Ian's Ultimate Gamble ; Seduction, Westmoreland Style

by Brenda Jackson

Speaking of shivering…one passed through her body at that moment when their arms brushed. Geez. No man had ever given her the shivers before. She couldn’t help but take in the beautifully muscled body walking beside her, making it downright difficult for her to breathe.

  When they reached what she assumed was the guest-house, Casey stood aside for him to open the door. He motioned her in and then followed behind her. She relaxed a bit when he moved to the other side of the room and took that time to glance around. The place was beautiful. For a guest-house, it was massive and the living room was neatly decorated in earth-tone colors. The furniture had been handcrafted of a beautiful dark wood and the huge window that showcased the mountains gave the room a comforting effect.

  “There’s a bedroom and bath down the hall that you can check out while I bring in your luggage.”

  She turned toward the sound of McKinnon’s voice. “Okay.”

  “There’s not a kitchen since most meals are eaten at the big house, but it won’t be a problem if you prefer taking your meals here. Just let Henrietta know.”

  Casey lifted a brow. “Henrietta?”

  “Yes, she’s my cook and housekeeper.”

  Casey nodded. “She lives here on the ranch?”

  “No,” McKinnon said rather quickly, as if such a thing was not possible. “Henrietta and her husband Lewis live a few miles from here, not far from my parents’ place. She gets here every morning around six and leaves every evening around that same time.” He pushed away from the wall. “I’ll be back in a second with your luggage.”

  He left the room and Casey was relieved to be out of his presence for a little while. Everything about McKinnon exuded sensuality, and as a woman, she was fully aware of him as a man. But more than anything, she was determined to tamp down whatever hot and racy feelings he brought out in her—and fight the sizzling desire that had a tendency to slam into her body whenever he came within a few feet of her.

  Deciding to shake those feelings now, she crossed the room to look out the window at the mountains looming in the background. She was here to do a job and nothing more. So how difficult could that be?

  * * *

  As McKinnon had suggested, Casey looked around while he brought in her luggage. When he returned moments later and found her standing beside the massive oak bed, his pulse began racing. There was just something about a beautiful woman standing next to a bed that would do it to a man each and every time.

  Casey turned around when she heard him enter the room and could actually feel the sexual tension that surrounded them. That wasn’t good. Angry at his inability to control his emotions like he usually did around a woman, he placed her luggage on the bed. “I’ll leave you to unpack,” he said gruffly. “Since you don’t have to officially start work until tomorrow, you can use today to get settled in.”

  “I will, and thanks for bringing in my things.”

  “Don’t mention it,” he said, glancing at the time on his watch. He then glanced back at her. “And knowing Henrietta she’ll be dropping by sometime today to introduce herself.”

  “I’ll look forward to her visit.”

  McKinnon wished he could keep his concentration on what Casey was saying rather than her features which appeared more striking than ever. It was her eyes, her mouth, her hair that was styled perfectly for her face.

  “Will there be anything else, McKinnon?”

  He gave himself a mental shake and frowned at her question. She had caught him staring. “No, there’s nothing else. I’ll see you at dinner.”

  “No, you won’t.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I said you won’t see me at dinner. I’ve been invited out.”

  Her announcement only added to his irritation. He tried not to wonder who she would be sharing dinner with. Cal Hooper? Someone she’d met since arriving here? Why the hell did he care and more importantly, why did the thought bother him? “Okay, fine. Enjoy your meal.” He turned to leave.

  “McKinnon?”

  He turned back around. For some reason he was feeling annoyed, aggravated, impulsive; like hitting something, breaking somebody’s bones, namely whoever she was meeting up with later. “What?” he responded gruffly.

  He could tell from her expression that she hadn’t liked the tone of his response. “For some reason I get the impression that you really don’t want me here but that you’re willing to put those feelings aside to utilize my talents,” she said, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. “That’s all well and good because frankly, I don’t want to be here either.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest and glared back. “Then why are you?”

