High Stakes

by Barbara Dunlop

  Candice cocked her head and tucked her hair behind one ear. “You’ve still got that intense, shark look about you. But I don’t suppose you can help it.”

  He pushed in the clutch and turned the ignition key. “Some would call that alert intelligence.”

  “Some would call it predation.”

  Derek pulled out onto the street. “It’s a jungle out there, baby.”

  Candy laughed, and the sound hit him right in the solar plexus. He’d just discovered a serious weakness for laid-back sexy. His fingers were itching to pull down the thick silver zipper and slip inside to touch her smooth, tanned skin. He wanted to trace her pouty lips with the pad of his thumb, then taste them until he’d had his fill.

  “Left on Blanchard,” she said.

  He switched lanes. Too bad seducing Candy was at cross-purposes to making a deal with her father. For that matter, seducing Candy was at cross-purposes to staying sane.

  As usual, he had facts and figures, projections and rationale neatly stored in his brain for tonight’s discussion. He needed to focus on business, not on the texture of Candy’s skin.

  It only took ten minutes to get to her parents’ house, but it was ten very long minutes. They lived in a big old brownstone, set back from the road, behind a cedar hedge in an old-money neighborhood.

  He turned into the curved driveway. “This where you grew up?”

  She grimaced. “This is it.”

  Derek raised his eyebrows. “Poor little rich girl?”

  “Come on, Derek. You know money’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

  “Are you kidding? Money’s everything it’s cracked up to be. Money gives you freedom, flexibility, options.”

  “Are you telling me you’d be miserable without money?”

  “No. But if I didn’t have money, I’d sure spend a lot of time trying to make some.”

  “You have money, and you still spend all your time trying to make it.”

  Derek grinned as he pulled to a stop in the turnaround in front of the house. “That’s so I can have more.”

  “What are you going to do with more?”

  “Haven’t decided yet.”

  They opened their doors simultaneously, and Derek caught up with her on the wide concrete staircase.

  “Don’t you think you’re a little greedy?” she asked.

  “Not in the least. I’d be greedy if I hoarded my money and only used it on myself. I don’t do that. I open companies, create jobs…hire decorators.”

  “Low blow.”

  “Having money isn’t a sin. Neither is knowing how to make it—particularly if you use it responsibly.” He shrugged. “Somebody’s got to put the right resources in the right places to keep the economic engines of this country running.”

  She glanced back at the Porsche. “For a philanthropist, you have very expensive toys.”

  He grinned. Hell, he wasn’t perfect. He liked expensive wine, too. “Guilty as charged.”

  She reached for the handle of the arched double doors.

  “Any last minute advice about your father?” he asked.

  “He’s a lot like you.”

  Derek relaxed a little. “Intelligent man?”

  She tipped her head back to look at him. “Intense. Hungry. Big ego.”

  A jolt of desire coursed through Derek’s system. Intense and hungry was exactly how he felt. Her lips were only inches away. The soft curve of her throat was exposed, and from this angle, he couldn’t see even the slightest tan line on her breasts. Did she sunbathe in the nude? Did she have any clue about her effect on men?

  Luckily, before he could do anything stupid, she pushed the door open. “Hey, Mom. We’re here,” she called in a loud voice.

  “On the deck,” answered a woman’s voice from the depths of the house.

  Candy dumped her small tote bag on a table in the entry hall. “Follow me.”

  The house was large, and the architecture grandiose, but the soft furnishings, fresh flowers and whimsical knickknacks made it feel homey and inviting. Derek followed Candy past a large, arched-ceiling living room, down a wide hallway to a white covered veranda. Overlooking an expanse of lush lawn, it was dotted with potted palms and furnished with deep-cushioned rattan couches and wooden folding tables.

  Candy’s mother was arranging flowers on a dining table, while her father adjusted dials on a stainless-steel gas barbecue.

  “Mom, Dad, I’d like you to meet my friend Derek Reeves. Derek, these are my parents. Nancy and Chuck Hammond.”

