by Lola White
“Your bunkhouse is just as old as the main house,” she whispered. “A little worse for wear, but it was built to last.”
“It doesn’t look like it.” Cody stiffened a little when she inched closer—definitely invading his personal space now—and he glanced down at her with an unreadable glint in his wide-held eyes. “Looks like it’ll fall down any day. Is that what happened to the barn?”
“Eugene tore that down and sold the timber at a premium. You know that sometime in the early Forties Opal O’Neal had the bunkhouse and this home jacked up and new foundations laid for both, right? The storm shelter under that bunkhouse rivals the one at the school.”
“Yes, I knew. Opal had been scared of storms. Grandpa wasn’t fond of them, either. He told me he’d once been caught out in a dust storm that had almost killed him, and after that Opal was bit…paranoid.”
“During the drought.” Olivia nodded and leaned farther over Cody’s lap to swipe her fingertip across the photo adhered to the opposite page of the album. “Before that, the Double O was a working ranch, running cattle and breeding horses, as you can see here.”
Peeking up through her lashes, she watched Cody’s face soften as he surveyed the image. A small group of men stood by a handful of horses whose quality couldn’t be hidden by the graininess of the ancient photograph. The beasts held their heads high, a small pack of ferocious-looking dogs lay around their feet and a stream carved a path just behind them.
“That stream was quite the source of tension between our families back in the eighteen-hundreds.” Olivia laughed softly. “I don’t know the whole story, but I do know that Offer O’Neal didn’t pay what was owed to my ancestor. But, eventually, some deal was struck that transferred rights to your family and horses to mine. We still have the descendants of your forefather’s stallion in our stables.”
“And they need the water too. I get it.” Cody slammed the album shut and tossed it onto the table. Olivia knew he would have jumped to his feet, except her weight kept him pinned to the loveseat cushions. Gripping her shoulders, he half-turned and lifted her off him. “What are you doing?”
She widened her eyes and prayed she looked innocent. “What do you mean?”
“Would you rather just sit on my lap?” he asked scathingly. “I can put my feet up and you can crawl right over me, if you’d prefer.”
Her face felt as if it had caught fire, but she lifted her chin and said, “Yes.”
“What?”
Olivia was no shrinking violet. She’d been raised to go after what she wanted, because Lord knew she wouldn’t get it any other way. Her mother was a strong woman, opinionated and bold, and she’d raised Olivia primarily by herself and in her own image.
She had learned her lessons well. Olivia lifted her chin, pressed closer to Cody in spite of the way he tried to hold her back and nodded. “I’d love to crawl on top of you. It’s been a while since I saw any man worth bothering with, but you’re handsome enough and the guilt in your eyes when you finally paid a visit to Eugene lets me know you regret not being there for him. That’s a mark in your favor.”
Olivia wriggled until Cody’s grip on her arms loosened. Taking quick advantage, she pushed forward and threw her leg over his lap.
He cursed and stiffened, but Olivia ignored him. She was desperate and growing more so as the days went on. Wiggins had been harassing her and it was only a matter of time before he descended on Cody to twist his arm and sucker him into signing his soul away. Olivia had to do something, but the longer she sat on Cody’s lap, the deeper she stared into his eyes and the farther she thrust her fingers into his short, dark curls, the more raw, selfish excitement swept through her.
“Are you serious?” Cody shook his head. “You can’t be serious.”
She’d had hours to think about it. She’d have found a different way to get what she wanted, except that flash of guilt she’d seen in his eyes at the hospital had made this alternative tolerable. Cody was attractive, her body responded to his nearness and he had a spark of compassion inside him. Somewhere beneath his aloofness, hidden under the testiness he’d cloaked himself with earlier, was a good man.
Of course he was. He was Eugene’s grandson, after all, and Eugene had spoken very highly of him.
“I don’t just fuck anybody,” she said. “I look for good people—someone I can respect, at least.”
