Filled with total disgust and having nothing else to say, Darius started to leave.
“Hey, wait, man, we’re okay, aren’t we? We’re still friends?” Walt asked in a lighthearted tone.
Darius stopped walking and looked over his shoulder. Their gazes locked. The message he was certain Walt saw in his eyes was blatantly clear.
“No. Our friendship died the day you lied to me. I loved her, but because I thought you were my friend, I believed you. A true friend would not have done what you did.”
Without saying anything else, he walked off, leaving Walt standing there.
Summer was just about to go to the café when one of the security guards escorted a very well dressed, distinguished-looking older man through the entrance. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out from the way the man was carrying himself that he was someone of authority, someone of importance, which could only mean he was a member of the TCC. Kevin Novak had given her a heads-up that over the next few months, members of the TCC would probably be dropping by to check out the shelter since he had asked them for more money.
Putting on her brightest smile, Summer crossed the lobby to greet the man. “Welcome to Helping Hands,” she said, extending her hand to him. “I’m Summer Martindale, a social worker here.”
The man took her hand and looked at her. “So, you’re the young woman who’s been causing so much excitement.”
Summer forced her smile to remain intact when she recognized his voice. He was the person she had talked to on the phone when she’d called requesting additional security guards. “Am I?” she couldn’t help but ask, not liking the way the man seemed to be staring down his nose at her.
“Yes. I’m Sebastian Huntington, a member of the Texas Cattleman’s Club.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Huntington.”
He didn’t say anything to indicate that the feelings were mutual. Instead, he glanced around. “Things seem calm enough around here. I really don’t see why two guards are needed. But then, you’ve managed to convince Kevin Novak differently.”
She was about to say the reason things appeared calm was because everyone felt safer with two guards when he once again looked down his nose at her and arrogantly said, “And then there’s Darius Franklin, who’s evidently quite taken with you. He’s also been singing your praises at the TCC meetings.” A sneer touched his lips as he studied her features. “Now I see why.”
Surprise flickered in her eyes. “Darius?”
“Yes. He’s one of our newest members.”
Now she was confused. Darius was a member of TCC?
“How long has he been a member?”
The man frowned down at her like she’d asked a stupid question. “Not long enough for him and his friends to be throwing their weight around. He’s only been a member for over a year.”
Summer nodded. “Oh, I see.” And the sad part of it was that she really did see. Darius had lied to her.
“Ready to go?”
Summer slowly lifted her gaze from the document at the sound of the deep, husky voice. Had it been nearly three weeks ago when here in this office she had heard that voice again for the first time in seven years?
After Mr. Huntington left, instead of walking to the café, she had gone to the library. There she had researched information on the Texas Cattleman’s Club branch that was located in Somerset. Darius was listed as a member, having joined the same day as Kevin Novak and several other men, and from the photographs she had seen, it was apparent that he and Mr. Novak knew each other very well. Why had he pretended otherwise when she’d told him of her meeting with Mr. Novak? Why had he deliberately kept his membership in the TCC from her?
Instead of answering his question, she asked one of her own.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were a member of the Texas Cattleman’s Club?”
She saw surprise light his eyes and knew he was probably wondering how she’d found out. “Mr. Huntington dropped by to check out the place and mentioned you’re a member,” she said, leaning back in her chair.
“So, my question is, why didn’t you tell me, Darius? You had several chances to do so when I was preparing for my meeting with Mr. Novak, and many after that. Why didn’t you tell me?”
A part of Darius wished he’d have told Summer everything last night. How would she react to finding out he had withheld the information because of his plan to hurt her?
Any chance of rebuilding a relationship with her would probably be destroyed now. But still, he had to be upfront and honest with her. Lies were the reason they were in the situation they were in now.
Sighing deeply, he entered her office and closed the door behind him, leaning against it. “The reason I didn’t want to tell you is because I was still operating under the belief that you had left Houston with a rich man. A man you had chosen over me because of his wealth. With that belief festering in my mind as well as my heart over the years, I had grown to resent you for choosing wealth over love.”
When she didn’t say anything, he continued. “I figured that if that was true, once you found out about my wealth, the fact that I had become successful, I could get my revenge by seducing you, taking you to bed and then walking away from you the same way I thought you had walked away from me. I wanted to hurt you the way you had hurt me.”
Summer still didn’t say anything for a moment, and then in a low voice, she asked, “You hated me that much?”
