Tempting A Texan

She would be his.

Augusta Cleary was a vibrantly beautiful woman, yet Lin, a name she realized she had accepted once Nicholas had blessed her with it, was not made to feel any less than attractive in her own right. The men shared their attention between the ladies, and even Nicky, who by all rights should have been in bed at this hour, claimed his own bit of admiration.

“He’s a scamp,” Augusta said in an aside to her hostess as they watched the pair of gentlemen playing on the parlor floor with the little boy. Just past twelve months in age, he was gloriously beautiful, with his mother’s golden hair and his father’s dark eyes, a contrast that would no doubt hold him in good stead with the ladies one day, Lin decided. And then said as much.

“Well, he has me totally at his mercy,” Augusta told her with a rueful laugh. “And Jonathan spoils him dreadfully.”

“Jonathan? I’ve only heard Nicholas speak of him as Cleary,” Lin said.

“He prefers it.” Augusta’s mouth softened as she shed her gaze on the three male figures, wrestling together on the carpet. “But his name is Jonathan, though when I find occasion to use his surname he sits up and takes notice.” Her smile was possessive, Lin thought.

If this was the relationship between husband and wife that Nicholas had been exposed to over the past years, she was hard-pressed to understand why he didn’t speak more warmly of marriage.

“Do you think this boy needs to be tucked into bed?” Cleary asked his wife as Nicky toddled into his father’s arms. He darted a look that seemed to hold a hidden meaning at the golden-haired woman, and Augusta smiled again.

“Whenever you say. I think Amanda was about worn out chasing him before supper. She didn’t protest when you sent her about her chores a few minutes ago,” she said to Lin.

“She needed to feed her kitten. Nicholas feels if she wants a pet, she must be responsible for its care.” And then as Amanda peeped around the parlor door, Lin held out a hand in welcome. “Come in, dear. Nicky is about to be taken home and put to bed by his mama. Do you want to say good-night to him?”

Amanda nodded, her eyes lighting as the little boy half ran across the parlor carpet toward her. “I thought I’d show him my kitty, but I didn’t want him to get scratched up. Maybe I should wait till Blackie learns how to pull in his claws.” She looked up at Augusta solemnly. “Katie says that kitties have to learn that, and that I must be careful in the meantime not to get scratched up like Uncle Nicholas did.”

“Uncle Nicholas?” Cleary said, grinning at the man in question. “Now that has a ring to it. We’ll have to teach Nicky those words.”

“His vocabulary is quite limited at this point, Nicholas,” Augusta said. “Don’t hold your breath waiting for him to spit out all those syllables any time soon.”

“I won’t mind,” her host told her simply, rising from the floor to sit on the sofa. “I’ve learned in the past days to appreciate the title.” He held out a hand to Amanda and she skipped to his side, glowing as his arm circled her waist.

“You begin to resemble a family man, Nick,” Cleary told him beneath his breath, the sound barely reaching Lin’s ear.

She glimpsed a look of chagrin that quickly turned into a frown as the two men rose in unison and walked across the room, Nicholas’s arm sliding up to rest across Amanda’s shoulders, Cleary carrying his son.

Nicholas would not appreciate the designation, she knew. Yet Cleary was obviously given to teasing the man. Perhaps he thought to persuade Nicolas into a relationship matching his own. If so, he had a surprise coming. If she knew anything about it, marriage was far from what Nicholas had in mind for his future. Seduction was more to the point.

“Lin?” Beside her, Augusta called her, using the name she’d begun to respond to with such ease. Now she turned quickly to reply.

“I’m sorry, I was thinking. What did you say?”

“My thoughts probably were matching yours,” Augusta said, glancing at the two men who had walked into the foyer. “I only wanted to know if I might call you by the name Nicholas has bestowed on you. Carlinda is a lovely name, but I noticed that even Amanda calls you Linnie.”

“If you like. Amanda has always shortened it. She was about Nicky’s age when she decided on my title, and it hasn’t changed since.”