  “To prove a point that all women aren’t incompetent when it comes to horses.”

  His frown deepened. “I never said they were.”

  “You didn’t have to. You made your thoughts known when you didn’t hire me that first day.”

  A part of McKinnon struggled with what she was saying because she was so far from the truth it was pathetic. The reason he hadn’t hired her that first day had had nothing to do with what he thought of her abilities as a horse trainer, but what he’d thought of her abilities as a woman. A very desirable woman. He couldn’t tell her that though.

  “You’re wrong, Casey. I have a high degree of respect for women who handle horses. In fact, the greatest horseman I know happens to be a female and she can outride, outrope and probably outshoot any man I know. And I hold her in the highest regard.”

  Casey lifted a brow, wondering who this paragon of a woman was. “And who is she?” she asked.

  “My mother, Morning Star Long-Lance McKinnon Martin,” he said before turning and leaving the room.

  * * *

  “Now, aren’t you a pretty little thing!”

  Casey turned and met the older woman’s smiling face. Her smile was so bright and cheery, she couldn’t do anything but smile back. “Thanks. You must be Henrietta.”

  The woman’s laughter echoed through the room. “Yes, that’s me. And you are definitely Corey Westmoreland’s child. You look just like him, just a whole lot prettier.”

  “Thank you.”

  “McKinnon gave me strict orders not to bother you until you’d gotten settled in. I thought these might pretty up the place for you even more,” she said, handing Casey what looked to be a bouquet of hand-picked fresh flowers.

  Casey beamed. “Thanks, they’re beautiful.”

  “You’re welcome. I grew them myself. I have a flower garden on the other side of the ranch house.” She chuckled. “That’s McKinnon’s way of making me tow the line by threatening to have my garden mowed down, but he doesn’t scare me any.”

  “He doesn’t?”

  “Heck no. I’ve been with that boy since the day he was born. I was his first and only nanny, so I know how to deal with him.”

  A part of Casey wondered how McKinnon had been as a child but decided not to ask. “And you’re still with him now?” she asked while finding the perfect spot on a table in the living room for the flowers.

  “Yes, only because he needs me. If I didn’t make sure he got a home-cooked meal every so often he would probably starve to death. And speaking of cooked meals, I understand you’re passing up the chance for me to fix a special one for you tonight.”

  Casey grinned, thinking she liked this large, robust woman already. “Sorry about that but I was invited over to my cousin’s house for dinner.”

  Henrietta nodded. “I imagine you’re talking about Durango. In that case I understand. I’m still grinning over the fact that boy’s married with a baby on the way. That just goes to show that miracles can happen to a devout bachelor when the right woman comes along.”

  Casey hoped she wasn’t throwing out any hints about the possibility of her and McKinnon ever getting together because that wouldn’t happen. Ever. The man was too reserved, rigid and resigned for her taste. “Yes, I’m happy for Durango and Savannah. They are very happy together,” she said, leaving it at that
and hoping Henrietta would, too.

  “Well, I guess your decision to eat elsewhere is the reason McKinnon told me I didn’t have to cook. Now he has plans for himself. I guess he’ll be going into town tonight.”

  A part of Casey didn’t want to think what he would do when he got there and who he would see. “I guess that means you’ll have a night off,” she said.

  “Yes. I’ll be leaving in a few hours unless there’s something you need me to do. I tried to get this place ready for you as best I could.”

  “And you did a wonderful job, Henrietta. It’s beautiful and I know I’m going to feel right at home for the short time I’ll be here.”

  “And that’s what McKinnon wants.”

  Casey doubted it, but decided not to tell the older woman that. However, there were a couple of things the woman could possibly tell her, things she preferred not asking McKinnon about. The less she saw of him the better. But it would help to know how early things got moving at the ranch in the mornings. The last thing she wanted was to be sleeping in while everyone else was up and working. The men employed by her father started their day as early as four in the morning. “How would you like to join me for a cup of coffee? There are some questions I have about the workings of this ranch and I’d rather not bother McKinnon with them.”

