One Night with the Wealthy Rancher Read online

  He had insisted on driving her to the office after he’d taken her home to dress, and he hadn’t had a lot to say about what they had shared last night. Instead, he’d kept the conversation centered on Tyrone and all the things he would be checking on, saying he would take a trip to Houston if he had to.

  He was still displaying those protective tendencies, but she could feel him putting up his guard, shielding emotions from her, keeping them out of her reach. More than once while in his arms last night and this morning, she had been tempted to ask him why he had done what he did seven years ago. But then she would decide to leave well enough alone. What happened was no longer a threat as long as she kept her heart out of the mix. Besides, she had bigger fish to fry. Tyrone Whitman and his whereabouts were what she needed to stay focused on. It was the only thing she should care about, the only thing that mattered.

  The thought of Tyrone being free made her skin crawl, but she refused to allow him to make her live in total fear. More than ever she was convinced he was the one who’d left that note on her windshield and slashed her tires, mainly because those were things Tyrone would do. Saying he took care of his own was something he’d said to her more than once. The reason she hadn’t made the connection before was because she had assumed he was still locked up in prison. But now she knew that was not the case.

  She glanced up at the clock on the wall. Darius said he would be coming back to walk her over to the café for lunch, and not to leave without him. This would be one time she did what he asked without any hesitation.

  The phone on her desk rang and she immediately went to pick it up, hoping it was Darius with good news. “Hello?”

  The person on the other end didn’t say anything. “Hello?” she repeated. Chills ran down her spine when the person finally hung up. She tried to convince herself it was probably just a misdialed number. But deep down she had a feeling that wasn’t true.

  Darius’s hands tightened on the steering wheel as he turned down the street that would take him to Helping Hands. Already he was regretting the news he was about to deliver to Summer.

  He had made a call to the Houston Police Department as soon as he’d dropped Summer off at work. He’d been told Walt was out of town on an investigation, so he had spoken with Manny, another detective he knew. It had taken Manny less than an hour to find out what he wanted to know.

  Manny had verified Whitman was out on parole with an order not to leave Houston. However, according to Manny, Whitman could not be found at what should have been his current address, and his landlord hadn’t seen him in weeks. Since Whitman had a week or so left before they could haul him in for violating parole, so far he hadn’t broken any laws…unless it could be proven he had left Houston.

  There was no doubt in Darius’s mind that Whitman had been in Somerset and was possibly still around. Since Somerset was such a small town, it would be easy for Whitman to find out where Summer worked—as well as where she lived. The thought of her being at Whitman’s mercy again was enough to make every fiber of his being roar in anger.

  He shifted his thoughts to last night and this morning. While making love to her, he had tried holding himself back but he hadn’t been able to control his emotions. Never had he been so affected by making love to a woman. It was as if the last seven years hadn’t existed and there had never been a wedge between them. Last night and this morning fit perfectly into his plans. After this morning, he was supposed to take her back home, tell her about all the wealth he had accumulated over the years, that he was a member of the TCC and that not only did he know Kevin Novak but that Kevin was one of his closest friends. He had wanted to see the hurt in her eyes.

  But Whitman’s parole made that impossible—at least that’s what he told himself. If it was determined the man was a threat to Summer, that would mean she’d stay with him for a while. She wouldn’t like the idea, but he was determined to protect her at all costs.

  Summer had been hoping, praying that the last seven years in jail would have changed Tyrone and she would no longer matter to him. It was disheartening to know she had been wrong and there was a strong chance he was stalking her again.

  She told Darius about the strange phone call she had gotten that morning, and he, too, was convinced it had been Tyrone.

  “Come on, let’s go to lunch.”

  During lunch at the café Darius received a call. After the conversation ended, Summer knew from the look on his face that she was not going to like what he had to say.

  He proved her right. “Before coming to the shelter I stopped at police headquarters to alert them that Whitman might be in the area. I provided them with a description of how he looked the last time I saw him, figuring his looks hadn’t changed much over the years. But even if they had, Somerset is a small enough town that a stranger would stick out like a sore thumb.”

  He stopped talking, but she could tell there was more. “And?” she prompted.

  “And they think he’s been seen. A couple of the police officers who were cruising the area a few blocks from the shelter got suspicious of a guy who met Whitman’s description. When they tried to approach him to question him, he ran.”

  Summer didn’t say anything for a moment. “I refuse to let Tyrone scare me again, Darius. Although it didn’t work the last time, I’m going to get another restraining order.”

  “That’s a good idea. If he is taken into custody here in Somerset for any reason, his parole will automatically be revoked.”

