by Unknown
“This isn’t going to make any difference,” he said to Savannah.
“Will you just look at her? And think—over a million in cash in your account, a trust for you to raise her, which means a very generous income. Also, you get the house. Hire a nanny, for heaven’s sake! You don’t have to be tied down.” Savannah’s voice was low and seductive, trying to convince him.
When she walked over to him, he held out the baby for her to take.
“You hold her,” Savannah insisted. “Look into her eyes and tell her that you’re going to make her a ward of the state and let her be shuffled around to foster homes. Think of her dad and the trust and faith he placed in you.” Now her voice held steel in it, and a good measure of anger, too.
“Stop trying to sell me on this, because it isn’t going to work,” Mike said tightly. “I’m not becoming guardian of a baby.”
“Can you look at her and tell her that?”
He gazed down into wide blue eyes and remembered John Frates. “Dammit, leave me alone, Savannah. You don’t push someone into parenthood,” he said, his anger growing.
“Nonsense. Half the world gets pushed into it one way or another. Have you ever planned to marry, or do you plan to stay a bachelor your entire life?”
“I don’t intend to get married yet,” Mike replied in clipped tones.
“So you never expected to marry or have children.”
“That isn’t what I said,” he snapped. “Now take this baby, Savannah. I’m afraid I’ll drop her.”
Jessie cooed, and as he watched, she smiled at him. He felt a tightening inside and a small sliver of regret. The girl caught his finger in her hand, holding it tightly.
He clenched his jaw and imagined life with a baby. He couldn’t. He was headed for D.C. today and the CIA. They wouldn’t like having a man saddled with a child. He couldn’t settle in a little Texas town and take charge of a baby. Nor could he see taking her to Washington with him.
“She’s beautiful,” he said tersely, and held her out to Savannah again. “Thanks for giving me a lot of sleepless nights.”
“I hope so,” she answered in a voice dripping with disdain as she took Jessie and cuddled her in her arms. She crossed to the door, talking softly to the baby, looking as if she’d done this a million times before. She gave the baby to the caseworker and returned, closing the door and facing him. And once again, she took his breath away. How could the woman be so beautiful and so damned annoying at the same time?
“Will you at least go have coffee with me?” she asked. “I have one more thing I want to show you.”
“One more reason to ruin my life?”
“If you have a guilty conscience, that’s not my fault,” she replied with a smugness that only heightened his irritation.
“Yeah, sure,” he said. “I’ll go, but I don’t see any point in us spending one more minute together.”
“I think another couple of hours is a small thing to ask. Are you this difficult with other women?”
“This isn’t a man-woman thing and you know it.”
She gave him a long, intense look that included a sweep of her eyes from his head to his toes and back, and he had to admit to himself that it was at least partially a man-woman thing.
“No, I guess it’s not,” she said coolly, making him want to cross the room and take her in his arms, kiss her soundly and show her it was a man-woman thing after all. “But I’d really like you to spend the next couple of hours with me.” She awarded him the dazzling smile that made his knees weak, and he wondered how many juries and judges had succumbed to the influence of that smile.
“What the hey,” he said, and grinned. “I have hours yet to kill here.” He strolled over to her and she gazed up at him, the smile still hovering on her lips. If his proximity fazed her, she didn’t show it. “Maybe it could turn into a man-woman thing,” he said softly.
“Not in this lifetime,” she snapped. “But I’m glad you’ve agreed to stay. Let me arrange a few things, and then we’re out of here. Wait just a minute.”
Another order. Did the woman even know the word please? he wondered. He sat and watched her move around her office, and in minutes she nodded to him. “I’m ready. Shall we go?”
He left with her, enjoying the sight of her walking beside him, as well as the scent of her perfume. “Is this another exercise in futility?” he asked.
“Might be, but I have to do what I have to do. I don’t give up easily.”
“You’re very passionate about this. Maybe all that passion is just misguided.”
She laughed, a sexy, flirty laugh, then slanted him a look that made his blood heat. “In your dreams, Colonel! You’re not goading me into sex.”
“Sometimes the impossible happens,” he retorted lightly, but she was definitely keeping him off balance. He didn’t want to be intrigued by her or physically drawn to her, but he was. A woman who kept shifting from glacial to this kind of sexy was bound to give him trouble.
At her car he held the door for her and then went around to sit in the passenger seat. As they drove away from her office and into San Antonio traffic, he watched her.
When they left town and traffic thinned, his curiosity increased. He looked at rolling green hills dotted with sturdy oaks and sprinkled with colorful wildflowers. “So where are we headed—Stallion Pass, perhaps?”
“Good guess. I want you to see the town.”
“It won’t do you any good.”
“You asked me last night, and now I’ll ask you—have you ever been in love?”
“Yes, I have,” he answered quickly.
“I’ll bet lots of times,” she said, flashing a quick smile.
“Sometimes it’s a light, pleasure-only thing and sometimes it’s been more serious, but nothing permanent ever. I’m not a man to settle, and women take a dim view of getting involved with a man with my lifestyle.”
