“Okay, so much for introductions,” Ramsey broke into her thoughts and said aloud. “Let’s have that meeting.”
Zane, she noticed, was still holding on to her hand. He smiled, glanced over at Ramsey and said, “The three of you can have a meeting. I prefer staying here with Chloe. I hear she can whip up the best scrambled eggs this side of the Rockies.”
She watched Ramsey tip his head back and sigh. He then fixed his brother a leveled stare. “Don’t push things with me, Zane.”
Zane drew his gaze from Ramsey and glanced down at Chloe. She thought the smile that tugged at his lips was devilish. “What about a rain check, Chloe? Tomorrow perhaps?”
She could only nod and then watched the three men follow Ramsey from the room.
“That pretty much sums things up,” Jason was saying. “I talked to Durango and McKinnon yesterday and they are excited at the prospect of expanding their operation to Colorado.”
Ramsey nodded. Durango Westmoreland and McKinnon Quinn were cousins of theirs, Durango by blood and McKinnon by marriage. The two lived in Montana and owned M&D, a very successful horse breeding and training operation. A few years ago they had invited another cousin, Clint Westmoreland, who lived in Texas, to join their million-dollar business. And now they were making the same offer to Zane, Derringer and Jason. The three had traveled to Bozeman and spent three weeks with Durango and McKinnon and their families, learning more about the operation and to determine if it was a business venture they wanted to become a part of. As all three were fine horsemen, Ramsey couldn’t imagine their turning down the offer.
“So the three of you are really thinking about doing it?” he asked as he looked over the report. Everything was in order and M&D was doing extremely well; especially after Prince Charming, a horse they had trained for Sheikh Jamal Yasir—another cousin by marriage—had placed in the Kentucky Derby.
“Yes, and we figured since our three properties are adjacent to each other,” Jason was saying, “we can share acreage for grazing land and for future expansions. But what we don’t want to do is to reduce the land you need for your sheep.”
Ramsey nodded, appreciating their concern. Sheep required a lot of land and his siblings and cousins had been very generous in letting him use some of theirs for grazing purposes. At present he was satisfied with the number of sheep he owned, and other than the lambs due to be born at the end of the month, he didn’t intend to increase his herd anytime soon.
“With what Dillon and I own together, there will be plenty enough,” he said to the three. “And before Bane took off for the Navy he gave Dillon permission for me to use his land if there was a need. A few days ago I received a letter notifying me that the federal government has approved my use of land at Diamond Ridge, so I’ll start taking part of the herd there later this year for grazing.”
Ramsey glanced back down at the report. “Although I have my hands full here with the sheep, I’ll be interested in becoming a silent partner with the M&D Colorado-based operation once it gets started. I think it’s time that I consider diversifying. It’s not good to have all your eggs in one basket.”
“True,” Zane nodded, casting his brother a smile. “We would love to have you on board. And speaking of eggs, you kind of got uptight when I invited myself to breakfast.”
Ramsey snorted as he leaned back in his chair. “What is it with you and Callum with your crazy games? Chloe is off limits.”
Derringer, who was slouched down on the love seat, glanced over at Ramsey and asked in a belligerent tone. “Says who?”
Ramsey frowned. Derringer was younger than him by three years and enjoyed being argumentative. “Says me, Derringer. Evidently you either didn’t get it or you didn’t understand the message I gave Zane in the kitchen.”
“So, you’re saying Chloe is more than just your cook?” Jason asked, as if for clarification.
Ramsey hauled in a deep breath, irritated at the thought of having to explain anything to his relatives. But knowing them the way he did, he knew he’d better do so. There was no doubt in his mind that there would be more explaining to do to the others when word got around that these three had walked in on him kissing Chloe. Zane was probably just itching to tell everyone, especially because it had been eons since Ramsey had been involved with a woman.
“Chloe is nothing more than my cook,” he said.
Now it was Zane who snorted. “I don’t recall you ever kissing Nellie.”
Ramsey rolled his eyes. “Nellie is a married woman.”
Derringer straightened in his seat and lifted a brow. “Are you saying if she wasn’t married you’d be kissing her?”
Before he could respond Zane burst out laughing while slapping his thigh. “Damn, Ramsey, we didn’t know you had it in you. And all this time we figured you were living a dull and sexually inactive life.”
Ramsey took a deep, calming breath. His brothers were trying to get a rise out of him and he refused to fall prey to their tactics any more than he had to Callum’s earlier. He tossed the document he was holding on his desk. “Let me get something straight. The kiss the three of you walked in on was something that just happened. Chloe is my cook and nothing more. She’ll be living here for two weeks until Nellie returns.”
He then leaned forward to make sure they heard his next words clearly. “However, since I know how two of the three of you operate, I want to make it clear here and now that she is not open game. You’re all welcome to breakfast, lunch or dinner at any time, as always. But that’s all you’re welcome to.”
“Um, that sounds kind of territorial, Ram,” Zane said, eyeing his brother.
Ramsey shrugged. “Think whatever you like, just make sure you heed my warning.”
