by Sara Orwig
“That’s my sister,” he said quietly. “We were close.”
Caitlin moved closer to study the picture. “She’s beautiful.” She understood why Will had gotten involved with her. “She’s really gorgeous,” she said, thinking she was the feminine version of Jake with blue eyes and brown hair. Caitlin had known about Brittany Benton and Will because sometimes Will had made her cover for him when he had slipped away from family gatherings, and she could remember Brittany as one of the most beautiful girls she had known. Caitlin was aware that Will had been happy and seemingly in love with Brittany at first. She never thought Will concerned himself with the old feud or did anything with Brittany out of revenge. Caitlin was certain that Will did exactly what he wanted to do and family history never mattered to him. Since she had to occasionally be ready to cover for him with the family, she knew when he had been out with Brittany.
Brittany had always been nice to her, and Caitlin had wondered how Will could hold the interest of someone so beautiful and so friendly. Except Will could be charming when he wanted to be. He was with his friends. At first, Will had been wildly happy about dating Brittany. The little Caitlin had seen him, it still was obvious how happy he was. Probably, he had been happy until Brittany had made demands on him. Caitlin could imagine Will carelessly getting Brittany pregnant and then wanting no part of taking any responsibility. Being with Jake had brought back memories of that time as well as the questions about what had really happened.
Had Will really been driving the car that killed Brittany Benton? If Brittany had been pregnant, Caitlin could see Will becoming desperate to avoid an obligation and the wrath of their father. Deep down, perhaps Grandmother had suspected Will had been responsible, but she always tried to hold the family together. They would never have an answer because the only living person who knew was Will, but Caitlin could imagine him going to any length to live life the way he wanted.
Caitlin’s grandmother had always wondered even though she only said it aloud once. They had been talking about the trial late at night and Grandmother had gazed out the window into the dark night. “Will is focused on himself,” she had said. “He might be capable of wrecking Brittany Benton’s car to get her out of his life.” Caitlin had listened in shocked silence. After a few minutes, Grandmother had turned back to look at Caitlin. “This family will stand by Will. He has to be proven innocent.”
“I remember at Will’s trial, Grandmother had gathered the family. We all had to go to support Will.”
“Yeah, our family did the same to show support for Brittany even though she wasn’t present,” Jake said and his tone was cold.
“My dad always insisted that Will was innocent. We celebrated Will’s being found innocent of all charges. That was the one time I recall when Will was nice to me the entire evening. It was one of the few times I can remember seeing him at his best.”
“Sorry. I can’t agree.”
Was Jake trying to get revenge by buying the place and tearing down all the structures, destroying everything owned by the Santerres that he could?
Her grandmother would be shocked, certainly annoyed that Caitlin was here, planning to spend the night with a Benton. Not as annoyed as the men in the family. Will hated Jake and Jake indicated the dislike was mutual. She had heard all about Brittany Benton and Will, whispers from Ginny McCorkin, her best friend, as well as her grandmother’s side of the story. Rumors were that Will had gotten Brittany pregnant and refused to marry her. Grandmother had been furious with Will, but she seldom saw Will once he was a teen. Caitlin always figured Brittany was pregnant because of carelessness on Will’s part. Will was too selfish to worry about someone else, even when he thought he was in love. Will wanted to stop seeing Brittany, difficult when she lived on the neighboring ranch and didn’t want to stop seeing him. Then the fatal night when Will and Brittany had fought when she had died in the car wreck.
Both sides had a battery of lawyers, the Santerres’ from Chicago, the Bentons’ attorneys from Los Angeles. Will was found innocent and released, all charges dropped, but the hatred between the two families had grown stronger and the animosity between Will and Jake had become worse than ever.
She recalled the trial. Grandmother Santerre had insisted the entire family attend to show support for eighteen-year-old Will. The Bentons had turned out, too, all of them looking solemn and angry. Seventeen-year-old Jake and his brother, his mother and father. Will’s mother had still been alive then. She had attended with Titus. Caitlin had been there with Grandmother. They had cousins from Dallas and an aunt and uncle who had come to show support for Will. It had been a solemn time. Caitlin could recall feeling sorry for Brittany and for the mess Will had created. Deep down, Caitlin suspected the Bentons had the true story. Will had a cruel streak and he was a wild driver. Before the fatal accident, when Will had wrecked cars, she had heard her grandmother arguing with her father about covering for Will and buying him new cars without involving the insurance company. It was always difficult for Caitlin to think that Will was any blood relation to Grandmother Santerre who was kind, loving and caring.
That weekend after the trial Will had gone out to celebrate. She’d heard he had had a big fight with Jake Benton. She never heard who won, but assumed Will because she suspected he was meaner and he was a year older and bigger, but she’d heard stories about Jake Benton, too, and wondered if he had held his own with Will.
Caitlin closed her eyes for a moment to clear her thoughts, then glanced around the room again. “You have everything you want here,” she said, hoping to change the subject.
“Yes, I do. It’s comfortable and I come here to relax and get away from the regular work and office. This is my first love.”
“Then why don’t you ranch? You don’t have to work like crazy.”