“Why do I doubt that they protest very much? I’ll bet you’re nearly always the one to break things off.”
“Why would you think that?”
“You’re handsome, dynamic, aggressive—”
“Aggressive? I think I’ve been a model of restraint and cooperation with one exception. I’m not taking a baby as an inheritance.”
“You might change your mind.”
“No, I won’t. Handsome?” he repeated, his tone changing as he shifted slightly in the seat to study her more intently. “My, my, Counselor. I’m surprised to get any kind of positive reaction from you,” he said.
“You didn’t, but I imagine ninety-five percent of the women you meet find you quite attractive.”
“Now what exactly makes you come to that conclusion?”
She laughed and glanced at him. “You want me to shower you with compliments? I think your ego is big enough as it is.”
“And I bet you get hit on often, too. Except you probably scare the hell out of a lot of men.”
“Do I scare you?” she asked, slanting him another quick, saucy look.
“Ask me that when you’re not driving, and I’ll show you.”
“Why do you want to be in the CIA?”
“You’re changing the subject, but I’ll remind you of it later,” Mike told her. “I want to go into the CIA because I can still serve my country that way. I can do some interesting things, see interesting places.”
“You can do that in the military, too. Why are you getting out?”
“It’s a little too much on the edge. I’m tired of getting shot at.”
“And that won’t happen in the CIA?”
“I’m wrangling for a desk job.”
“I’m surprised,” she said. “You look the type for action.”
“What kind of lawyer are you? Estate planning?”
“Contract law is my specialty, but I do estates. I’ve done a lot of work for John Frates because we’ve known each other all our lives.”
“You’re a lot younger than John Frates.”
She smiled at him.
“Thanks, but you don’t know how old I am.”
“I’d guess twenty-eight,” Mike said, his gaze drifting up and down her.
“Guessing a woman’s age is a risky business. I’m thirty.”
“Ten years younger than John.”
“You remember his age?” She shot Mike a surprised glance.
“I had to know a lot about John before we went to get him. Personal information helps.”
As she smiled at him, Mike suspected she knew a lot about his background. They talked while they drove through small towns and across the Texas countryside until finally they reached the outskirts of a town, where a rock wall held a sign that read Welcome to Stallion Pass.
“So where’s the pass?”
“There isn’t one. It goes back to an early-day legend of an Apache warrior who fell in love with a cavalryman’s daughter. The soldiers killed the warrior, and according to legend, his ghost was a wild, white stallion that forever roamed these parts looking for his true love. According to the legend, whoever caught the stallion would find love. Anyway, the town got the name Stallion Pass because there have been wild, white stallions around these parts forever.”
“Is there one now?”
“The last one I heard about was fairly recent. One of the ranchers here caught a white stallion. He passed it on to one of his friends, who gave it to another friend.”
“And did love come to them?”
She smiled. “All of those guys are married now—you be the judge.”
Mike smiled back at her. “You can be charming when you want to be.”
“So can you, Mike. Truce?”
“Until we talk about babies and settling in small towns.”
She wrinkled her nose but didn’t challenge him. “Now we’re coming into the central part of Stallion Pass. This town was established right after the Civil War because there was an early fort outside of town. Then the railroad came through here and the town boomed. The Frateses were one of the early families. So were the Clays. Most people have stayed. There’s a lot of oil money here, lots of ranches in the area, a refinery, some small industry in Stallion Pass, so we have a prosperous town. There’s a museum, a civic center, a fine aquarium and botanical gardens.”
She pointed out sights to him while he looked at two new hotels a block from an older, renovated one. “That’s the Wentworth Hotel, one of the oldest in Texas, although not as old as the Menger in San Antonio. Across the street is the best steak house in these parts, Murphy’s Steakhouse. It’s excellent. A few blocks over is an equally good restaurant—only, barbecue is the specialty.”
He looked at sights she pointed out, realizing that “prosperous” was an understatement. The town looked like the product of both old and new money, with its fancy shops, restaurants and office buildings surrounding a green, tree-shaded town square with a large, three-tiered fountain gushing sparkling water.
The houses around town were old and well-kept, but as he and Savannah drove out of town, the houses changed to newer structures. Soon Savannah turned between iron gates into an area of enormous mansions.
He saw a sign that read Woodbridge and gazed beyond it at sprawling, well-tended lawns and multicolored flowerbeds.
“Looks like there’s a lot of money in this little town,” Mike said, looking at a mansion set back from the road, a winding, tree-lined drive leading up to the front door. “It’s not going to do you any good to show me the house I can inherit,” he said quietly. “This isn’t my style.”
“What is your style, Mike?”
“Small apartments, my books, my bike. I don’t have a lot of possessions. I’ve lived on military bases and moved around a lot.”
“The house comes furnished,” she said as she turned up the long, winding drive.
“That won’t matter,” he replied. Mike looked at the three-story, redbrick Georgian. White columns supported the roof of a wide front porch.
“This is the Frateses’ home, which you have now inherited.” She stopped and turned off the engine.
He caught her wrist, instantly more aware of the physical contact than what he was about to tell her. “This is a waste of time. I was never meant for a house like this. I’ve never even dreamed of a house like this.”