Later that evening Chloe went into Ramsey’s living room and sat on the sofa with a glass of wine in her hand. She curled her feet beneath her as she took a sip. It felt good to relax after a tiring day.
Although she enjoyed being in the kitchen, spending her time cooking for a group of men was not how she had envisioned her month-long vacation. Especially one that had started off in the Bahamas.
But she would have to admit that just seeing the satisfied grins on Ramsey’s men’s faces when they had eaten breakfast that morning and lunch at noon had been worth all the time she had spent over a stove.
The men asked her to make more homemade biscuits in the morning, and they liked having a choice of bacon and sausage. She would surprise them tomorrow by going a step further and making omelets.
She had checked with her office in Florida and had spoken briefly to her editor-in-chief. Everything was going fine, which Chloe wasn’t surprised about. She had an efficient team who ran things whether she was in the office, and that’s the way she wanted it. Her father had told her time and time again that to be successful as CEO of your own company, you needed a good team working for you who could handle just about anything in your absence. She had built Simply Irresistible to the magazine it was and was using her time expanding the market area.
Her thoughts shifted from the magazine to Ramsey and the kiss they had shared earlier that day. It was the kiss that three members of his family had witnessed. She could just imagine how Ramsey felt about it, which was probably the reason he had avoided her most of the day. He hadn’t dined with his men at lunch and he hadn’t returned to the ranch since she had noticed his leaving early that afternoon.
She couldn’t help wondering if the kiss had worked and she was out of his system. She might be out of his, but now he was deeply embedded into hers. Never had she been kissed so thoroughly before. Never had a man explored her mouth the way he had, in such a blatantly carnal way. There had not been anything traditional about his kiss. He had delivered it with an expertise that had left her panting for hours. She had been both affected and infected by his kiss. Even now her lips were still tingling.
She would be the first to admit things were not going as she planned with him. She had been attracted to him from the first, so there
was no surprise at that. But what had been a surprise, totally unexpected, was the degree of hot tension that surrounded them whenever they were in the same room. Or her to be thinking about jumping his bones whenever she saw him. In her line of business, she met plenty of good-looking men. But none had ever sparked her interest, or stimulated a deep attraction the way Ramsey had.
How was she supposed to live under his roof, breathe the same air, when sexual thoughts constantly flowed through her mind? And unfortunately that kiss had been the icing on the cake. There was no doubt in her mind that she was now addicted to his taste as well as to his masculine scent.
Chloe’s thoughts shifted back to what Ramsey had said about never sharing her with anyone. There had been something about it that had touched her. She drew in a deep breath at the realization that something about Ramsey was getting to her. And she knew at that moment that he was a man in a way that Daren could never be. Ramsey was someone who could and would take care of his own. That was evident by the way he had taken on the responsibility of raising his siblings. Although he could be brusque at times, she believed he didn’t have a selfish bone in his body.
And knowing that was what was endearing him to her.
She felt panic in her chest at the thought that anything about Ramsey was endearing to her, but as much as she wanted to deny it she knew it was true. There were so many things about him that reminded him of her father—especially his sense of what was right. She’d seen it in the way he treated his men and his family.
She took another sip of wine. Later she would call Lucia to let her know she’d met Derringer and thought he was definitely a cutie. Although Ramsey had given his brothers and cousin a hard time, she could easily pick up on the love and mutual respect between the four men. And all four were extremely handsome.
But still in her book, Ramsey was her choice. There was something about him that made her heart pound in her chest each and every time she saw him. Maybe the best thing would be to abandon the idea of his posing for the cover of her magazine. She should go ahead and tell him the truth tonight and be packed and ready to leave. But if she did that, it would leave him in a bind. His men were counting on her to provide them with a delicious breakfast in the morning and a tasty meal at lunch. Besides, she was not a quitter, so no matter how tough things got she would not throw in the towel.
She leaned over and placed her glass of wine on the coffee table when she heard her cell phone go off. She pulled it out of her skirt pocket and smiled when she saw the call was from her father.
“Dad, how are you?”
“I’m doing fine. Just where the heck are you, Chloe Lynn?”
She chuckled. Nobody but her father called her by her first and middle names. Only after she’d finished college and started her business did she appreciate what an outstanding man and wonderful person her father was. He had entered politics when she had been in her last year of high school and now he was in his third term as Senator and swore it was the last, but she knew better.
He had always encouraged her to do whatever it was in life that she wanted to do and not live under his shadow as the “senator’s daughter.” She had gone to the college she had wanted to attend and had gotten the degree in just what she’d wanted. The only thing he flexed his muscles about was his belief in helping others during her summers. In the end she’d never regretted doing so.
“I’m in Denver for now.”
“And when will you be coming home?”
She raised a brow. Home for her had always been Tampa, but for her father since becoming Senator Jamison Burton, he’d stayed in D.C. most of the time. “Not sure when I’ll be back in Tampa. Why? What’s going on?”
He paused and then said, “I intend to ask Stephanie to marry me tonight, and was hoping you would be here in case she said yes, so we can all celebrate.”