He shrugged. “Yes, I do. I want to make money. I want total independence from my dad and there are accomplishments in the business world that will help me get what I want to stay totally independent.”
“Like making more money, owning more property, building a bigger company and a few other things along the same lines,” she said.
“Right. Let me show you where my bedroom is,” he said, taking her arm. She stood, resisting him slightly.
“I think I can find your bedroom, should I need to. If the house catches on fire, I’d guess you have an alarm system.”
He grinned. “You can’t blame me for trying to get you into my bedroom. I’d like to remember you in there in my arms.”
“It’s not going to happen. Not tonight at any rate,” she added.
“Very well, I’ll show you to your room next. Wait a minute.”
He left and disappeared into an adjoining room to return with folded clothes and a robe on a hanger. “You can have these tonight.”
“Thanks. Some of that is still in a package,” she said.
“I keep extras. I told you, I have a lot of company here off and on. By the way, I have motion sensors and alarms that I turn on in the evening. Don’t go beyond the end of the hall without letting me know.”
“I won’t.”
He led her to another suite near his. “How’s this?”
“Lovely,” she said, looking at a cheerful suite with white furniture and brightly covered floral patterns in the chairs, splashes of yellow and green in the decor. “Thanks for the shelter from the storm,” she said.
He stepped closer and slipped his arm around her waist. “One good-night kiss isn’t the end of the world.”
“It’ll never stop with one,” she whispered, standing on tiptoe as she wound her arm around his neck again. His mouth covered hers and she placed her other arm around his waist, holding him while she kissed him in return. The impact was stronger. Temptation grew, but she stopped him. “Jake, I’ll see you in the morning.”
He gave a hungry look before brushing a kiss on her cheek as he strolled out. She followed him, keeping a wide distance between them.
In the hall he turned. “I’m
glad you came and we didn’t just have this appointment at the office. It turned out better that I didn’t know you wanted to talk to me.”
“You didn’t have the long ride from my ranch or try for over twenty calls to get through to you.”
“Sorry,” he said.
“You’re not really. You’ll continue keeping out unwanted visitors. See you in the morning, Jake. You can call me at seven o’clock. How’s that time?”
“Perfect. Good night,” he said and was gone, closing the door behind him.
She stood staring at the door. His presence was overwhelming and the day had been a surprise. She had never expected to find Jake Benton a man she would be attracted to. Would he talk reasonably next week or had he already made up his mind and was simply toying with her?
Would she see him again after his decision? She should complete their business and get out of his life. He would get out of hers soon enough.
As she remembered his kiss, her lips tingled. He had stirred a storm in her, something totally unexpected.
She ran her hand over the pile of clothing. The robe was dark blue velvet, soft and warm. She picked up a package wrapped in tissue with a seal and opened it to find new dark blue silk pajamas and slippers. There was a package with a small hairbrush and comb, new toothbrush in plastic, more toiletries in the plastic from a store.
Caitlin showered and dressed in the silk pajamas, relishing the smooth, soft material against her skin. She slipped into the robe, turned the television on low and curled up in bed to watch, but her thoughts drifted to Jake and she neither saw nor heard the program she had turned on.
She still marveled over the chemistry between them. How could it happen with Jake? It wasn’t anything either of them wanted or did one thing to cause. Yet it existed, all right, as apparent as a Roman candle shot into the night sky.
She could only think he would entertain an offer from her to buy back part of the Santerre ranch. Caitlin expected him to make a profit, perhaps a huge one, but she didn’t care what the purchase cost. She was well fixed financially, having inherited Grandmother Santerre’s fortune, plus the money she made from her photography that was growing each year.
Unless he simply priced it out of the market to keep her from buying, she would pay an exorbitant fee if she had to in order to get the land back. It had been a final cruel snub by Will, selling the place without informing her. She didn’t expect to have contact with him ever again.
Her thoughts shifted to Jake and the moment he had stepped out of his car and strolled to his porch, climbing the steps until he was on her level, to gaze into her eyes.
He was far more handsome than she had remembered, but she hadn’t seen him for years and as a child, he had just been an older boy. Now he was an incredibly sexy, handsome, appealing man. She didn’t want this dynamite reaction to a Benton. Even if none of the arguments and fights had anything to do personally with her.
When Jake had faced her on the porch, she had barely been able to get her breath. His blue-eyed gaze had been riveting. His smile was a flash of warm sunshine. But it was his kisses that took her breath and set her spinning. Kisses that burned and melted and made her want him desperately.
She wanted to be in his arms in his bed right now with Jake making love to her. It was insanity, a slippery slide to disaster. Never in her life did she want to take a chance on leading the life her mother had—rejection by the man she loved, an unplanned pregnancy, giving up her baby, humiliation and hurt. If Grandmother Santerre hadn’t been there, Caitlin’s life could have been frightful. She was thankful every day for the blessings she had.
Later, she tossed and turned and fell asleep still thinking about Jake and his hot kisses, knowing next week he had agreed to talk to her about buying back part of the ranch. Would he sell to her?
Four
The next morning Caitlin dressed in the same blue shirt and jeans she had worn the day before. She braided her hair into one long rope that hung down her back.
