glad to tell you whatever you want to know. You got a coffee pot here?”

“Yes, although there isn’t a kitchen to set it in. Since all I needed was an electrical plug, I’m using that table in the hallway. We can sit in the living room on the sofa. I simply love the view from there.”

“Isn’t it just magnificent?” Henrietta said glancing over at the window. “The only thing wrong with this house is that it doesn’t have a kitchen. I told McKinnon that while he was building it, but he said it didn’t need one since he intended for it to be a guest-house and not a guest lodge. It’s only a few feet from the big house, so anyone getting hungry can come in there to eat.”

Casey nodded, not surprised he looked at things that way given his stubborn and uncompromising nature. “Well, you just get settled on the sofa over there and I’ll bring the coffee to you.”

As she turned to leave she had a feeling that Henrietta would be one of the reasons she would find the time she spent on McKinnon’s ranch rather pleasant after all.

* * *

McKinnon stopped his truck the moment he pulled into Durango’s yard, recognizing the dark blue car immediately. It appeared that Savannah had invited Casey to dinner tonight, as well. So much for the mystery of who she was having dinner with. He then frowned wondering if the newly wedded couple were trying their hand at matchmaking?

A part of McKinnon refused to believe Durango would do something like that. After all, his best friend knew the reason he could never entertain the idea of settling down and marrying. However, chances were Durango hadn’t shared anything about McKinnon’s medical history with Savannah. Savannah Claiborne Westmoreland, who he thought of as a sister since she’d married Durango, probably thought he needed an exclusive woman in his life. Once married, some people had a tendency to think everyone around them should be married, too.

He got out of the truck knowing it would be difficult as hell to be around Casey tonight. He should have declined Savannah’s offer to dinner when she called, and stuck with his plans to go into town, eat at one of the restaurants and then seek out a little female companionship. He wasn’t counting but it had been a while since he’d been with a woman, more than six months. The ranch had kept him too busy to seek out a willing bed partner.

He shook his head, convinced that was the reason he was finding Casey so desirable, but quickly knew that wasn’t true. He’d always found her desirable.

The moment his best friend opened the door to his home, McKinnon said, “Your wife hasn’t talked you into playing matchmaker, has she, Rango?”

Durango shook his head, grinning. “You know me better than that. In fact, I didn’t know you were coming until a couple hours ago. But I shouldn’t be surprised. Savannah’s decided that you need someone special.”

McKinnon frowned. “I have someone special. His name is Thunder,” he said of his horse.

Durango chuckled. “I care to differ. A horse wouldn’t do well in your bed every night.”

“I don’t need a woman in my bed every night.” A serious expression then covered McKinnon’s features. “I take it that you haven’t told Savannah that I can’t have a special woman in my life even if I wanted one.”

Durango met McKinnon’s gaze. “No. That’s your secret to share, not mine.”

“Thanks.”

“Hey, you don’t have to thank me and you know it,” Durango said.

McKinnon nodded. Yes, he did know it. He and Durango had been the best of friends since that botched-up job of becoming blood brothers when they were ten. It was an incident that had nearly sent McKinnon to the emergency room for stitches when the knife they’d used had sliced into his hand too deep.

“But you already know my feelings on the matter, McKinnon. You can always consider—”

“No, Rango. It doesn’t matter. I made my decision about things a long time ago.”

“Hey, I thought I heard someone at the door,” Savannah Westmoreland said, breezing as much as she could into the room as a woman who would be giving birth to one large baby in four months. For a while the doctors had thought she would be having twins but a recent sonogram had shown one big whopping baby—a girl.

She quickly crossed the floor and gave McKinnon a peck on the cheek. “You’re looking handsome as ever,” she said smiling up at him.

McKinnon lifted a dark brow. In a way he was grateful for Savannah’s interruption of his and Durango’s conversation. The issue of his medical history was something they couldn’t agree on. “Sounds like you’re trying to butter me up for something,” he said, studying her features for traces of guilt.

Savannah laughed. “Now why would I do that?”

McKinnon crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s what I’d like to know—and don’t you dare flash those hazel eyes at me.”

Savannah shook her head, grinning, and then with a wave of her hand she pushed her shoulder-length curly brown hair out of her face. “I’m not flashing my eyes, so stop being suspicious of me.” Then she quickly said with a smile, “I forgot to mention that I also invited Casey to dinner tonight. She’s in Durango’s office talking on the phone. Tara just called. She’s having her first sonogram in a few weeks and she and Thorn are excited about it.”

McKinnon shook his head. “What will your family do with all these babies being born, Rango?”

Durango chuckled. “Nothing but make room for more. I talked to Stone last night and he and Madison are coming through on their way from Canada. I have a feeling there’s a reason for their visit.”