Chloe’s smile widened. Her father had been dating Circuit Court of Appeals judge Stephanie Wilcox. A fifty-something divorced mother of a son and a daughter in their twenties, her father and Stephanie had been dating for a few years and Chloe had wondered when he would consider asking the woman to share his life.
“That’s wonderful, Dad. Congratulations. I’m sorry I won’t be there to celebrate, but please make sure you let Stephanie know how happy I am for both of you.”
Ten minutes later she was still smiling when she slipped her phone back into her skirt pocket. Finally, her father was about to commit his life to something other than politics and she was happy about it. He had remained a widower and she had often wondered why, when he would be such a good catch for someone. But she’d heard over the years from both sets of grandparents how much he’d loved her mother and he hadn’t wanted to give his heart to another woman. It had taken Stephanie three years, but she had done what some would have thought as impossible.
“After all the work that went into feeding my men breakfast and lunch you have a reason to smile?”
Startled, Chloe inclined her head to glance across the room. She hadn’t heard the door open and now Ramsey was standing in the doorway and looking at her.
Refusing to be rattled, she reached for her glass of wine and took a sip, not sure how she would answer his question. There was no way she could share her father’s good news on the risk that he might ask questions she didn’t want to answer. All he would have to do is to go on the Internet and do a search on her father to discover she was his daughter and exactly what she did for a living.
“That’s not what the smile is for,” she decided to say. “I just received a call from a friend to say he was asking his girl to marry him tonight. And I’m happy for both of them.”
She watched as he crossed the room to sit in the chair across from the sofa. She tried not to stare and was surprised he was giving her the time of day when it was obvious he’d been avoiding her earlier, especially after their kiss.
“I guess getting married would make some folks happy,” he said.
She took another sip of her wine while holding his gaze, trying not to dwell on just how good he looked while he leaned back in the chair with muscled shoulders, hard jeans-clad thighs and long legs stretched to where his booted feet touched a portion of the coffee table. She wondered if he realized he was still wearing his Stetson. “Um. But I take it that you’re not one of them,” she replied.
“Nope, I wouldn’t be one of them. I intend to be a single man for the rest of my days.”
She considered his words. “So, you’re one of those men who have a problem with matrimony? Who thinks marriage isn’t a big deal?”
He lifted a brow. “And you’re one of those women who thinks that it is?”
“I asked you first.”
Yes, she had, Ramsey thought. His first inclination was to ignore the question. Move on to something else. And a part of him wondered what the hell he was doing here, sitting across from her at all. Especially because he’d taken great pains to make sure their paths didn’t cross after his brothers and cousin had left. He hadn’t liked the way Zane, Derringer and Jason’s thoughts had been going. He would like to think he had put their false assumptions to rest, but he knew them well enough to know that was too much to hope for.
“Take your time if you need to gather your thoughts,” Chloe said.
Ramsey kept his gaze trained on her. Unwavering. He couldn’t give her a forced smile even if he’d wanted to because staying single was a serious topic with him. And it wasn’t that he had a problem with matrimony per se, after the last fiasco of a wedding, he figured there was not a woman alive who would be able to get him back in a church for the sole purpose of getting hitched. No, he liked his single life just fine. He would think after dealing with the likes of an ex-boyfriend like Daren, so would she.
He continued to look at her, recalled her statement about gathering his thoughts and figured she would get along with his sisters easily because she seemed to have a smart mouth like them. That thought made his gaze shift to her lips.
He then swallowe
d, wishing he hadn’t gone there with her mouth, especially because he knew how it tasted. And then there had been her response to him. He could do bodily harm to his kinfolk for their untimely interruption.
“I don’t need to gather my thoughts,” he finally said. Otherwise he would be tempted to cross the room and taste her again. “Raphael Westmoreland married enough for all of us.”
She lifted a brow. “Raphael Westmoreland?”
“Yes, my great-grandfather. Rather recently we discovered he had a slew of wives. We also discovered he had a twin.”
Evidently that sparked her interest, and her movement on the sofa sparked his. She slid closer to the edge and when she leaned forward her blouse gaped open a little, but enough to see some cleavage, as well as the thin pink fabric of her bra. Her skin looked velvety smooth, soft and a beautiful brown. He could imagine removing her bra and then lavishing her breasts with hot kisses, then taking his tongue and—
“Well?”
He blinked, reluctantly shifted his gaze from her chest to her eyes. They were bright. Inquiring. Intrigued. Apparently stuff about long-lost relatives interested her like it did the others in his family. Once they had become acquainted with the Atlanta Westmorelands, who were descendants of his great-grandfather’s twin brother Reginald, Dillon had been eager to find out all that he could. His search to uncover the truth had led him to his wife Pamela. So in a way something good had come of it.
“Well, what?” he asked, deciding to play along just for the hell of it. Irritate her a bit. He liked the way her lips curved in a frown when she was aggravated about something. In addition to that, he liked her sexy pose on the sofa and the eager look on her face to find out more. Now if he could only get her out of wearing those damn leggings.
The glare she gave him denoted she was getting impatient, downright annoyed, at the length of time it was taking for him to tell her what she wanted to know. “Tell me some more about your great-grandfather’s twin,” she said with barely restrained impatience.
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