She found Jake in the state-of-the-art kitchen with its cherrywood walls, granite countertops and large glassed-in dining area. He was dressed in jeans and a black knit shirt and was talking on his phone. When her gaze slid over him, her heart skipped faster. He was handsome, far too appealing.
Glancing at her, he motioned her to come in, but she left to give him privacy, walking to the nearest room, which was a sunroom. A yellow bougainvillea grew in a massive pot and climbed up one wall to curl across part of the skylight ceiling. Its yellow blooms were bright, matching the yellow upholstered rattan furniture.
“There you are,” Jake said, striding into the room, his presence dominating it. “I motioned to you to come on in. That was no private conversation. It was my friend, Nick Rafford. We have fathers with similar traits of being control freaks. I got some sympathy and words of wisdom from Nick over my dad’s latest demands.”
“Sorry. I’ve never had that problem in my life.”
“Be thankful. Come have some breakfast. You look as fresh as if you had just driven here from your home.”
“Thank you. I don’t quite think so. You may need glasses.”
He smiled and walked beside her to the kitchen. In a short time they were seated in the dining area with fluffy eggs and hot buttered toast, tall chilled glasses of orange juice and steaming coffee.
“In fact,” he said, “I’m here to get away from my dad. This ranch is a haven.”
“Then you can understand how I feel about ours,” she said. “It’s a retreat even though I’m not trying to escape from any particular person. Just people in general. Do you have this often with your father?”
“Too often to suit me.”
“Can’t you ignore him?”
Jake shot her a look. “He always sees to it there’s a threat that makes it impossible to ignore him.”
“A threat?” she asked, beginning to wonder if Jake’s father had a streak of meanness like her half brother Will. “Is he like Will? Will can be mean to get his way.”
“Depends on what you call mean. Cruel and unusual punishment rather than anything physical. In this case, I will be disinherited.”
“Good heavens! What does he want you to do?” she said, staring at Jake and momentarily forgetting her breakfast.
“Get married within the year,” Jake answered quietly and she laughed. Jake gave her another grim look. “I’m not joking.”
“Sorry. You have to get married or be disinherited? Well, that’s simple enough. Marry someone. You’ll inherit a fortune and then you can divorce.”
“Oh, no. I have to marry this year and I have to remain married for five years or the deal’s off and I’m disinherited. My friend, Nick, has the same sort of father and he made the same kind of demand and Nick just happened to fall in love and marry. My dad knows Nick’s father and thought that was an excellent plan—so now he’s foisted it on me.”
She stared at Jake. “I can’t imagine a parent interfering that much, particularly with someone who is as together as you are. You’re successful, have friends, have a full life. You’re an adult. That decision is highly personal and yours to make. You can’t just run out and grab up a wife.”
“I have no intention of ‘running out and grabbing up a wife’ or even marrying if I fall in love. I have my own fortune and this time he’s gone too far,” Jake stated in a quiet voice that held a cold note of steel. His blue eyes had become glacial. “I’ll be damned if I’ll marry just to suit my dad. If I fell wildly in love tomorrow, I wouldn’t marry this year, not for any reason. I’m calling his hand on this one. He can go ahead and disinherit me. At this point, I don’t give a damn.” He looked at her for a moment. “How did we get on this subject?”
She was still staring at Jake, horrified that his father would make such a demand and astounded by Jake’s attitude. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. You’ll give up your father’s fortune just to do your own thing in your own way? That’s incredible. Will would marry in an instant to avoid
being disinherited.”
“Do not compare me to your half brother,” Jake said, making no effort to hide his annoyance.
“Of course not, sorry,” she said, barely thinking about what she was saying as she mulled over a man who would turn down a fortune in order to be his own person and not yield to a demanding father’s wishes. “I have to say, I’m impressed.”
Jake paused as he was pouring more orange juice. He set down the pitcher to look at her. The coldness in his expression melted away. “That doesn’t help, but it makes me feel better to have someone appreciate my stand.”
“I hope you don’t fall in love this year. On the other hand, if you do, you might change your mind about the inheritance.”
He gave her a cocky grin. “Not much danger of either, but I promise you, I will not marry this year or next for that matter.”
She continued to stare at him, unable to fathom his giving up a huge fortune so easily. His father was on lists as one of the wealthiest men in Texas.
“You’re staring,” he said with amusement. “I’ll admit, if it’s this startling, you are making me feel better about my decision.”
“It is absolutely incredible. I’m trying to think what I would do in the same circumstances. I’m not sure I’d have the willpower to turn down a fortune. It’s also depressing because you will not be swayed by money to sell back part of the ranch.”
“No. At this point in my life, I’m not easily swayed by money. There are other things in life that entice me,” he said and his tone changed and the words took another meaning. Now when she looked into his blue eyes, she saw desire.
“So maybe it’s not money I should fling at you for the ranch, but something else, something more personal,” she replied in a breathless voice. She was flirting when she knew better. Leave Jake Benton alone, she’d ordered herself, yet she couldn’t resist the retort and it had an effect as his chest expanded.