  Nancy was dressed in a pair of white pants, with a nautical-look blue-and-white striped shirt. Chuck was wearing brand-new blue jeans and a pearl-snapped plaid shirt that could have come straight out of a rodeo parade.

  Nancy quickly looked up from the flowers and smiled at Derek, then her questioning glance shifted to Candy.

  Uh-oh. Derek hadn’t considered how this might look.

  Chuck strode forward. “I take it you’re more commonly known as Derek Reeves-DuCarter?” He held out his hand.

  Derek shook the man’s hand with a firm grip. “Sometimes.”

  Chuck’s attention shifted back and forth between Derek and Candy. “Well, well, well. Isn’t this cozy—in a Shakespearean sort of way.”

  Derek let go of Chuck’s hand and spoke heartily. “Nothing at all like that.”

  “Nothing like what?” asked Candy.

  “We’re acquaintances,” said Derek. “Cand…ice is redecorating a restaurant for Reeves-DuCarter.”

  “The Quayside,” Candy put in.

  “Of course,” said Nancy, reaching out to offer her own hand to Derek. “She’s mentioned it to us. We’re delighted to meet you. Chuck, can we pour some drinks?”

  Chuck smiled fondly at his daughter. “I’ve got a pitcher of special martinis.”

  “Yum,” she answered.

  Chuck raised his eyebrows at Derek.

  “A martini is fine with me.”

  “I’ll get the chilled glasses,” said Nancy as the pair headed through a set of French doors.

  Candy leaned toward Derek. “Shakespearean?”

  “Romeo and Juliet.”

  “What?”

  “The Montagues and the Capulets.”

  She blinked at him in confusion.

  “The Hammonds and the Reeves-DuCarters. They think we’re a couple.”

  “Why would they think that?”

  “How many men have you brought home to meet them lately?”

  Candy’s lips pursed. “Oh.”

  “Don’t worry. I think they believed me. Just try not to send any lustful, longing glances my way over dinner.”

  “As if.”

  “Hey. Could happen. I’m a good-looking, successful guy.”

  “With an ego the size of Mount Rushmore.”

  Derek gave her a slow grin and shook his head. “Nope. I won’t say it.”

  “Say what?”

  “I hear size matters.”

  Candy’s jaw dropped open, and her gorgeous green eyes went wide. He was going to have to be careful about his own longing, lustful glances over dinner.

  6

  DESPITE HER DISMISSAL of Derek’s joke, longing and lustful thoughts were exactly what Candice was fighting. Of course, the Romeo and Juliet reference was laughable because her interest in Derek was nowhere near that noble. She just wanted his body.

  Her father appeared with the tray of chilled martinis. “Hope you like beef, Derek.”

  “Sure do,” said Derek, handing a martini glass to Candice, then taking one for himself.

  Her father took his own drink and set the tray down on a sideboard. “Picked myself up some prime steaks in Dallas yesterday.”

  Derek smiled, nodding appreciatively at the sour-apple martini. “You were in Texas?”

  Candice grinned into her glass. Like a lamb to slaughter. Or make that a steer to slaughter.

  Her father rocked back on his heels, and she could swear she heard a faint drawl in his voice.
“Picked myself up a little spread down there. Hill country. Just outside Abilene.”

  “You’re investing in cattle?” asked Derek.

  “Texas longhorns. Breeding ranch. Show stock, mostly.”

  Derek nodded thoughtfully. “Expect to make a profit, or is it a tax shelter?”

  “We fully expect to make a profit.”

  “Reeves-DuCarter looked at a racehorse once. Decided it was too high of a risk.”

  “Trick is to know the industry,” said Chuck.

  Candice nearly choked out a laugh. Her father had studied the industry for exactly two weeks.

  “Got one hell of a sire,” he continued. “Captain Fantastic. Pedigree back to the eighteen-hundreds. Good conformation, excellent horns.”

  “Market extend outside of Texas?” asked Derek.

  Her father motioned to one of the dinning-table chairs.

  Derek pulled out a chair for Candice before he sat down.