  Henrietta smiled. “I’ll be glad to tell you whatever you want to know. You got a coffee pot here?”

  “Yes, although there isn’t a kitchen to set it in. Since all I needed was an electrical plug, I’m using that table in the hallway. We can sit in the living room on the sofa. I simply love the view from there.”

  “Isn’t it just magnificent?” Henrietta said glancing over at the window. “The only thing wrong with this house is that it doesn’t have a kitchen. I told McKinnon that while he was building it, but he said it didn’t need one since he intended for it to be a guest-house and not a guest lodge. It’s only a few feet from the big house, so anyone getting hungry can come in there to eat.”

  Casey nodded, not surprised he looked at things that way given his stubborn and uncompromising nature. “Well, you just get settled on the sofa over there and I’ll bring the coffee to you.”

  As she turned to leave she had a feeling that Henrietta would be one of the reasons she would find the time she spent on McKinnon’s ranch rather pleasant after all.

  * * *

  McKinnon stopped his truck the moment he pulled into Durango’s yard, recognizing the dark blue car immediately. It appeared that Savannah had invited Casey to dinner tonight as well. So much for the mystery of who she was having dinner with. He then frowned wondering if the newly-wedded couple were trying their hand at match making?

  A part of McKinnon refused to believe Durango would do something like that. After all, his best friend knew the reason he could never entertain the idea of settling down and marrying. However, chances were Durango hadn’t shared anything about McKinnon’s medical history with Savannah. Savannah Claiborne Westmoreland, who he thought of as a sister since she’d married Durango, probably thought he needed an exclusive woman in his life. Once married, some people had a tendency to think everyone around them should be married, too.

  He got out of the truck knowing it would be difficult as hell to be around Casey tonight. He should have declined Savannah’s offer to dinner when she called, and stuck with his plans to go into town, eat at one of the restaurants and then seek out a little female companionship. He wasn’t counting but it had been a while since he’d been with a woman, more than six months. The ranch had kept him too busy to seek out a willing bed partner.

  He shook his head, convinced that was the reason he was finding Casey so desirable, but quickly knew that wasn’t true. He’d always found her desirable.

  The moment his best friend opened the door to his home, McKinnon said, “Your wife hasn’t talked you into playing matchmaker, has she, Rango?”

  Durango shook his head grinning. “You know me better than that. In fact, I didn’t know you were coming until a couple hours ago. But I shouldn’t be surprised. Savannah’s decided that you need someone special.”

  McKinnon frowned. “I have someone special. His name is Thunder,” he said of his horse.

  Durango chuckled. “I care to differ. A horse wouldn’t do well in your bed every night.”

  “I don’t need a woman in my bed every night.” A serious expression then covered McKinnon’s features. “I take it that you haven’t told Savannah that I can’t have a special woman in my life even if I wanted one.”

  Durango met McKinnon’s gaze. “No. That’s your secret to share, not mine.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Hey, you don’t have to thank me and you know it,” Durango said.

  McKinnon nodded. Yes, he did know it. He and Durango had been the best of friends since that botched up job of becoming blood brothers when they were ten. It was an incident that had nearly sent McKinnon to the emergency room for stitches when the knife they’d used had sliced into his hand too deep.

  “But you already know my feelings on the matter, McKinnon. You can always consider—”

  “No, Rango. It doesn’t matter. I made my decision about things a long time ago.”

  “Hey, I thought I heard someone at the door,” Savannah Westmoreland said, breezing as much as she could into the room as a woman who would be giving birth to one large baby in four months. For awhile the doctors had thought she would be having twins but a recent sonogram had shown one big whopping baby—a girl.

  She quickly crossed the floor and gave McKinnon a peck on the cheek. “You’re looking handsome as ever,” she said smiling up at him.

