Heir to Murder

She knew enough about Noah to realize he wouldn’t be impressed with Cornish hens or a pilaf—he’d want a hearty supper fit for a man who worked outside all day long. Steak, baked potatoes and a fresh green salad would do the trick. Thankfully, she’d been to the grocer that morning with Noah in mind.

Pulling the ingredients from her refrigerator, she prepared a marinade in a rectangular dish and laid the steaks inside to soak. She covered the dish and left it on the counter to give the steaks time to warm up to room temperature for when Noah arrived. She’d fire up the grill on her balcony and have it hot and ready to go when Noah walked through the door.

Rachel loved to cook but had very few occasions to do it. She stayed busy with her social obligations, organizing charitable events and philanthropies. The money she’d inherited from her parents gave her a hefty cushion to live off of the rest of her life, if she chose not to work another day.

She’d gone to college and graduated with a degree in International Business with a minor in Marketing. It helped her run the charitable foundations her mother and father had started and set up to run in perpetuity.

As much as she enjoyed helping others, she’d love nothing better than to cook and care for one man. As soon as she’d started going to Noah for riding lessons, she’d begun to see that he was just the kind of man she wanted. The kind of man she could see spending the rest of her life with.

But was she the type of woman he could see himself spending the rest of his life with? For weeks, she’d basically lied to him.

Tonight, she’d tell him the truth. If he couldn’t forgive her or trust her after that, well then, that was the end of the time she’d spent with him. Sure, as Landry’s best friend, she’d see him occasionally, but the long days riding out over Adair Acres with Noah would stop.

She swallowed hard on the lump forming in her throat. She hoped and prayed it wouldn’t come to that. In the meantime, she would look her best to deliver her confession.

In her bathroom, she touched up the curls in her hair with a curling iron, applied a light dusting of blush to her cheeks to mask their paleness and added a little gloss to her lips.

Dressing for her confession was more difficult. What did one wear to a declaration of wrongdoing? She pulled a pretty yellow sundress out of the closet, held it up to her body and tossed it aside. Too cheerful.

A red dress was too flamboyant and jeans were too casual. She finally settled on a short black dress with thin straps. Though it could be construed as what she’d wear to her own funeral, it hugged her figure to perfection and made her feel a little more confident. She knew she looked smooth, sleek and pretty.

As she held the dress up to her body, a knock sounded on the door. She squealed and the hanger slipped from her fingers. “Just a minute!” she called out.

Grabbing the dress off the floor, she unzipped the back and stepped into the garment. Quickly, she slipped it up over her hips and the straps over her shoulders.

“I’m coming,” she said, hurrying toward the door as she zipped the dress as far up the back as she could, while running across the living room.

She had her hand on the doorknob, twisting it before she realized she hadn’t put on a pair of shoes or sandals. Too late to go back for shoes, she opened the door and her breath caught.

Noah’s broad shoulders filled the doorway. Wearing crisp blue jeans and a soft blue polo shirt that matched his eyes and complemented his sandy blond hair, he made her heart slam hard against her chest and then beat so fast she thought she might pass out. “I’m sorry, I was just getting dressed and I forgot shoes, and I haven’t started the grill...”

He stepped through the door and closed it behind him. “My fault. I finished my errands earlier than I expected. I could have waited at a park or stopped for coffee, but...I wanted to see you.” Already standing close to her, he reached out, cupped her cheek and gazed down into her eyes. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself.” She laid her hand against his and leaned into his palm. “I’m glad you came early.” And she was. The right clothes, food and shoes didn’t mean anything when he was standing in front of her, looking so handsome.

For a moment she thought he was going to kiss her. He leaned forward, his head dropping low, his lips hovering over hers.

She held her breath, her chin tipping up. She could practically feel his lips on hers. Then the reason she’d invited him to her place popped into her head and she knew she couldn’t have that kiss without first revealing what she’d done. But before she could tell him her news, she decided to feed him first. Her tongue snaked out and wet her suddenly dry lips. “If you can wait thirty minutes, I’ll cook the steaks and potatoes.”

