by Tina Leonard
Bull. His job wasn’t interfering with a damn thing, Zach forced himself to admit. He’d allowed himself to get drawn into a personal situation when the whole job should have been as cut and dried as frigging beef jerky. Now he sat, wasting time in a Lysol-stinking hospital in God-knows-where, Texas, because he was a jerk.
A greedy jerk, if anyone was adding adjectives.
Mr. Cade had suffered a major heart attack, but the emergency-room physician had felt certain he would survive it. Fortunately, a cardiac specialist had been reached and was on his way to the hospital, so Mr. Cade would receive the best possible care. The whole long evening still felt bizarre and unreal to Zach. One moment he’d been wondering how he was going to get through the night without the old man cutting out his gizzard, and the next thing Zach knew, he was sleeping in a cracked vinyl chair in a crappy little hospital.
A small voice inside Zach kept pointing out that the whole mess was his fault. He guessed it was so. Hatred and anger must have exploded a frothing cauldron of stress in the old man’s chest. Even now the situation didn’t seem real to him as Zach played it over and over in his mind.
Behind the paramedics’ truck had come a car, a black-painted, station-wagon-looking thing, so old that Zach had been intrigued by its ancient appearance. A wiry man about Zach’s height had popped out of the rusted antiquity, sporting a feather earring hanging from one ear and raven hair to the middle of his back. Annie had run to throw her arms around the newcomer, shocking Zach further.
To his greatest amazement, she’d quickly bundled Mary into the car. It was only when the car pulled away that Zach had realized the damn thing was a hearse. He had started to protest at little Mary going off with the eclectic character, but Annie had jumped into the ambulance, seating herself in a cramped space next to where her father was laid out on a stretcher. Somebody had shoved Zach to the right-side door of the vehicle, and an impatient hand had pointed to the seat. For a moment Zach had balked. He had no business going to the hospital. The Aguillar family’s pain wasn’t his. This wasn’t his concern.
A moan from inside the ambulance had caught his attention. He glanced to the back of the vehicle, and the sight of Annie’s strained, frightened face illuminated by the fluorescent lighting decided him. She was a strong woman, but this wasn’t simply a cut finger. Annie didn’t have a soul in the world right now to lean on—and one further second didn’t pass before Zach had decided he wanted to be there for her if she needed someone.
Now he waited impatiently for Annie to come out of ICU. Hot, blazing hell, Zach thought, glancing at his watch. It was seven o’clock on Sunday morning. LouAnn wouldn’t believe the outlandish tale of what had happened to him in the last twenty hours. He was going to have to dream up something more believable to tell her. He imagined LouAnn tucked into her pristine, white-lace bed at her folks’ house, tuckered out after last night’s festivities. It was too early to call her because she was a beast if awakened before noon. In fact, the housekeeper wouldn’t dare to disturb her if he called right now.
For the moment, that suited Zach fine. He needed a little bit of time to make up a plausible excuse for why he’d neither shown up nor called her last night. However, he should call Carter. The man was a type A personality who slept little and was probably awaiting Zach’s call anxiously about how things had gone, anyway.
Taking out his calling card, Zach went to the lobby pay phone and punched in Carter’s telephone number. Drawing a deep breath, he waited, his gaze darting down the hall to watch for Annie. As he expected, Carter answered on the first ring, sounding wide awake.
“It’s me, Carter,” Zach informed him.
“How’s it going in Desperado?”
Zach winced. “I ran into a small snag,” he said, suddenly not wanting to explain his whole ridiculous-sounding predicament. He was bone-weary, and his business suit felt like it had become part of his skin. An injection of coffee would become a necessity soon. “It’s not anything I can’t handle.”
“I knew you’d make short work of the thing. When will you be back?”
Zach rubbed the back of his neck. As badly as he’d wanted to leave, now he felt like he owed it to Annie to hang around, at least long enough to make certain her father was going to live. What else could he do—take a taxi from the hospital back to Austin and say, “Too bad, Annie, hope your father makes it?” Especially since he had to face the fact he’d probably been the catalyst, if not the sole reason, Mr. Cade was close to finding pennies on his eyes.