  Chuck took a chair next to Derek. “All over North America, moving into Europe, too.”

  Derek nodded. “Interesting prospects.”

  “Tens of thousands for the right animal.”

  Her mother joined them at the table as Anna-Leigh served the salad, and her father spent the next hour regaling them with tales of cattle markets and long-horn shows.

  Derek didn’t once bring up the electronics deal. In fact, he seemed disgustingly interested in the ranch’s potential. Probably planning to buy one of his own.

  Then, as Anna-Leigh cleared away the dessert and served coffee, Derek made his move. The sun had already set and storm clouds were billowing on the horizon, cooling the air and moving over the stars.

  “Congratulations on the Enoki deal,” he said to Candice’s father.

  He nodded his thanks. “Heard Reeves-DuCarter put in a bid.”

  “We sure did. Would have dovetailed nicely with our spectrum license.” Then he shrugged. “Guess we can’t take advantage of that particular investment yet.”

  Chuck sat forward. “Interested in selling?”

  “The spectrum license?”

  “Yep.”

  Derek grinned. “Not a chance.”

  Chuck glanced at Candice, then back at Derek. “Just friends?”

  “Right,” said Derek.

  “Then you must be here to make a deal.”

  “That I am,” said Derek with another nod.

  “Let’s get to it, then. What are your terms?”

  Derek set down his coffee cup. “You supply the hardware, we supply the infrastructure, we set up proprietary standards and split the profits.”

  Chuck’s eyebrows knit together. He stared hard into Derek’s eyes. “Fifty-fifty?”

  “Yes.”

  A slow smile grew on Chuck’s face as he sat back in his chair. After a moment’s silence, he stuck out his hand. “Done.”

  “What?” Candice straightened. Just like that? Derek involved with the family business, just like that?

  Both men turned to stare at her. Even her mother looked surprised.

  She searched her brain for a coherent objection. “Dad, don’t you think…I mean, you just got going on the ranch and everything….”

  Her father gave her a perplexed look. “Honey, the ranch will wait.”

  “What do you mean the ranch will wait?” He’d just bought the ranch. The ranch was this month’s project.

  Derek nudged her under the table with his knee, shooting her a warning look.

  “Is there something about this deal I should know?” her father asked.

  Candice opened her mouth. Something he should know? That Derek was sexy? That Derek was tempting? That Derek was dangerous? “I…” She swallowed, her gaze strayed to Derek.

  His eyes had hardened to stones.

  She squared her shoulders. “I’d hate to see you make a mistake.”

  “A mistake?” asked her father.

  Derek’s eye muscle started to twitch.

  “You haven’t even seen all the details,” she pointed out.

  Her father reached across the table and covered her hand with his. “Honey, you strike while the iron is hot. Our lawyers can work out the details.”

  “Right.” Derek’s voice sounded strained.

  DEREK COULDN’T BELIEVE Candy had tried to sabotage his meeting with her father.

  As they drew away from her parents’ house, the thunderstorm opened above them. He hit the wiper switch and the rhythmic blades penetrated the taut silence inside the car.

  Unless she was an incredibly vindictive person, it didn’t even make sense. He’d given her everything she wanted on the restaurant contract. And she’d never been directly involved in her father’s businesses. Why should she care one way or the other if he and Hammond cut a deal?

  He puzzled for several miles while the rain beat down harder and distant lightning strikes lit up the sky.

  A few blocks from her house, he realized he couldn’t just let it go. He needed to know what she’d been thinking.

  He pulled the car to a stop next to Briar Park, hitting the lights and killing the engine. The metallic sound of the rain on the roof increased.

  He turned to look at her, stretching an arm over her bucket seat. “Why did you do it?”

  She folded her arms across her chest, taking on a mulish expression. “Why’d I do what?”

  She knew full well what he was talking about. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled against the distant coast mountains while he waited.

  She remained silent while he stared at her profile.

  “Come on, Candy. You don’t do obtuse very well.”

  She turned to look him in the eyes. “Yeah? Well, you don’t do intelligent very well.”