“So sell it and get something you like. Right now, it’s yours, so let’s go look at it. C’mon.” She twisted her wrist out of his light grasp and climbed out.
Mike got out, too, and walked around, truly not interested in the house and unable to relate to it in any manner.
He stood in the enormous front hallway and looked at the crystal chandelier overhead, the winding staircase and the elegant furnishings. She caught his hand. “Come with me.”
Once again, the moment she touched him, he was focused completely on her. He went upstairs with her and knew where she was taking him before they entered a little girl’s bedroom filled with toys, pink ruffles and fancy white furniture.
“I figured this was where we were going,” he said when she stopped in the middle of the room and dropped his hand.
“This is what you’re taking her away from.”
“You’re a smart lawyer. I’m sure you can work out something.”
“While I work out something, she’ll belong to the state. Those bureaucratic things take lots of time and red tape.”
“So you told me,” he said. “The answer is still no.”
She turned to stare at him. “I think you’re being incredibly selfish. You could take Jessie and have all this! Hire a staff to care for her.”
“If I took her, I couldn’t live with that,” he said quietly, wanting to leave.
“Instead, you’ll give her up to strangers,” Savannah said, fire flashing in the depths of her eyes.
Mike felt his own temper rise. “Why don’t you take her? You’re so all-fired eager to get Jessie someone who cares. Though I am surprised you care. You’re—” He broke off.
“What?” she asked, looking amused. “Hard?”
He gazed into her eyes and shook his head. “Tough, but never hard. There isn’t a hard part in you. You’re delectably soft,” he said quietly, watching her blink and realizing for once he had caught her so by surprise that she hadn’t been able to hide it. “Maybe you’re stubborn and aggressive, but definitely soft.”
“Me, stubborn? You take the prize.”
“I’ll tell you one thing I am,” he said in the same quiet voice, aware of her as a woman, inhaling her perfume, standing only a few feet from her. “I’m curious. Before I get on that plane to D.C., I’d like to satisfy my curiosity.” He moved closer and slid his hand behind her head.
He expected her to step back and snap at him, but when she didn’t, he looked into her eyes and saw she wasn’t going to say no. He saw the same curiosity he had.
He leaned the last bit of distance and brushed her lips with his, and then his mouth settled on hers. Her mouth was a warm, soft invitation, her lips parting and her sweet breath rushing out.
The moment his tongue touched hers, he felt a jolt. He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him, and discovered he had been right. She was all soft curves.
To his surprise, as he kissed her, the sparks that danced in the air so often between them turned to flames. She set him ablaze with her kiss as their tongues played together. Her kiss became more than he had expected. He was shaken to his toes and on fire, a searing heat making him tight and hard. He pulled her closer, dimly aware her hands were on his upper arms.
She aroused him, and he wanted her to an extent that surprised him. He was caught in a kiss that put fire in his veins. His heart pounded and his blood roared, and her kiss turned out to be more than he’d ever dreamed possible. The magnitude of his desire was startling. He wanted to take down her hair, push off the suit jacket; he wanted to peel away all their clothes, get rid of the bothersome barriers between them.
When she pushed against his chest, he released her. “I’ll cancel my plane if you’ll go to dinner with me
tonight,” he said in a husky voice, wanting to pull her back into his arms. He felt as if he had opened Pandora’s box and trouble was spilling out all around him. A part of him didn’t want to cancel his plane reservation and spend hours with her. Another part of him didn’t want to let her out of his sight. “And not one word about babies.”
The fires in the depth of her blue eyes became frost.
“You get on your plane and go on with your self-centered life,” she snapped.
Maybe passion pushed his temper to an edge, but he was tired of her calling him selfish and self-centered. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Why don’t you take her?”
“I might try to gain custody of her, but it still means up to two years of shuffling little Jessie through the system. And there’s no guarantee I’d get her.”
“If you’ve known John all your life, I don’t know why you didn’t inherit her in the first place.”
She flinched and drew a deep breath. “I’ve wondered why he didn’t ask me, too, because I gladly would have taken Jessie,” Savannah replied stiffly. “I’ve known John forever. Maybe that’s one reason I’ve been so in your face about this. I wish it had been me—not for the money or house, but for Jessie. I think she’s adorable.”
“Yeah, right,” he said, thinking that Savannah put on a good act.
She bristled. “You don’t believe me?”
“It’s easy to say you’d take her when you know you can’t. And I don’t think you’ll fight to get her, either. The situation looks different when you’re the one who has to take the lifetime responsibility.”
“That’s not so!” Savannah’s cheeks flushed angrily. “If I had the chance, I’d take her in a second.”
“Right,” he replied in a voice dripping with sarcasm. He tilted his head to study her. “Hell, marry me—a marriage of convenience—and then you can take her.”
“Marry you! That would be like putting a lion and a tiger in a cage together.”
“Yeah, exactly. Marry me,” he said, glad to put her on the defensive. “I’ll stay as long as necessary, and then you can have the care of her and go through all the red tape to legally get custody.”