Shit. If he even had the pennies to spare.
He popped his knuckles, the sound like gunfire in the empty corridor. “I don’t know, exactly,” Zach hedged. “For one thing, my rental car is out of commission. I’m going to have to wait until they can send another one down, which won’t be any later than this afternoon, I hope. But I haven’t exactly nailed this deal yet, so I may stay and throw a little more wood on the fire, so to speak.”
Carter laughed heartily, and Zach frowned. “You do that. If anyone can convince those people, it’s you. Say, you missed a real humdinger of a party last night.”
“Yeah?” Zach didn’t really care about the party at the moment, but felt obliged to listen to the details.
“Yeah,” Carter confirmed. “It was a real nice affair. And LouAnn looked gorgeous, but I could tell she was missing you.”
“I couldn’t break away to call her,” Zach said. “I hope she had a good time.”
“Well, I’m sure it would have been better if you could have been at the party, Zach. However, LouAnn was flaunting a pair of emerald earrings she’d just received from her fiancé—that’s what she was telling everyone, she was so proud. So I don’t think she’ll be too angry with you for not showing up. You just give her a call later and smooth things over.”
“Yeah.” Zach closed his eyes, hoping the pain lancing his head wasn’t a major migraine coming on. “I’ll call you later and let you know what’s happening.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Zach hung up and leaned his head against the black pay phone, dimly aware that it smelled dirty, like a thousand hands had clutched it over the years, transmitting panic and worry into the very plastic. Suddenly Zach felt nauseous, and he wondered if he’d ever be able to wash the stench of dishonesty off his own skin.
“That was loverboy checking in,” Carter said with a chuckle.
“How’s the job going?”
The light, female voice pleased Carter, especially so near his ear. Only seconds before the phone had rung, his ear had been receiving the most sensual tongue-tickling it had ever experienced. “Everything’s going right as planned,” he said with satisfaction, before tugging her delicious curves closer to him.
With the possessive enjoyment of a man in total control, Carter closed his palms over the woman’s ripe breasts, squeezing the nipples lightly. He smiled at her expected moan of delight. “We’ve got nothing to worry about now,” he continued, more to himself than his companion. “That nacho-eating Mexican is going to seal this deal for us faster than you can shed your clothes, honey.” Carter felt pure satisfaction well up inside him. Life was interesting when one knew how to play the game.
The woman was trailing teasing fingers along the rigid line of his erection, and Carter nuzzled his lips in her hair with contentment.
“How did you know Zach would be able to get the Aguillars to sell out, Carter?”
He laughed and rubbed his lips against her forehead. “Because it takes a spic to know another dirty spic, honey. They know how to talk to each other.”
“They’re from Mexico, too?”
Carter shrugged, dismissing Zach’s heritage along with the Aguillars’. “I reckon. Aguillar’s a Mexican name.” He drew a deep breath of anticipation, as much from the knowledge that the contract would be signed as what the woman’s manicured hand was doing to his penis. “Anyway, don’t you know God quit passing out brains south of Texas, honey?”
She giggled a little.
“Ritter International would flip if the newspapers ever caught one of your priceless quotes, Carter.”
Carter grinned and ran his hand over her stomach. Racial issues weren’t his problem. He knew how to avoid touchy matters like that. Since Zach’s and his law school days, he’d immediately seen possibilities in the brash young law student. Later, when Zach had started the corporation that was to become Ritter International, Carter had read Zach’s name in the Wall Street Journal and decided to put the touch on an old school chum for a job. It had all worked out very well—but now, Carter planned on riding Zach all the way to the presidency of Ritter.
Oh, Zach thought he was ready to retire from the big business arena. But Carter knew ambition ate at Zach like a disease. He might run from it, but there was no cure, and sooner or later, Zach would return to doing what he couldn’t escape from—trying to prove himself. A short spell away from the monstrous company Zach had created, then who knew what creative venture might spark itself in him to make Ritter bigger and better than ever? He could return to Ritter with a position on the board with a higher title and salary. Zach thought his entrepreneurial spirit would be satisfied by trying to make a success out of the rinky-dink, million-dollar company LouAnn’s father owned. But the glamour, the allure of Ritter would be lacking. Zach would figure that out soon enough.