“Wow. I can’t believe you actually just said that.” Cody closed his eyes while his chest inflated with the breath he took.
“Look. I’m a strong woman. I go after what I want and that’s why I’ve been successful in my business.”
He cracked one eye open. “And you want me to hold on to the water rights.”
“Ideally, I’d rather you gave me the Double O, but that’s your family’s legacy. I wouldn’t sell my ranch, either.”
“So, you’re trying to seduce me into a bargain?”
She was, but she wasn’t about to admit it. Too much was at stake, not least of which was the famous O’Neal pride. A shaft of guilt tightened her facial muscles, but Olivia still managed to speak without a quaver in her voice. “I simply appreciate a well-made man, Cody. And I’m a sucker for dark curls like yours, especially when they’re paired with blue eyes.”
“Like mine.” He pursed his lips. “Except I can’t help but think you’re trying to get something else out of me.”
“Something more than a good time? You’re not staying and I’m not looking for a permanent relationship.”
She meant the words when she said them, but then Cody grabbed her hips and every secret desire Olivia held concerning a real relationship swamped her. A career woman focused on her job… But there had been too many lonely nights when Olivia had wished for a warm body in bed next to her, a man to come home to who would wrap her in his arms and listen to the events of her day, maybe even a man who could save her from the worst aspects of her job. There were plenty of times when she’d wished to be held and comforted, where she’d have loved to have joked with someone with a better sense of humor than her mother or watch a movie with someone who liked to cuddle.
It didn’t matter that it felt like he was pushing her away. To her senses, Cody’s hands were big and warm, comforting as they closed on her hips with a pressure that had her thighs tingling. She rocked toward him. “When’s the last time you got laid, Cody? You don’t have a girlfriend.”
“How do you know? You’ve never met me before.”
“Eugene tells me everything. I know all about you, your father and mother. I know about your life and your job and how it keeps you from getting out.”
“But you thought I owned the school. No, I won’t listen to your lies and let you manipulate me—”
“It was the way you phrased it.” She focused on his mouth and leaned in. “How about a kiss, then? What harm could a single kiss do, Cody? Why are you so resistant?”
“Why are you so eager? Most women don’t throw themselves into a sexual situation like this.” His fingers tightened on her hips. “I mean, you don’t know me, no matter what my grandfather might have told you, and yet we are connected enough that this could prove really awkward for our family’s relationship.”
She offered a salve to his ego with a portion of the truth. “That’s part of what I find attractive. The knowledge of you, the built-in relationship between yours and mine. Awkward or not, it doesn’t feel like we’re strangers.” She rocked over his lap. “Does it?”
“You’re manipulating me.”
“It’s a kiss.” She tilted her head and whispered her next words right over his parted lips. “Just a kiss.”
But the lie soured in her mouth the moment her lips met his. Theirs wasn’t just a kiss. It was a battle of wills, and Olivia’s entire spine seemed to catch fire for an instant. The way her nape prickled warned her that she might have lost the war in the first skirmish, but a primal, hidden intuition clawed its way from the back of her eminently rational mind to whisper that she could win some
thing greater.
She pushed the half-formed thought away. She wasn’t there for hearts and flowers. Olivia needed strategies and advantages. The hardest fight of her life loomed and she’d use any weapon at her disposal—including her body—to win. She leaned forward and pressed her breasts to Cody’s chest.
Immediately, her nipples beaded. Lungs locking, she rubbed her breasts over him, loving the sensation radiating out from the hardened peaks. It had been too long since they’d felt so good. Her torso tingled and ropes of need looped down farther and farther to connect with her clit as she pressed to Cody’s groin.
With a small grunt, he opened his lips. Olivia surged in, licking gently before thrusting boldly. She tasted him and teased, thrilled when he surrendered to her invasion and kissed her back, just as thoroughly, just as heatedly. A luscious, intoxicating joining… She reached for more.