  Darius hesitated a moment and then said, “Although you’re refusing to let Tyrone scare you, I’m hoping you’ll continue to stay with me until this issue with him is resolved. It will only be a matter of time before he finds out where you live, if he doesn’t know already. Alarm or no alarm, if he ever breaks inside your home again, depending on his frame of mind, there’s no telling what he will do. If knowing he will go back to jail and serve out the rest of his sentence hasn’t deterred him, that can only mean he doesn’t care. And people who don’t care will do just about anything to get back at the person they think has betrayed them.”

  Summer knew what Darius said was true. Tyrone had held a gun to her head, willing and ready to end her life as well as his own. She really didn’t want to go home with Darius again, but she didn’t have a choice. Even after what they had shared last night and this morning, she could still feel tension between them. She could tell he still had his guard up.

  “Summer?”

  She met his gaze, felt the heat in the dark depths of his eyes. He wanted to keep her safe. And he wanted her. Summer knew that no matter how guarded he was being, he couldn’t deny he enjoyed having her back in his bed, and she would admit she enjoyed being there. Intimacy between them wasn’t just good, it was off the charts. Sexual tension was always oozing between them, even when she didn’t want it to, like now.

  Knowing he was waiting on an answer, she said, “Okay, I’ll move in with you for the time being if you think it will be for the best.”

  Nine

  A week later, as Darius sat in the TCC café waiting to meet with Lance, he was convinced that Summer moving in with him had been the best thing to keep her safe. Although he wasn’t sure just what her being underfoot was doing to his peace of mind.

  At first, he had put up his guard, finding excuses to work outdoors in the evenings to stay away from the house. But living under the same roof made it difficult to deny his desire for her when she was near.

  Evidently, she hadn’t been sure just where she should sleep the night she had returned to his place. They had stopped by her house to get more of her things, and after she had gotten sett
led at his place and taken a shower, she had gone to sleep in the guest bedroom.

  He had stayed outside deliberately talking to his ranch foreman, and when he had come inside and found her asleep in the guest bedroom, he tried to convince himself that her sleeping arrangements were fine with him.

  He’d taken a shower and crawled into his own bed. But knowing that she was asleep in another bedroom didn’t suit him. However, his stubbornness, the cold hard casting around his heart, just wouldn’t thaw any.

  After the third night, he realized that he had finally reached his limit. He got out of bed and went into the guest bedroom to discover her wide awake. She had been unable to sleep those nights, too.

  He could vividly recall that particular night, and how he had stood in the doorway and stared at her across the room, wanting so much to despise her, and also his weakness for her. Without saying a word, he had reached out his hand to her and she had eased out of bed, crossing the room to place her hand in his.

  Darius sighed deeply thinking it had been at that particular moment that he could no longer deny that she was and would always be a part of him. He had faced the truth that the reason he was so determined to protect her was because he still cared for her. Deeply.

  Since then she had shared his bed every night and he’d enjoyed waking up with her beside him each morning. And he was getting used to her being in his home, in his space. Being under the same roof with her gave him a chance to get to know the new Summer, the one that had grown up without him. And he couldn’t help but admire the woman she had become, the dedicated social worker who understood what it was like to be a woman in jeopardy. A woman who had been abused.

  In the evenings he no longer found reasons to stay away from his home. Together they would prepare meals, clean up the kitchen and talk about the day’s events, only bringing up Whitman when they needed to. He had been sighted several more times in Somerset. Darius had even approached the Texas Rangers about Whitman informing them that he had violated parole. Although he had yet to be apprehended, Darius was convinced that eventually he would be, and was glad, in the meantime, that he was keeping Summer safe.

  “Sorry I’m late. I sort of got detained,” Lance said, breaking into his thoughts and sliding into the chair across from him.

  Darius couldn’t help but laugh. Based on the satisfied smile on his best friend’s face, he could only assume Kate was the reason he was late, and now he understood what it was like to have a woman under your skin and close at hand.

  “No problem. I just wanted to give you a copy of the official fire department report and provide an update on my investigation. I checked out all your employees who were questionable and was able to rule out each and every one of them.”

  Lance nodded. “I figured you would. I told you who I suspect.”

  Yes, Lance had told him, Darius thought, several times. But Darius still wasn’t convinced. Something didn’t sit right with him.

  Darius checked his watch. It had become a routine for him to drive Summer to work every morning and pick her up in the afternoon, and he did not want to be late. It was a routine he was beginning to get accustomed to. And it was one he liked, whether he wanted to admit it or not. Business would have to wait.