Carter, meanwhile, would be sitting firmly in the president’s chair.
Carter turned his attention to the white, silky woman lying beside him. He had never seen skin so alabaster in his entire life. She looked like she’d been carved from untouched winter ice, with no scar of mixed heritage.
Whether Zach would ever admit it to himself or not, LouAnn’s precious white skin and obvious blue-blood purity were what Zach craved so mightily. Befriended by the powerful, wealthy, and listed in the elite social register, LouAnn personified what Zach Rayez hungered for. Zach would spend the rest of his life trying to escape from the pain of half-breed illegitimacy, and marrying LouAnn was one way to rise above his birth. Gaining business clout was another. Carter hadn’t had to think too hard to figure out what was driving Zach’s behavior. Zach’s rudimentary motives would make matters that much easier for Carter in the long run.
“Come here, gorgeous,” Carter suddenly said, taking the blonde in his arms to feel the wonders of her white velvet body against his once more. “Ah, LouAnn,” he murmured, “let me make you speak in tongues again.”
Chapter Four
Annie watched the monitor above her father’s bed, unable to decipher exactly what the screen was revealing about his condition. Her ten minutes in ICU were almost up, but desperately she clung to her father’s hand, hoping he’d acknowledge her presence.
Unfortunately, the heart attack he’d suffered was severe enough to warrant a quadruple bypass, scheduled to take place as soon as the appropriate medical team could be assembled. Any minute now, they’d come to wheel her father away. Annie felt like she was caught between a rock and a hard place. Certainly she wanted her father to have the operation he needed to live—but would he live through the trauma of surgery? Although in her eyes Papa would forever be the tall, striking man who could pitch a softball with unerring accuracy and do more work in a day than Paul Bunyan, the insistent worry gnawed at Annie that her father just wasn’t as strong as he’d once been.
Annie pressed his hand to her forehead, trying not to allow freedom to the hot tears stinging her eyes.
“Annie.”
Annie glanced up instantly at the gruff, hoarse voice. “Papa,” she whispered, the held-back tears immediately spilling over.
“Don’t cry, gal.”
“No, no, I’m not,” Annie sniffled, wiping at her face with the edge of her dress. Selfishly, the tears wouldn’t subside, and she held her breath, trying to choke them back.
Travis sighed and shifted slightly. “Dammit,” he cursed. “Best fajitas we’ve had in a long time and I missed mine.”
“I’ll make you some more as soon as you’re feeling better,” Annie promised, fervently hoping there would be a next time.
“Yeah, but that steak had just the right texture to it. I told Cody he should just shoot that damn cow and put it out of its misery. He let the damn thing graze on his good grass and grain like it was some kind of Hindu religious object, some kind of frigging pet.” Travis sighed. “So the cow finally kicks off, and what do I get but Cody bringing around the best meat I’ve ever tasted to show me what I don’t know about cows. Boy howdy.”
Annie knew her father was trying to make her laugh, but all she could conjure up was a thin crook resembling a smile. “Rest, Papa. There’s almost a full side of that cow in the deep freeze. You have to get well first.”
Travis was silent for a moment, his eyes closed and his face so still Annie thought he’d fallen asleep again. Just as she started to reach up with her hem to wipe the tears away, his eyes opened again, piercing her with their glinting grayness.
“I’m worried about you, Annie.”
“Oh, Papa. You don’t have to worry about me. You’ve always said I had more stuffing in me than a scarecrow.”
The bright gray gaze intensified, holding her gaze. “Don’t let that city slicker get to you, Annie,” he warned. “I know you’re lonely, honey. I know there hasn’t been much for you since Carlos died.”
