by Desiree Holt
“I always take a long look at it, Wade.” She tried to make her voice as expressionless as his and damn her body for its heated reaction to him. “I love the sight of it. Always have. You know that.”
“Well, you won’t have it to look at much longer. I just called John Morrison and told him I want that will probated immediately. I don’t know what the holdup is. I’m already looking for buyers.”
Buyers?
She jerked around to look at him, anger and loss blunting the unwanted physical response to him. “So soon? You’ve only been here a week. We just had the funerals a couple of days ago. Aren’t you rushing things a little?”
“Can’t be fast enough for me.” He looked down at her with flat emotionless brown eyes, his face equally devoid of feeling. Hard. That was the word she’d use to describe who he was at his core. Hard and domineering. The boy had grown into his hard-muscled six-foot-four frame so how would she describe his body now? Sex! The word popped unwillingly into her mind. Yes, the man exuded sex, but in a way that almost frightened her. She wondered what kind of women he slept with. What kind of sex they had? Would the two of them be good in bed together?
As if reading her mind, sexual awareness flared in his eyes and a shiver raced over her spine. What would it be like to be taken by Wade Cameron? Really taken? Because she sensed that, in bed, the rules would be all his.
Stop it! He’s not for you. He always made that very clear. He did again today.
“Still running, are you?” She made her voice deliberately sarcastic. “Your father’s barely in the ground and you want to sell the land out from under his body.”
“Shit.” He smacked his fist against one of the carved post. “Damn it, Zoe. Max had to know I’d be gone from here as soon as I could. I never made any secret of how much I hated this place.”
“And hated him,” she added, unable to conceal her disdain.
“Well, no matter. I can’t get out of here fast enough. I’ll meet with John tomorrow, and then I am out of here. Period.”
“It’s a terrible thing to hate someone so much,” she told him in a soft voice.
He lifted his gaze and stared off into the fading light. “I didn’t hate him. I didn’t…feel anything. Not anymore.”
“I never could understand why you felt the way you did,” she argued. “I love this place. I always have.”
“We’re just two different people, Zoe. With two different fathers. And mine died trying to drag yours out of a barn fire.”
She fisted her hands on her hips. “Oh, so are you blaming me for that?”
He shook his head. “No. I’m just telling you that the past is finally just that. The past. I let John know I wanted this done, and he told me to be in his office tomorrow at two o’clock. I’ll get him to push it through as fast as he can and then I’m done.” He shrugged. “I’m an attorney, Zoe. I know there are papers to sign, but I don’t expect this to be a complicated process.”
Zoe tried to decide if she should tell him about her own conversation with Morrison but decided the longer she could put off confrontation the better off she was. “Why are you so damn anxious to get rid of the ranch? Doesn’t it mean anything to you?”
“Damn it.” He grabbed her arms so hard his fingers bit into the skin. “I’ll tell you what it means. A place where a hard, unfeeling man forced me to live a life I hated. He never once taught me to love the land the way your father did. Never gave me any encouragement. Never—” He dropped his hands, apparently unaware he’d hurt her. “Forget it. Tomorrow, after I sign whatever papers I need, I’m gone. John will give you enough time to pack up whatever you want, but I have a firm coming to clean the main house next week. They’ll take care of yours, too, if you like. I’ll talk to the foreman tomorrow when I get home so he and the hands are prepared.”
Zoe wrapped her arms around herself, touching the place where his fingers had burned into her. Slivers of heat raced through her, accelerating her pulse and dampening her panties.
What the hell?
Even with all this anger, his touch awakened crazy sexual feelings inside her. She was irritated because she couldn’t seem to control her reactions to this too-arrogant man. She stared up at him. “And if it takes me more than a week?” she challenged. “Then what? You’ll have someone kick me off?”
A low growl sounded in his throat. “Don’t do this, Zoe. Don’t make me say or do something I don’t want to.”
“Then don’t be such an asshole,” she snapped. “Let’s see what John Morrison has to say about everything tomorrow.” She turned away from him.
“Morrison? What do you mean? What does—”
But she stomped into the house and slammed the door. From what John Morrison hinted at in their private conversation, she had a feeling Wade might be in for a rude shock. Small satisfaction for her, whatever it turned out to be, but better than nothing.
****
Wade stared after Zoe, his unfinished question still hanging in the air.
Damn!
Again he couldn’t believe how seeing Zoe was definitely a shock. He’d paid no attention to her during his last brief visit to the Spur. The mouthwatering female she’d blossomed into rocked him back on his heels. Hair that he’d always thought of as mousy brown was now a rich sable with golden highlights. Hazel eyes flecked with green were framed with thick brown lashes and soft pouty lips almost begged to be kissed.
And that body. Jesus! Breasts that would fit nicely into his palms and a nicely rounded ass that he’d like to—
Fuck!
What was he doing having thoughts like that about her? If she knew the kind of sex he liked, the kind of person he was, she’d run like a scared rabbit as fast as she could. Maybe he should show her that side of himself. Maybe that’s what it would take to scare her away. And the town. And the ranch.
Maybe not.