The muscles between her thighs clenched. She moved over his growing erection, but Cody pushed her back again. For one exciting moment, their minor tussle had her desire spiking and her pussy flooding, but then Cody ripped his mouth from hers.
Tipping his head back, he said, “That was a kiss. Now, it’s late and you should probably go.”
Olivia twisted his curls around her fingers. “I could stay.”
“No.” He took a massive breath, then his biceps hardened beneath his shirt sleeves and he pushed her off his lap. Cody quickly stood, no less unsteady than she was. “I’m tired. This has been…an interesting day, Olivia. I…think I just need some time to process everything.”
Eugene always grew exponentially more stubborn when he was tired. Considering the little she really knew about Cody—in spite of what she’d told him—she had to assume he would react the same way, and she’d already spent a huge portion of the evening ramming facts, figures and cute anecdotes down his throat in an effort to gain his sympathy.
Deciding the best tactic would be to let the man stew in his own lust for the rest of the night, she nodded. “Will you come over to the Raines Ranch tomorrow? I’d love to show you the property.”
“I’ve got…some stuff to look over, then I’ll be going to the hospital.”
“Come in the evening, after Eugene’s therapy. I’ll take you around a little, show you the pond where the stream crosses onto your land and the back scrub acreage Eugene lets me use. Then I’ll feed you dinner and you can meet some of the people who work for me.”
“We’ll see,” he hedged.
She wouldn’t take no for an answer. One way or another, Olivia vowed to garner Cody’s support in protecting her dreams.
Chapter Four
Within twenty-four hours of his arrival in the area, Cody found himself being ushered into the posh River’s Edge office of the Great Gas & Petrol Company. Everything in sight was chrome and black, except for the hardwood beneath his feet. Murals of oil rigs decorated the walls in a tasteful display and everyone he’d seen so far was wearing suits that he’d never be able to afford on his teaching salary.
A conservatively dressed beauty with a fake smile waved him toward an embellished door. “Mister Gordon will see you now.”
Cody nodded his thanks and entered the inner sanctum. He was immediately intimidated, and he wondered how Olivia would have reacted if she’d been there with him. Not that she was, and not that he’d ever tell her about this meeting…until he had to.
If ever a shark lived in human form, Mister Gordon was it. Cody took a bracing breath and held out his hand to the older gentleman, reminding himself that he dealt with juvenile delinquents for a living. Untamed children with no boundaries and little respect for authority had surely given him all the preparation he’d need to face the corporate powerhouse before him.
“Mister Gordon, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise,” the other man boomed. “Come in. Come in and have a seat.”
Cody settled into the sinfully soft leather chair before the desk and took in the gorgeous view of the skyline beyond the window. River’s Edge couldn’t rival any major city, but it was a much larger township than Creek’s Bend, with a well-designed layout. The Great Gas & Petrol Company had claimed an excellent location for itself.
“I was delighted to hear of your intent to sell your land, Mister O’Neal.” Gordon relaxed into his own chair and lifted the edges of his lips into something resembling a smile. “We’ve been trying to get your grandfather to sell for a number of years.”
“So the real estate agent explained.” Cody nodded. “My grandfather is extremely attached to the property, Mister Gordon. It’s been in our family for several generations, but now he’s in failing health.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that.”
Cody doubted the man’s statement very much, but he accepted the superficial sympathy with grace. “As am I, sir. Needless to say, the property has a great deal of sentimental value, and my grandfather will have a great many medical expenses to cover.”
Not to mention his father’s African hospital, but he wasn’t about to go into the particulars with the man before him. Cody kept his face impassive, knowing his reluctance to sell—even if that was simply a perception and not a reality—would be the deciding factor in the true value of the land in question.
“Hospitals are terribly expensive,” Gordon agreed. “And I suppose you’ll have to find a place to put your grandfather so he can be cared for. Even for a short while, though God willing your grandfather recovers as fully as he’s able and spends the rest of his time on this earth in wonderful pursuits befitting a man of his age, the expense of a home is astronomical.”