Darius breathed in again, hearing the deep hurt in her voice. “I thought I did, but once I got to know what I thought was the new Summer Martindale, the one who’s dedicated to the women at the shelter, the one who works tirelessly after hours when her shift is over, I realized that no matter how much I wanted revenge, I couldn’t have gone through with it. And do you know why, Summer?”
“I have no idea,” she said in a sharp tone.
He held her gaze. “Because I realized that although I’d tried over the years, I couldn’t replace love with hate. Although I wanted to hurt you, I couldn’t because I still love you.”
Their gazes held and for a moment, he wondered if she believed him. He hoped and prayed for some sort of sign that she did. He had been wrong for wanting to get even with her, but at the time he’d felt it was something he had needed to do because of his pain.
“So many years have passed, Summer. We owe it to ourselves to try and rebuild the relationship that was destroyed because of our lack of faith and trust in each other. In Houston today, I made a point to see Walt. I had to know why he’d done what he did. His reason was he saw me falling for you and figured I’d get hurt. But the truth of the matter is that I was hurt in the end anyway. Not by you, but because I’d believed the worst about you.”
He moved away from the door to stand in front of her desk. “I’m asking that you give me a chance to do what I wanted to do seven years ago and that is, love you the way a man is supposed to love a woman. Please allow me into your heart, Summer. Give me a chance to prove that I am the right man for you.”
He took another step closer. “Will you put behind you all the hurt and lies of before and move forward in the way we should have years ago? Can you find it in your heart to love me as much as I love you? To work on rebuilding a relationship of love, trust and faith?”
He saw the single tear that fell from her eye and literally held his breath before she began speaking.
“Yes,” she said slowly. “I can work on rebuilding our relationship because I love you, too, and I want you in my life. I want a future with you, not because of your w
ealth but because you are a man who’s proven more than once that he can be there when I need someone, that he has my best interests at heart, and protects me when I need protecting.”
She pushed her chair back and walked around her desk to him. “We have a lot of years to make up for, but I knew that night we made love again it was something I wanted. I was just afraid to hope for it.”
Darius pulled her into his arms and held her tight, close to his heart. And then he lowered his mouth to hers. He wanted her with him always and from the intensity of their kiss, it seemed she wanted the very same thing.
Moments later, he pulled his mouth away from hers. “Ready to go home, sweetheart?” And to make sure she understood, he added, “Not to your place, but to mine. A place that you will one day consider ours, I hope.”
She smiled up at him. “Yes, I’m ready.”
He took her hand in his and they walked out of her office together. He knew there was a lot of work ahead, rebuilding their relationship into the kind they both wanted, the kind they deserved. Lies had destroyed their relationship, but love had restored it. Their love would make it all happen for them.
They would make sure of it. Together.
Epilogue
Three weeks later
Summer stepped outside on the porch and glanced around. It was a beautiful day and the smell of flowers was everywhere.
She felt butterflies move around in her stomach at the same time she saw the car pull into the yard. She smiled. Darius was home.
She glanced around again, thinking how easy it was to think of his ranch as home. She never returned to her place, and every week more and more of her things would show up here.
And then one night while they were busy unpacking some more of her boxes, he had got down on his knee and proposed to her. He asked her to be his wife, the mother of his babies and his best friend for life. Somehow through her tears she had accepted. The moment he had slipped the ring on her finger, more love and happiness than she’d ever thought possible filled her heart. They hadn’t set a date yet, and had decided to take things one day at a time.
She had met his friends and could see the special friendship they shared. She liked them a lot. Tonight they would be joining Lance and Kate at the TCC for dinner.
As soon as the car came to a stop, she moved down the steps, and when Darius opened the door and got out, she was there waiting.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, making her feel wanted and loved. Things were so good between them that she would occasionally pinch herself to make sure it was real. And over and over he would prove to her that it was.
He pulled back and studied her face with concern. “Are you okay? I stopped by the shelter and Marcy said you had left early.”
She smiled up at him. “Yes, I’m fine. I just wanted to be here when you got home. I thought that I would pamper you a little before we left for dinner.”
A grin curved his lips and she could tell he liked the idea. “Pamper me?”
“Yes. Are you interested?”
Instead of answering, he swept her off her feet into his arms and carried her up the steps. Yes, she thought, he was interested.
She laughed, knowing once he got her inside the house he intended to show her just how interested he was.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3788-3
ONE NIGHT WITH THE WEALTHY RANCHER
Copyright © 2009 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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One Night with the Wealthy Rancher Page 14