When he’d grabbed her arms earlier, she hadn’t backed away in fear. Unless he was mistaken, there was a spark of sexual awareness in her eyes. There one minute, gone the next.
No. He shook his head. Zoe Hampton might like her sex a little rougher than he figured, but she’d never go for what really turned him on.
He closed his eyes and imagined her naked on his bed. On her knees, that sweet ass in the air, reddened by spanking. The juice from her pussy glistening on those pink lips and her thighs. Breasts weighted down with the special clothespins he liked. Hands cuffed behind her back as she waited for his pleasure.
If only his cock didn’t try to stand up at attention whenever he was within five feet of her. Or his brain conjure up images of her naked and on her knees with his shaft in her mouth, one hand cradling his balls. Or stretched on a St. Andrews Cross, her ivory skin striped from the pleasure of the single tail whip.
He reached down and adjusted his jeans to ease the pressure on his poor deprived dick.
Damn, damn, damn. What the fuck was wrong with him?
She was definitely going to give him fits about the sale. He knew how much she loved the place, but she’d been raised in a different emotional situation than he had. Big Spur had pleasant memories for her.
Well, too bad. He couldn’t afford to be sentimental. He had a life to get back to. Tomorrow, after his meeting with John Morrison, he’d get back to it.
But tonight, he needed to release some of this tension, to do something to get this shockingly raging reaction to Zoe Hampton out of his system. He’d have to be very careful, however. Sagebrush might not be too far from San Antonio, but it was in the center of the very conservative ranching community. He couldn’t just let it all hang out there, go to a bar, even an upscale one, and test the waters with the female customers.
Pulling his cell phone from his pocket, he scrolled through his contacts until he found what he was looking for. Yes, there it was. Reece Halliday. Even though he planned to be out of here after tomorrow if possible, things could change and he always made sure to have a backup plan. He had asked the owner of the dungeon h
e belonged to in New York if there was, by any godforsaken chance, a place he could go to play if he needed to work off excess energy. And sure as hell, being back in Max Cameron’s environment was going to raise his temperature. He had been surprised when the owner passed along Reece’s name. Told him Reece and his partner owned a first class, very discreet private club outside San Antonio named Rawhide. Did Wade by any chance know him?
Hell, no. The man must have moved into the area well after Wade left for college. But the dungeon master had called Rawhide and vouched for him. Now, all Wade had to do was call Reece and set something up.
And find someone to help me get fucking Zoe Hampton out of my mind and libido.
He looked at his watch. Just past eight o’clock. He was given to understand Reece and his wife lived the lifestyle. Would the man be at the club or at home? Did they go to the club to play? Stepping off the porch and walking toward the corral so his conversation couldn’t be overheard, he tapped the contact number.
When a male voice answered he said, “Reece Halliday?”
“Yes.” The answer was cautious. “Who wants to know?”
“Wade Cameron. You may have received a call about me. I was wondering if I could drop by tonight and talk to you for a few minutes.”
Chapter Two
Lord, Wade was so livid Zoe thought he might have a stroke.
“What the fuck do you mean he left half the ranch to her?” he raged when the will was read. “Who is she, anyway? Just some ranch hand’s kid. And she gets half of what’s mine?”
“You never wanted it to begin with,” she pointed out in an acid tone.
“I want it enough to sell it,” he snapped.
“Not without my signature,” she came back. “Stick that in your pocket.”
Wade Cameron had left the ranch to both of them for a reason. Maybe because he’d thought she could teach him to love the land and his heritage? Not while all this hatred was consuming him. It saddened her that he couldn’t see what he was missing. Didn’t even want to. How could she reach that young boy hidden inside the bitter man?
She clenched her fists, wondering why John didn’t just shoot them both by the time he got the situation defused enough to offer them some alternatives.
“You could just buy her out,” he told Wade. “I happen to know cash isn’t a problem with you. And if you want to finance it, you won’t have a problem with the local bank.”
“I don’t want to buy her out, damn it.” He slammed his hand down on the desk. “I want to sell the fucking place and get my money out of it.”
“Oh, so now it’s your money?” she challenged.
“Yeah, it is,” Wade growled. “On top of it all, I need to get back to New York.”
“Go on.” She flapped a hand at him. “Nobody wants you here, anyway.”
“Cool it, both of you,” John said. “Wade, try to watch your language a little. They can hear you clear down the hall. You both need to come to some kind of decision on this.”
“She needs to come to her senses on this.” Wade jabbed a finger at her.
Zoe lifted her chin, signaling him that intimidation was not going to work. “I can’t think of anything right now. Make any decisions. I need some time to think. I’m going home to the ranch and think.”
“You haven’t got too much time to do that,” he called out as she stormed from the office.
She leaned against her car to take a calming breath and try to sort things out. Only a few days ago, she’d buried a man she loved and another she’d respected. Now, out of nowhere she faced the possibility of a legal fight over the home that had been her life for so many years.