“Yes, it is. That’s why I have to weigh the costs of assisted living versus hiring a nurse to tend him where he already lives.” Cody shrugged. “I’m looking into my options, and I’m not really certain. I’ve got to tell you that I may not sell at all, sir, and if I do, I also need to figure out where the advantage is for me. There are currently three offers for the Double O.”
“Of course! You must make a sound business decision.” Gordon’s lips thinned, but, again, the expression gave the appearance of a smile. “No need to let emotions dictate something as important as the secure future of your whole family. And, of course, that’s exactly what Great Gas & Petrol Company is offering.”
“Is it?”
Gordon lifted a folder from his desk and held it out to Cody. “I think you’ll find our offer to be extremely generous. More than enough to take care of your grandfather for the rest of his life, enough to outfit you with the foundation of an excellent retirement plan. And, dare I say it, Mister O’Neal, it would even cover a large portion of operating costs for a certain hospital in Africa we’ve caught wind of.”
The man had done his homework, obviously. Cody accepted the folder with as much equanimity as he could manage, considering the intrusiveness of having been investigated without his knowledge. Resentment flared—but then he opened the folder and shock burned away every other emotion vying for dominance in Cody’s chest.
“You—” He struggled not to gasp like a child. “You can’t be serious.”
“Is that not enough, Mister O’Neal? We’re willing to go ten percent higher, but that’s my final offer.”
Looking at all the numbers stretched across the page before him, Cody felt lightheaded. “Could I have a glass of water, please?”
* * * *
Cody walked into his grandfather’s hospital room, paused, glanced over his shoulder then opened his jacket and removed a paper lunch bag. He held it up and shook it. “There’s a lady named Julia at the River Watch Restaurant in town that swears this chicken melt is your most favorite thing on earth.”
Eugene’s smile only lifted half his mouth. “She’s right.”
“Then I guess I’ll let you have it. Don’t tell the nurses, Grandpa. They’d probably kick me out.”
“Kick your tail end, first. They’re mean around here.” Eugene grabbed the bag with an enthusiasm only a man on a strict diet could manufacture.
/> Cody watched him for a minute, remembering the handful of times they’d shared a meal. Rising from the depths of his memory were scenes of holiday dinners with the family and summer picnics before Uncle Otis and his grandmother had died—a few birthdays, when the family was in the same country, and an anniversary or two. There had been very few occasions where they’d gotten together recently. Oren was always overseas and Cody had been busy building his career. He wondered how many meals Eugene had eaten by himself over the years.
“Next time, I’ll bring my sandwich here,” Cody said. “We can eat together. I’m sorry I didn’t think of it sooner.”
“Used to being alone.”
Cody wasn’t certain if Eugene was talking about himself or his grandson, but either way, he figured the statement fit. The topic was too painful to contemplate, so he changed the subject. “How are you today? Did you have PT?”
“Afternoon session. They’ll be coming for me shortly.”
“How’s that work for your oxygen?” Cody pointed to his own nose, but he meant the tube in Eugene’s.
“It’s portable. Got wheels for the days they make me walk, but that’s tomorrow. Today I got arm curls.” Eugene grinned around his sandwich. “It’s my favorite.”
“Why?”
“I don’t have to think about what I’m doing, so I can concentrate on other things.” Eugene winked. “The therapist is real pretty. Smells goods, too.”
“Don’t tell me you’re turning into a dirty old man!”
“Nah, Olivia’s always there to keep me on track, but I ain’t dead yet, boy. I still appreciate a lady who’s nice to others. She’s got a good heart…and a good husband, a passel of kids, all with manners…”
“Olivia does?” Cody reared back in his chair, completely surprised and sick to his stomach, until he ran the statement through his brain again. “Or your therapist?”
“Therapist. Olivia isn’t married. Damn near every man in town has asked, but she won’t have any of ‘em.”