Revenge of the Second Son

“Your hostility has grown,” she said, wondering about his barely banked fury. “Maybe there’s no point in this visit.”

“Are you aware that one of our rigs burned in the night?”

“No, I didn’t know that.” She didn’t try to hide her surprise and then guessed the reason for his smoldering anger. “That’s what you’ve been referring to—”

“An explosion of an unknown origin caused the fire.” His words were clipped and his eyes blazed with anger.

“You’re blaming us?”

“Did Rufus hire someone to do it?” Nick cut in with a voice as cold as ice.

“No!” she exclaimed, furious that he would jump to conclusions without proof. “Granddad would never stoop to something like that. Or risk the lives of people who have nothing to do with the fight between the two of you. Never!”

“I’m afraid it’ll take more than your denial to convince me,” Nick said in what she thought was an annoying stubbornness to lay blame on her family.

“If there was an explosion or fire since we were together last night, aren’t you being premature in jumping to conclusions about the cause?” she asked. “I think it often takes time to discover what starts a fire.”

Something flickered in the depths of his dark eyes. “You’re right, of course,” he said pleasantly, his anger vanishing as if she had waved a magic wand. “Until I hear from the arson experts, I’ll hold my judgment about the cause.”

“That’s the only sensible thing to do,” she replied.

“In the meantime, what brings you to my office?” he asked in a pleasant tone, ignoring her sarcasm.

He smiled and waited. She gazed back steadfastly, her anger with him rising and becoming a tight, knot inside. She didn’t trust his friendliness for a second. He had turned it on like switching on a light, and the warmth in his voice couldn’t conceal the fiery anger in his eyes. Determined to not let him know how disturbed she felt, she concentrated on being civil and hiding her fury.

“I want to meet with you again, informally as we did last night, and see what we can work out,” she replied, hoping she sounded as relaxed and friendly as he had. “We both have old companies that were family-owned for many years. There aren’t many of those around any longer. I want to keep our company intact as long as Granddad is living. This company has been his whole life.”

“Perhaps your granddad shouldn’t have spread himself so thin,” Nick remarked dryly.

Banking her annoyance, she nodded. “Maybe, if you’re willing to try, we can work something out that will be to your satisfaction and ours. You surely will be reasonable enough to discuss the matter informally before the lawyers take charge tomorrow.”

She hoped she looked and sounded amiable, far from how she felt. She loved her granddad and if the company were taken from him, she was afraid it would be the end of him. He had devoted his life to it and now to see it in precarious straits kept her sleepless at night. The problem was compounded by the fact that it was Nick who was after Holcomb Drilling. The Ransomes and Holcombs were old enemies, forever business competitors. She stared into Nick’s brown eyes; his bland gaze belied the chemistry between them. Her breath caught. She couldn’t move or speak or think, and he was doing nothing except look at her. She was caught and held, her heart pounding loudly enough that she wondered if he could hear it. She hated her reaction, to him, yet she couldn’t prevent it.

“All right,” he agreed. “We’ll keep it informal. You and your granddad like boats and the water. I have a twenty-footer, give or take a few feet, that sleeps six. It’s docked in Galveston Bay. We can fly down there and spend the weekend on the water.”

Startled, she stared at him while she mulled his offer. “A weekend together? I had dinner in mind.”

He shrugged. “You wanted a casual, friendly meeting. A weekend on the water—we can stay out of each other’s way or talk, whatever we want to do. The weekend would be casual—and we’ll get to know each other and what each one of us wants,” he said pleasantly.

Her mind raced. She had never expected several days with Nick Ransome. Yet this might give her the chance to win him over and talk him into leaving Holcomb Drilling untouched. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. “What if I come without Granddad?” she asked, “I’d like to be able to speak freely without worrying him.”

“Fine,” Nick said, something again flickering in the depths of his eyes. “I think the weather is supposed to be good, so we should have a calm time.”