McKinnon was about to open his mouth to say something when Casey walked into the room. He could tell from her expression that she was surprised to see him, which meant she had known nothing about his invitation to dinner. She had changed clothes and was wearing another skirt and blouse. This outfit was just as alluring as the one she’d had on earlier.

“McKinnon.”

“Casey,” he said stiffly, returning her greeting.

“Okay, guys,” a smiling Savannah said, looking at McKinnon and then back at Casey and ignoring the deep frown coming from her husband. “I hope everyone is hungry because I prepared a feast.”

Chapter 5

After dinner was over, McKinnon quickly left. Spending too much time around Casey wasn’t good. All through dinner he had found himself looking over at her, feeling his flesh prickle each and every time their gazes connected. And even when she wasn’t looking his way, he was looking hers; studying her mouth and thinking of over a thousand-plus things he could do with it. And he kept admiring her well-toned body every time she got up from the table while his mind worked overtime imagining that same beautiful body bare.

He had declined dessert, thanked Savannah for preparing such a wonderful meal and told Durango he would touch base with him sometime during the week. Then he nodded at Casey and left, trying to make it home in record time. There was something about having a sexual ache for a woman you couldn’t have that made a man want to burn the rubber off his tires. Damn, he was lucky that one of Sheriff Richard’s deputies hadn’t been parked along one of the back roads with a speed trap.

Once McKinnon opened the door to his home, he headed straight to the kitchen for a beer. A half hour later, after enjoying his beer and taking a cold shower, he slipped between the crisp white sheets intent on getting a good night’s sleep. But before he could close his eyes his mind went to the past and the reason he was sleeping in this bed alone.

He had purchased this land when he’d turned twenty-five knowing when he had bought the ranch house that he would live in it alone. He’d also known he would be one of those men who died a bachelor—refusing to take the risk of ever having a wife and children—once he’d found out about the rare bone disease his biological father had passed on to him.

When he’d met Lynette, he had fallen for her and thought she had loved him just as much—so much that he had felt comfortable for the first time to ask a woman to move in with him, as well as to reveal the full extent of his medical history to her. He had all intentions of asking her to marry him if she was willing to accept him the way he was. But no sooner had he told her, less than forty-eight hours later, she was gone. She left a letter that merely said she couldn’t marry a man who would deny her the chance to be a mother.

He received another letter from her almost a year later, apologizing for her actions and letting him know that she had met someone, had gotten married and was expecting his child.

He cursed as he threw the covers back, got out of bed and slipped into his jeans. It was nights like this when he needed to escape and become part of the wild. He knew when he walked into the barn and Thunder saw him, his friend would understand. That horse was smarter than any animal had any right to be. Whenever they rode, it was man and beast together, flying in the wind in a way his Ford Explorer couldn’t touch. At least not within the confines of the law, anyway.

Tonight he needed speed which was faster than lightning and, in his mind, swifter than any speed boat. Tonight he needed to put out of his mind the one woman he needed to keep at a distance, and stop imagining how she would feel in his arms, how that ultra-fine body of hers would feel molded tight against his. But what was really driving him insane was fantasizing about her taste and how delicious it would be on his tongue.

Damn. Casey Westmoreland was getting under his skin—and that was something he’d sworn not to let another woman do again.

* * *

Casey stood at her bedroom window and looked out, clearly seeing the mountains beneath a moon-kissed sky. Shivers ran all through her body at the memory of being in McKinnon’s presence tonight, sitting across from him at the dinner table trying to concentrate more on her food than on him.

And then there was the part of the night when she’d helped Savannah clear the table and he’d handed her his plate. The moment their hands had touched she felt a heated sensation shoot from the bottom of her feet all the way to the top of her head. There were also moments she had caught him staring at her like she was the dessert he would get after the meal. Just thinking about that deep look of desire she’d seen in his eyes had heat flaring up inside her and no matter what she did, there was nothing she could do to smother it.

She’d tried sleeping but her thoughts wouldn’t let her be. Heat would start in her stomach and move lower down her body while visions of McKinnon Quinn danced in her head. How could she concentrate on getting Prince Charming trained when something else dominated her thoughts?

Knowing going back to sleep was out of the question, she slipped into a robe after deciding to take a walk outside. There was a courtyard connecting the cottage to the main house that was surrounded by the flowers Henrietta had planted. It was a beautiful night and she wanted to stand underneath the Montana sky and smell the flowers.

She had been standing outside in the courtyard for well over fifteen minutes and was about to go back inside when she heard a sound. Her heart jammed in her ribs and her breath caught. She blinked, not sure if she was seeing things or if McKinnon was actually there within ten feet of her, sitting bareback on his huge black horse and staring at her.

She blinked again and watched as he slowly slid off Thunder’s back and she realized it wasn’t a hallucination.