Rage still simmered in the air when she finally left with nothing resolved. Zoe absolutely did not want to sell the ranch, but if she insisted on keeping it, she had to make some other decisions. She enjoyed her job in San Antonio working at an investment firm. She had a solid client base and a good reputation. But the ranch had always been her first love. Expecting that someday Wade would have a change of heart and come home, she had divorced herself from the operation and built a new life.
But now! Now, she had a chance to put everything her father taught her to use.
He could run back to New York if he wanted to. Good riddance. But tomorrow, she’d pay a visit to the president of the local bank. John said he’d have papers ready for her to pick up that would give her access to the ranch accounts. And she’d figure out a way to hold onto both the ranch and her job.
“You might not like what you find,” John had warned.
“What do you mean?”
“Four years ago, part of the herd had to be destroyed,” he explained. “Then a prize bull that cost as much as a small country came down with a disease and turned up infertile. Max borrowed heavily to recover from that.”
Why hadn’t her father ever mentioned it to her?
“One more thing,” he added. “I believe you only have a thirty day window before the next payment is due. You might want to give some serious thought to Wade’s idea of selling.”
“Over my dead body. That fucker won’t get rid of Big Spur that easily.”
John laughed. “I see your language hasn’t improved all that much. It must be very entertaining for your clients.”
She grimaced. “My boss makes me clean it up for them. Besides, they don’t piss me off as much.”
She spent the next two days on her computer going over all the records, the charts of weight gain to feed ration, the schedule of when calves were weaned and when the herd was culled for market. She studied the information on the spring cattle sales, who bought, how many head and what they paid. For the past three years, the price of the cattle had increased steadily. Yet, according to the loan information from the bank, Max still owed a hefty amount. How was that possible when business was good?
And Wade was still here.
Still here!
She had saddled a horse and ridden out to a favorite spot after the debacle in Morrison’s office, an attempt to get her emotions under control. All her emotions. What a shock it had been to ride back into the yard and see Wade sitting on the back porch in jeans and boots that must have been ages old, feet up on the porch railing.
“I’m staying,” he called to her. “I plan to break that fucking will and sell this place, so enjoy your rides while you can.”
Part of her wanted to tell him to go to hell, but that secret part of her did a little happy dance. Was it possible that if he hung around she could make him see her in a different light? As an adult female?
Wait! Am I insane or what?
Today, she had ridden out with Will Hoyt, her father’s right hand man, to take a physical tour of the ranch. They could have taken the off road vehicle, but nothing beat the view from horseback. She wanted to see the herd for herself, make sure it was healthy, that the calves were all doing well. It meant, of course, covering hundreds of acres in the saddle. By the time they reached the barn again, her ass was sore and her thighs ached. But she felt the aura of the ranch seeping into her the way it used to, and she felt slightly better about its chances.
“So what now, Missy?” Will asked as they unsaddled and wiped down their horses. “You planning to sell the ranch like Max’s son wants?”
She shrugged. “Not off the top of my head. I need some time to absorb all of this and figure out what to do. Meanwhile, you and the men just keep on with what you’re doing.”
“We will. Just keep me in the loop, okay?”
“You bet.”
She had a lot of things to decide, that was for damn sure. Her first order of business was to call her boss, Mickey Sandoval, and ask him for some extended leave time. He’d be none too happy, but she wasn’t about to just get in her car and drive back to the city with everything up in the air.
After settling her horse in his stall, she headed out of the barn, only to find her way blocked by the solid figure of Wade Cameron.
“We have to talk.” He gripped her arm
s the way he had the other day, with forceful possession.
She should have been afraid of him, but the power of his touch unaccountably excited her. She looked up to see those dark chocolate eyes boring into hers, heat from them surrounding her like a thick cloud. His grip tightened even more as their gazes locked, and she had the distinct feeling that any moment he might throw her to the floor of the barn and—
And what?
She blinked to break the intensity of the moment. What was going on with her, anyway? She didn’t like men who were rough and demanding. Did she?
“Take your hands off me.” She hated the fact her voice shook. He let her go, and she took a step back to put some distance between them. “What do you want?”
“I came out here to tell you I’ve taken a leave of absence from my law firm.”
Her eyes widened. “Can you do that? What about all your important clients?”
“Don’t get snotty with me, little girl, or I’ll turn you over my knee and tan your ass.”
And just why did moisture suddenly flood her panties and her nipples tighten painfully? She must be losing her mind.
“I had a conference call with my partners. They understand my situation, and they’ll pick up the slack until I’ve done what I have to. I’m here if they need to reach me for anything”
She took another step back. “And just exactly what is that?”
“I plan to stay here until I break that fucking will. I’m filing papers in court tomorrow.”
Shock froze her in place. “What? What did you just say?”
“You heard me.” He moved into her space again and grabbed her shoulders. “I’ll break the goddamn will, sell this fucking ranch, and be done with it, once and for all.”
Conflicting emotions battled like opposing armies inside her—resentment, shock, anger and, worst of all, unwanted sexual awareness. How on earth would she handle all this animosity when her long-buried feelings for him bubbled to the surface like a pot of boiling water? She had long ago told herself there could never be anything between the two of them, and his actions now only underscored it. If she could just get her runaway hormones under control.