“The two of us together—a ‘calm’ time? I don’t think it’s possible.”

He gave her a taunting, crooked smile. “Then if not calm, interesting.”

“If we’re not at each other’s throats, it’ll be a smashing success,” she said. He touched the corner of her mouth, she tingled from the contact.

“There would be only one reason for me to be ‘at your throat,’” he drawled in a husky voice.

“Now you’re flirting,” she accused.

“Don’t sound so surprised. You’re a beautiful woman.”

“I rather distrust your motives for turning on your charm.”

“I meant what I said,” he insisted.

“Very well. A weekend on the water,” she said, not feeling the relief and satisfaction she had expected to feel if he agreed to getting together. “Since we’re going to talk more about the company, can we postpone tomorrow’s meeting and let our lawyers get together next week?”

“It’s fine with me to move the meeting. Make it a week from Friday,” Nick replied, flashing her a smile that curled her toes. His white teeth were a contrast with his dark skin; creases bracketed his mouth and heightened his appeal. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow about four and we can fly to Galveston,” he said, getting up to go around his desk for pen and paper. “Give me your address.”

“Write out where to meet you at the dock. I don’t mind the drive to Galveston and I have an errand to run on the way,” she said, not wanting to fly with him. She watched his well-shaped hands as he wrote an address. She stood and he moved beside her to show her what he had written.

He stood close enough that his shoulder and arm brushed against her. She could detect his enticing aftershave, feel the warmth from his body. Her drumming pulse was impossible to control.

There was no denying the reaction she had to Nick. Was she making a wise move to spend the weekend on Nick’s boat—just the two of them, plus his crew in the background? Yet it was the only way she could see to try to win Nick’s friendship so that he would at least listen to reason when they were ready to negotiate.

As it stood now, she and Nick were at loggerheads, and that would do nothing to win Nick Ransome over to doing what she wanted.

On the other hand, to be shut away with Nick for the weekend on a boat sent her heart racing into overdrive. She reassured herself that she and Nick wouldn’t really be alone, and they would be together only for the weekend.

As Nick gave her directions, she struggled to listen. He turned to face her, and they stood only inches apart.

“If you prefer, I’ll send a car to pick you up tomorrow—about four and you can still do your errands.”

“Thanks, but I’ll drive myself,” she replied, and one corner of his mouth lifted in a wicked grin.

“Scared to leave transportation behind?” he asked.

“Of course not, or I wouldn’t have suggested coming by myself,” she replied, trying to ignore the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Taking the directions from his hand, she picked up her purse and headed for the door. Suddenly he was there in front of her, reaching around her. Instead of opening the door, he stepped closer and blocked her with his hand on the knob, his arm a barrier. She turned to look up at him.

“So is it going to be all business this weekend?” he asked in a husky, seductive voice that created a honeyed warmth in her.

“Probably not,” she replied breathlessly, wishing she could wrap him around her little finger and get what she wanted from him. Nick leaned closer and his gaze lowered to her mouth.

Her lips parted, tingling, but she moved around him and placed her hand over his on the knob. The instant she touched him, another fiery current simmered from her fingers to her toes.

She looked up at him. “I need to open the door.”

With a smile, he swung the door wide and then he followed her into the reception area. “Tomorrow afternoon about five or six.”

“Fine,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at him. At the outer door, she looked back to find him still watching her. The minute she was in the hallway, her smile vanished. “What have I done?” she asked herself as she stepped into the empty elevator. “The only thing you could do,” she answered herself, butterflies still fluttering in her stomach, her palms sweaty from spending the past few minutes with Nick.

No man had ever disturbed her the way Nick had and that worried her most of all because she was usually in control of her responses.

All the rest of the day and far into the night, she weighed the pros and cons of spending a weekend with him. Yet she had to do something to try to get a satisfactory settlement, or even better, get Nick to back off and leave Holcomb Drilling unscathed.