“Where’s your grill? I can get that started.”

Grills and steaks were the last things on her mind. She could barely think past his broad chest and the way he filled the room in which he stood. “On the balcony,” she managed to say, but she couldn’t budge. Her feet seemed stuck to the floor.

Noah chuckled. “I don’t know about you, but I have the uncontrollable urge to kiss you.”

“Same here,” she confessed. If only telling him she’d spied on him was easy. “Maybe we should get started cooking, or we won’t have anything to eat tonight.”

As soon as she stepped away from the hand on her face, she regretted moving at all. She liked how warm and work roughened his palm felt against her skin and wondered what it would feel like if he ran those hands all over her body. She’d gotten a small teaser that afternoon. It wasn’t enough. She wanted more.

Ready to retreat to the safe zone of her kitchen, she spun on her bare heels and would have walked away.

Noah’s hand closed on her shoulders. “Um, sweetheart, did you have a little trouble getting dressed?”

“What?” Hearing him call her sweetheart made her knees weak.

His fingers brushed the bare skin of her back. “Let me get that zipper for you.”

Once again, his rough fingers skimmed across her skin and a shiver of anticipation rippled through her.

“I find myself wanting to skip dinner altogether.” Rather than zip the dress up her back, his fingers hesitated.

Rachel closed her eyes, willing herself to control the raging desire rising up like a tsunami inside. “Me, too,” she said, all her self-coaching flying out the window with Noah’s fingers touching the middle of her naked back.

She leaned against his hand, filling her lungs with much-needed air and letting it out a little at a time, hoping to slow her racing heart.

“Is it wrong to go straight to dessert?” He whispered the words against the back of her neck, his warm breath stirring tendrils of her hair, causing her nerve endings to ignite.

“Who needs steak?” she said, turning in his arms, her determination to hold off until she spoke to him crumbling.

“I can wait to eat.”

Resting her hands on his chest, she gazed up into his eyes. “Why now?” she asked.

“Because I ate a late lunch, and I can’t think of anything else but kissing you.” He bent to brush his mouth across hers.

“No, I mean we’ve been seeing each other at the ranch for weeks. Why the sudden interest in me now?”

He shook his head, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Not sudden. I’ve always been interested. I just didn’t know if you returned the interest until today. I was taking it slow.”

She snorted. “Slow? You made turtles look speedy.” Her eyes narrowed. “And now?”

“And now my life has been turned upside down. The truth as I knew it is a lie, and I don’t know anyone anymore. You are the only constant in my life and I guess I was afraid if I didn’t do something soon, I’d lose you.”

“Oh, Noah, I’m not going anywhere. I was waiting for you to show interest in me.” She bit her bottom lip, knowing now was the time to tell him her part in the events that led up to his DNA test and the revelation that he was Reginald Adair’s son. “Noah, I need to tell you something—”

He didn’t give her the opportunity. He swept his mouth across hers and deepened the kiss, pushing his tongue past her teeth.

Rachel melted into him, her arms circling the back of his neck. This was where she’d wanted to be. Forgotten were the marinating steaks and the potatoes waiting to be popped into the microwave.

Noah’s fingers slid down her back to where she’d half zipped her dress. Instead of sliding the zipper up, he dragged it downward and slipped the straps off her shoulders.

The dress dropped to the floor around her feet and she stood in only a pair of sexy black lace panties. Nothing else.

She dragged his shirt up out of the waistband of his jeans and over his head, tossing it to the floor. Next she unbuckled his belt and slid it through the loops. It joined the shirt. Then she loosened the top button on his fly.

Noah lifted her by the backs of her thighs and backed her against the wall. “If this is going too fast, say the word and I’ll stop.”

Too fast? He wasn’t moving fast enough. “Please, don’t stop.” She wrapped her legs around his waist and wove her fingers into his hair, bending to press her lips to his temple.