  Summer came down the stairs and looked around, not seeing Darius anywhere. She went into the kitchen, deciding to make a cup of tea. It wasn’t unusual for him to go outside and spend time with the men who ran his ranch in the afternoons, and she had been fully aware that when she’d first come to stay with him he had used that as an excuse to put distance between them.

  Now that had changed. He no longer avoided her in his home and she spent every night in his bed. She still wasn’t assuming anything and knew once Tyrone had been captured, Darius would expect her to leave and return to her home. She wouldn’t be doing herself any favors if she became attached to his beautiful home, which she already loved. It was far enough from town to offer peace and quiet that anyone would cherish, yet at the same time it was a place where a family could be raised.

  She shook her head, determined to get such foolish thoughts out of it. What she and Darius were sharing was physical and nothing more. She turned at the sound of footsteps and knew it was him.

  He walked through the back door, saw her and smiled. He might not love her but there was no doubt in her mind that he enjoyed having her around. He closed the door behind him, locked it and just stood there, staring at her. When he had brought her home from work she had gone upstairs to take a shower. Now she felt refreshed but at the same time, hot. And the way he was looking at her was making her feel even hotter.

  Without a word, she crossed the kitchen floor and wrapped her arms around his neck. Then, leaning upward she captured his mouth with hers. His response was immediate and he didn’t waste any time letting her know it, or letting her feel it. His thick erection was throbbing against her, making her senses come unglued and sending sensations rushing through her veins and all over her skin.

  Moments later she pulled back and met his gaze. “We need to prepare dinner,” she said in a ragged voice, barely able to breathe.

  “Later.” And then he swept her off her feet and headed upstairs to his bedroom.

  Bodies joined. Summer moved with Darius as his lips brushed a kiss beneath her ear and whispered just how much he enjoyed being inside of her, making love to her, being one with her.

  The rhythm he had established was perfect, and floated them toward fulfillment. The air surrounding them was charged and the more he thrust into her body, the more her senses seemed whipped with a pleasure so profound it took her breath away.

  “Now!”

  As if on cue, her body began convulsing right along with his, endlessly, as shivers tore through them, pulling them down yet at the same time building them up. And when she cried out in pleasure, every pull of her feminine muscles was regulated by his steady yet rapid strokes into her body, making her lift her hips and use her thighs to squeeze him tight, clench him for all she was worth.

  She tossed her head back when he surged even deeper inside of her, gripping her thighs and taking her all over again, pushing her toward another orgasm and doing everything in his power to make sure they both got there.

  They did.

  Instead of letting up, the heat was on yet again, and the workings of her inner muscles signified that such a notion made perfect sense, given the depth of their desire, their passion and their sexual hunger. It was as if they were making up for lost time and then some, filling a drought, satisfying a yearning, soothing an ache.

  And when he began moving inside of her in quick, rapid successions, she cried out his name as shivers of pleasure tore through her once again.

  “Do you know how beautiful you are? And you’re even more beautiful after making love.”

  Summer glanced over and saw Darius had awakened. He was smiling, and the look in his eyes was filled with the same heat she still felt on some parts of her body. “Thank you.”

  She knew at that moment she would have to broach the subject she had tried putting behind her since seeing him again.

  His betrayal.

  “And you are a very handsome man, making love or not,” she said softly. Truthfully. She paused a moment and then asked the one question she needed answered. One she could not put off asking any longer. “Why did you make that bet?”

  A confused look appeared on his face. “What bet?”

  Summer was certain there was no way he could not know what bet she was referring to. But if he wanted to pretend to have a loss of memory, she could remedy that. “I’m talking about the b
et you made with Walt about how quick you could take me to bed.”

  In an instant, he was up, leaning over her. The look on his face was one of incredulous fury. “What the hell are you talking about? I never made a bet like that.”

  She wondered why he was not going to own up to it now. “That’s all right, Darius. It doesn’t matter.”

  “Yes, it does matter,” he said in a hard voice. “Especially if you believed it.”

  She frowned. “Why are you denying it?”

  “Because I never did such a thing. How could you have believed something like that?”

  She drew in a deep breath and held his gaze. “Because Walt told me what you did. He felt that I had a right to know.”

  His face hardened. “Walt!” he all but roared.

  “Yes,” she countered in a voice filled with just as much conviction. “Yes, Walt Stewart. He was your partner at the time. Or have you forgotten about him, as well?”

  “No, I haven’t forgotten about Walt. In fact, I spoke with him just last week about that arson case I’m investigating. What you’re saying doesn’t make sense, Summer, because Walt knew how I felt about you. There’s no way he could have told you something like that.”

  Summer’s head began spinning and it took her a second to find steady ground. Walt knew how I felt about you…