  McKinnon lifted a dark brow. In a way he was grateful for Savannah’s interruption of his and Durango’s conversation. The issue of his medical history was something they couldn’t agree on. “Sounds like you’re trying to butter me up for something,” he said, studying her features for traces of guilt.

  Savannah laughed. “Now why would I do that?”

  McKinnon crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s what I’d like to know—and don’t you dare flash those hazel eyes at me.”

  Savannah shook her head grinning, and then with a wave of her hand she pushed her shoulder-length curly brown hair out of her face. “I’m not flashing my eyes, so stop being suspicious of me.” Then she quickly said with a smile, “I forgot to mention that I also invited Casey to dinner tonight. She’s in Durango’s office talking on the phone. Tara just called. She’s having her first sonogram in a few weeks and she and Thorn are excited about it.”

  McKinnon shook his head. “What will your family do with all these babies being born, Rango?”

  Durango chuckled. “Nothing but make room for more. I talked to Stone last night and he and Madison are coming through on their way from Canada. I have a feeling there’s a reason for their visit.”

  McKinnon was about to open his mouth to say something when Casey walked into the room. He could tell from her expression that she was surprised to see him, which meant she had known nothing about his invitation to dinner. She had changed clothes and was wearing another skirt and blouse. This outfit just as alluring as the one she’d had on earlier.

  “McKinnon.”

  “Casey,” he said stiffly, returning her greeting.

  “Okay guys,” a smiling Savannah said, looking at McKinnon and then back at Casey and ignoring the deep frown coming from her husband. “I hope everyone is hungry because I prepared a feast.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  After dinner was over, McKinnon quickly left. Spending too much time around Casey wasn’t good. All through dinner he had found himself looking over at her, feeling his flesh prickle each and every time their gazes connected. And even when she wasn’t looking his way, he was looking hers; studying her mouth and thinking of over a thousand plus things he could do with it. And he kept admiring her well-toned body every time she got up from the table while his mind worked overtime imagining that same beautiful body bare.
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  He had declined desert, thanked Savannah for preparing such a wonderful meal and told Durango he would touch base with him sometime during the week. Then he nodded at Casey and left, trying to make it home in record time. There was something about having a sexual ache for a woman you couldn’t have that made a man want to burn the rubber off his tires. Damn, he was lucky that one of Sheriff Richard’s deputies hadn’t been parked along one the back roads with a speed trap.

  Once McKinnon opened the door to his home, he headed straight to the kitchen for a beer. A half hour later, after enjoying his beer and taking a cold shower, he slipped between the crisp white sheets intent on getting a good night’s sleep. But before he could close his eyes his mind went to the past and the reason he was sleeping in this bed alone.

  He had purchased this land when he’d turned twenty-five knowing when he had bought the ranch house that he would live in it alone. He’d also known he would be one of those men who died a bachelor—refusing to take the risk of ever having a wife and children—once he’d found out about the rare bone disease his biological father had passed on to him.

  When he’d met Lynette, he had fallen for her and thought she had loved him just as much—so much that he had felt comfortable for the first time to ask a woman to move in with him, as well as to reveal the full extent of his medical history to her. He had all intentions of asking her to marry him if she was willing to accept him the way he was. But no sooner had he told her, less than forty-eight hours, later she was gone. She left a letter that merely said she couldn’t marry a man who would deny her the chance to be a mother.

  He received another letter from her almost a year later, apologizing for her actions and letting him know that she had met someone, had gotten married and was expecting his child.

  He cursed as he threw the covers back, got out of bed and slipped into his jeans. It was nights like this when he needed to escape and become part of the wild. He knew when he walked into the barn and Thunder saw him, his friend would understand. That horse was smarter than any animal had any right to be. Whenever they rode, it was man and beast together, flying in the wind in a way his Ford Explorer couldn’t touch. At least not within the confines of the law, anyway.