  He ignored that. “What gives? Why’d you undermine me.”

  She held up her palms. “Hey, I only promised to get you there, I didn’t say I’d be a cheerleading squad.”

  “Cheerleading? I’ve got news for you, Candy. The introduction wasn’t only to provide physical proximity. It also legitimized my proposal. Your endorsement was a very big part of our deal.”

  She stared at him in silence. A look of remorse might have crossed her face, but it was too dark to tell. “He said yes, Derek.”

  “I know that.”

  “So, who cares how you got there?”

  “I’m curious, Candy.”

  “Tough.” She reached for the door handle, pushed it open, and stepped into the rain.

  “Don’t be such an—” he began, but she slammed the door and headed across the park.

  Derek swore. He pulled the key from the ignition, pushed open his own door and took off after her.

  “Go away,” she said as soon as he caught up to her.

  “You’re getting soaked.”

  “I won’t melt.”

  “Well, you’re sure not walking across the park alone.”

  “It’s not that late.”

  “It’s past ten o’clock.”

  “Nobody’s out in the rain. I’ll be fine.”

  They walked along an oak-lined pathway, approaching a rock garden and the duck pond. The parking-lot lights barely reached them, and it was even darker up ahead. Yeah, like he was going to leave her alone out here.

  She picked up her pace. “You got what you wanted. Now back off.”

  “Tell me why you cared?” he pressed.

  She didn’t answer, just kept marching. She angled off the pathway and onto the sopping grass. Her shoes had to be soaked through and the raindrops were darkening her little jacket. His white shirt was plastered to his skin. If he’d thought to grab his coat, he could have offered it to her.

  “Must be something pretty upsetting,” he ventured. “To drag you out here in the rain and the dark.”

  “What part of ‘go away’ didn’t you understand?”

  “What part of ‘deal’s a deal’ didn’t you understand?”

  She stopped and turned to face him, streaming out a heavy sigh. “Deal’s done, Derek.”


  She had a point. He should shut up, walk her home, and get out of her life. But something wasn’t right here, and he’d been bit on the butt too many times by little somethings that weren’t right….

  “You’re not going to try to change his mind, are you?” he asked.

  “Please.”

  “That wasn’t exactly a no, Candy.”

  “What makes you think I could?”

  Derek shrugged. “Daddy’s little girl…Who knows what you might say to make him distrust me….”

  Lightning flashed, illuminating her damp face. “You must have a pretty poor opinion of me.”

  He lowered his voice. “I don’t like things I don’t understand, Candy. You were very angry with me when you found out Tyler was spying on Jenna.”

  Candice let out a harsh laugh. “You think I’ve been obsessed with revenge for three months? Biding my time? Waiting for the right moment to get you?”

  “Sure. I would.”

  “Yeah? Well, I’m not you.”

  His tone dropped, his gaze took in the goose bumps on the swell of her breasts. “I’ve noticed.”

  Her expression faltered. She wiped her wet hair back from her face. “Leave it alone, Derek.”

  “Leave what alone?”

  “This. Us. It’s over.”

  Derek focused on her damp face, the hair that was plastered to her head, the little jacket that clung to her breasts and the rainwater disappearing into her cleavage. “What do you mean us?”

  She opened her mouth, but then closed it again without speaking.

  “What’s going on, Candy?”

  Her jaw tightened and her eyes narrowed. “What’s going on? You were there. You tell me.”

  Derek blinked. “I was where?”

  She rolled her eyes. Then she leaned forward. “Think, Derek. I know it might be tough for you, given the hectic pace of your oh-so-important life, but isn’t there a little something in our past that might make it uncomfortable for me to be around you?”

  Comprehension flashed through Derek’s brain like the lightning strikes on the hills. He drew back. “This is because you kissed me?”

  “Give the man a gold star.”

  She didn’t need to be embarrassed about the kisses. He’d been impressed, astounded, amazed. He was still dying here for the want of her.

  “They were only kisses,” he said.

  “Right.”