Her father stopped and heaved a sigh that sounded painful. Annie started to speak, wanting to deny the truth in her father’s words, but he shook his head. “You’ve been isolated, Annie, and Lord knows you’ve worked yourself to a frazzle with the farm. You should have an easier life. You and Mary should have pretty dresses and shiny shoes, and a life not worrying where the next dollar’s coming from. But Zach Rayez isn’t the man for you, honey. There’s something cold, something almost bitter about him. I’m afraid he wants to take more than your land.”
“Papa, you shouldn’t be upsetting yourself,” Annie interrupted, more frightened by her father’s waxy color than his words. “You know I wouldn’t sell out for anything.”
“I’ve seen you watching him, Annie. I know what you’re seeing. He’s not Carlos, baby, despite those dark good looks. That face has probably lifted a thousand skirts for Zach Rayez, Annie. Yours wouldn’t be the first—nor the last.”
The nurse came in and darted a measuring glance at the screen. “Mr. Cade should rest now,” she announced in a no-nonsense voice. “We’re going to prep him in about an hour.”
“Oh,” Annie murmured, relieved and frightened all at the same time: relieved her father’s surgery was imminent; frightened that he might not make it; relieved that she could leave the room and not hear words she feared to be true coming from her father’s lips.
“Don’t worry, Papa,” she whispered, pressing a last kiss against his harshly weathered cheek. He seemed so weak, so helpless lying there that the tears pressed against her eyes again. “Everything’s going to be fine,” she assured him. “I’ll see you in a little while.”
Hurrying from the room, Annie held on to the barrage of sobs located in the middle of her throat, clamoring for release. She had to find a ladies’ room, a broom closet, any place, so she could sit down and release the choking storm of fear threatening to lay waste to her self-control.
Strong arms suddenly circled her. Annie knew whose arms those were. Without hesitation, she turned and buried her face against Zach’s chest so hard she could feel one of his shirt buttons pressing against her forehead. Somehow, the discomfort kept her from completely falling apart.
Zach started walking and she did too, willingly propelled by his strength. Seconds later, he gently pushed her down onto a hard bench in an almost-deserted hallway. The only other people in the hall were an older couple locked in their own grief, completely unaware of their surroundings. Assured that her worries could be vented in the most privacy she was likely to find, Annie accepted Zach’s shoulder and let the tears quietly slip down her cheeks.
He said nothing until her grief was spent, for which Annie
was grateful. His silent companionship was more bracing than any words of sympathy he might have offered. Now she felt up to dealing with whatever lay ahead.
“Buy you a doughnut and some coffee,” Zach offered.
Annie nodded. “Let me wash my face first.”
“I think there was a ladies’ room around the corner,” he said, helping her to her feet with a guiding arm around her shoulders. “I’ll wait here.”
“Thank you.” Annie was grateful for Zach’s solid presence. She needed to feel that something around her was strong right now, capable of bearing her up should she fall prey to anxiety. Funny that Zach would be the person comforting her right now, when his initial purpose had been to take her property, her strength. Why, why, did she have the insane feeling that Zach’s heart had never been in his mission? Annie wondered as she walked away.
Five minutes later she left the restroom and returned to the dimly lit corridor. The woman who’d looked back at her from the mirror had seemed distant and somewhat frail, with eyes haunted by worry. Annie had commanded that woman to be gone, and within moments of a briskly cold face-washing and replaiting of her long ebony braid, the confident and serene woman she was normally gazed out again from the mirror’s glass.
Relief showed plainly in Zach’s eyes at her approach. “You look like you feel better.”
“I do,” Annie assured him. “In fact, I’m looking forward to that doughnut and coffee you promised me.”
“Come on, then.” Zach jerked his head to indicate the hallway. “Cafeteria’s this way.”
They walked to the cafeteria in silence. The clatter of plates punctuated scattered conversations around the room, and the normalcy relaxed Annie. Following Zach’s lead, she selected a doughnut and a large plastic cup of coffee from the serving line. He was quick to pay for her food, and she let him without any protest. Ordinarily, she would resist accepting a meal from a man she’d known barely twenty-four hours, but at this moment, accepting his chivalry felt right. In fact, being with Zach made her feel better than she’d felt in a long time.